Items tagged with ATT
As schools and businesses around the United States consider what they're going to do to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, many are opting to have students and employees learn/work from home. That means that students and employees need broadband internet access for things like videoconferencing and working remotely. Unfortunately, many consumers in the United States have data caps on their broadband plans, and if they exceed those caps they are charged significantly for "excess use" by the service provider. The first major ISP to confirm that it will suspend all usage caps during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak is AT&T. A coalition of 17 senators and consumer groups are now pressuring...
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A little over a week ago, Samsung went official at its Unpacked event with the Galaxy S20 range of smartphones. Samsung also promised at the time that preorders would kick off on February 21, which is today. Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T are all talking about some of their special deals offered to lure customers into buying the smartphones on their service. For Galaxy S20 fans who prefer T-Mobile as their carrier, it is offering up to $500 back with a qualifying trade-in on the purchase price of Samsung's latest smartphones. Buyers will be able to get that full $500 trade-in if their trade device is an Apple iPhone down to the iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy S9 or newer, Google Pixel 3 family or 4...
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Nearly everyone has grown tired of robocalls that spoof phone numbers in an attempt to get you to refinance your student loans or buy an extended warranty for your car. AT&T is trying to end the robocall scourge and has enabled new displays on some smartphones that will tell you if the number you are seeing on the screen is actually the number that is calling. The new feature is activated on the Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and LG V40 ThinQ. The screen shows the phone number, and then right above the "Incoming call" text, it shows "valid number" if the number that is calling is actually the number seen on the screen. The number itself also gets a green checkmark next to it....
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2019 has seen the emergence of 5G wireless networks in the United States, albeit with limited reach. The top two U.S. wireless carriers -- Verizon and AT&T -- chose to first launch mmWave 5G networks in select markets, primarily for business users. While mmWave 5G offers blazing speeds topping 1Gbps in some cases, the signal can't easily penetrate walls, and coverage area is measured in blocks rather than miles. AT&T calls this 5G+. AT&T today, however, has announced its standard 5G service that will be accessible by the vast majority of Americans as the network builds out. This 5G network makes use of low-band frequencies (850MHz spectrum) and has a much broader...
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For a long time, cable and satellite TV providers had customers in a vice grip. If someone wanted to watch premium channels, it was cable/satellite TV or bust. Like so many other things, the internet changed the game, and these days an increasing number of people are cutting the cord, as they say. With more streaming options available (and on the horizon), companies like AT&T and Charter Spectrum could feel the squeeze. Netflix and Hulu are the first two that come to mind, though they're far from the only options. CBS All Access is another streaming option, as are Sling TV and YouTube. The field is expanding, too—Disney recently launched it Disney+ service, and Apple rolled out its...
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After initially launching its 5G network for business customers, AT&T is making it available for is "regular" customers. For those looking to be early adopters on AT&T's network, you can now preorder the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G with an AT&T installment plan. AT&T will offer the smartphone in two colors, including Aura Glow and Aura Black. The Galaxy Note 10+ 5G will come in a version with 256GB of storage or a version with 512GB of storage. The 256GB version will sell for $1,299 at full retail price or $43.34 monthly on the installment plan. The version with 512GB of storage isn't much more expensive at $1,399.99 full retail or $46.67 monthly. Even though the smartphone...
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AT&T is finally facing the music with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its "Unlimited Data" practices – to the tune of $60 million -- 8 years after it first fleeced customers. The problem lies in the fact that AT&T marketed its smartphone plans as having unlimited data, but instead began to throttle customer's connections after surpassing preset data thresholds during their monthly billing cycle. According to the FTC, AT&T "misled" customers over throttling practices for unlimited data, and added that in many cases, customers found their cell service "difficult or nearly impossible to use" once the restrictions were put into place on their accounts. In some cases,...
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Who could have seen this coming? AT&T promised that after its merger with Time Warner, customers would see reduced prices for its DirecTV Now streaming service (now called AT&T TV Now). Instead, AT&T did the complete opposite and raised prices, and now it is feeling the negative consequences of its actions. AT&T reports that it currently has 20.4 million premium TV subscribers, which represents a net loss of 1,163,000 customers during Q3. AT&T TV Now stands at 1.1 million subscribers, which is down 195,000 for Q3. In total, AT&T lost over 1.3 million subscribers during Q3 2019. It should be noted that DirecTV Now/AT&T TV Now first launched on November 30th, 2016...
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AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have all teamed up on a new cross-platform messaging initiative called the Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI). CCMI is a next-gen messaging service that will be available to consumers and businesses. It's based on GSMA's Rich Communications Service (RCS) industry standard and will allow an "engaging" way for people to interact with businesses and each other. The wireless carriers note the CCMI joint venture is working to develop and deploy the standards-based, interoperable messaging service starting with Android. The service is expected to deploy with Android devices in 2020, and CCMI promises to: Drive a robust business-to-consumer messaging ecosystem...
