Internet, Wireless Carrier | featured news

US telecommunications group Verizon declares war on illegal downloaders, or pirates, who use technologies such as BitTorrent to steal copyrighted material.

T-Mobile has pulled off a mobile industry first: it has reinstated the unlimited data plan after a year’s hiatus, showing that there may be a plausible business case after all for unfettered access to the mobile internet. Starting Sept. 5, it will begin offering an unlimited option to its smartphone plans.

Verizon’s new data plans announced on Tuesday are expected to be followed by others in the industry as wireless firms focus their attention on charges for Internet data, according to analysts... The new plans, to launch June 28, are expected to motivate families to get more devices onto a single plan, according to analyst Craig Moffett, of Sanford C. Bernstein. That business strategy benefits the biggest wireless carriers — AT&T and Verizon Wireless — and presents new problems for competitors trying to chip away at those firms’ dominance.

As unlimited data plans fade away, services and applications are being designed to help users manage their consumption.

AT&T Inc. backed away from an unpopular service policy after smartphone subscribers complained that the company placed unreasonable limits on its "unlimited data" plans....

T-Mobile USA said it would spend $4 billion on its wireless network to offer the high-speed fourth-generation mobile broadband service known as LTE.

Verizon and AT&T will sell a version of the upcoming iPad that runs on their newest fourth-generation wireless networks, as the battle to cash in on big investments in mobile broadband heats up.

Wireless carriers have us right where they want us. When there are only four significant national providers in the US, there’s only so much competition for our business. So when they all band together (even if only in mindset) and decide on a “new rule,” customers are forced to play along.

Less than 24 hours after it announced it would charge a $2 "convenience fee" for every one-time online or phone payment customers make, Verizon Wireless reversed course after consumer outrage spilled onto the Web.

Verizon Wireless plans to scrap its unlimited data plan for new smartphone subscribers beginning Thursday and replace it with monthly packages that range from $30 to $80.