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If you are an AT&T customer that has been experiencing annoying problems with your voicemail lately, you’re not alone. The second-place U.S. wireless carrier says that it has identified an issue with its voicemail system that is preventing customers from retrieving their messages. This problem could range from being a minor annoyance fot customers to one that might prevent people from receiving time-sensitive information. The Verge detailed the issue, and notes that there is currently an AT&T support forums thread dedicated to the ongoing issue that is over 40 pages long at this point. According to customers, the voicemail outage has persisted for weeks and there’s no...
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AT&T is once again going directly against its promise of not raising prices following its merger with content provider Time Warner. For the second time this year, the company is jacking up prices on its AT&T TV Now service, formerly known as DirecTV Now. After raising prices by $10 across the board in March, AT&T is raising prices by another $10 for all plans. Needless to say, customers aren't exactly thrilled that AT&T has taken this mind-boggling approach to streaming, especially after the company was supposed to achieve economic synergies by combining with Time Warner. We should note that the price increases will go into effect for both new and existing...
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Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are taking their toll on traditional TV subscription offerings, and now more than ever, consumers are cutting the cord in search of cheaper ways to be entertained. Ubiquitous broadband has made this a viable option for many people. It also could lead to AT&T selling off DirecTV, though nothing is imminent. This would be a curious shift in strategy for AT&T, which acquired DirecTV only four years ago for $49 billion. At the time, AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said the purchase made AT&T a "fundamentally different company with a diversified set of capabilities and businesses that set us apart from the competition." "We’ll...
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Report Shows Wireless Carriers Are Cheaping Out And Throttling Your Video Streams Whenever They Want
We all know that wireless carriers throttle data. After all, throttling has been commonplace ever since carriers moved from their "buckets" of data in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB sizes, for example. Once carriers started fully embracing unlimited data, they started implementing policies where they would throttle data once customers reached a certain threshold (usually around 20GB) if cell towers are overloaded. But now new research shows that carriers are throttling video streams even when customers have not reached the carrier-set threshold or when "data congestion" isn’t a serious problem on the network. This information comes from Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts Amhert,...
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The cord-cutting movement is going strong, and people all around the world are shedding cable and satellite TV programming. The problem is as more people cut the cord and went with streaming options, prices for internet connectivity have gone up, and pricing on streaming services continually increase. AT&T's DirecTV Now has seen several price increases and has had networks cut from the service. The price increase of the service left it with a class action lawsuit alleging bait and switch pricing. Not surprisingly, AT&T's DirecTV bled subscribers to the tune of nearly a million in Q2 2019. The exact number of subscriber losses that DirecTV suffered in Q2 2019 is 946,000. The company attributed...
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AT&T and NVIDIA have announced that they will be working together on the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. AT&T has enabled its 5G network in parts of Las Vegas, and it's highlighting the 5G tech in a sponsorship of the NBA Summer League starting with live games earlier this week. The AT&T 5G technology is being leveraged to allow the wireless streaming of high-quality video and game streaming coupled with NVIDIA's GeForce NOW service. AT&T provided its 5G mmWave spectrum with Ericsson as its network infrastructure backbone for the service. The tie-up allowed the streaming of live video from Samsung devices in the stands at the games. The video streamed live from...
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Some of you reading this might actually own a 5G-capable smartphone. Most of you do not. Be that as it may, a recent survey of 2,000 Americans who are at least 18 years old and own a smartphone found that nearly a third of respondents believed they owned a 5G handset, including iPhone owners even though a 5G iPhone does not yet exist. Let us be clear—despite the survey results, 1 in 3 Americans do NOT own a 5G handset. We know this because there are very few 5G smartphones available. For example, Samsung's Galaxy S10 5G only recently debuted, and it starts at $1,299.99. There are a spattering of other 5G options, but not many. Technically, Motorola is among them with its Moto Z3 and Z4,...
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For AT&T, it is not quite 'out with the old and in with the new', as it is 'out with broken and in with the new'. The 'new' in this case would be Samsung's Galaxy S10 5G model, which as the name implies, has a 5G radio inside. As for the 'not old but broken', that would be the Galaxy Fold—customers are receiving notices that AT&T has canceled their Galaxy Fold preorders. More on that in a moment. The Galaxy S10 5G is the flagship model in the Galaxy S10 series, which comprises the regular Galaxy S10, the bigger Galaxy S10+, and the cheaper Galaxy S10e (we have a review in progress of this model, by the way). It is the only one of the four to rock a 5G modem, making it an enticing...
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AT&T is the second largest wireless carrier in the United States with millions of customers under its umbrella. But the company is now coming under fire for its decision to sell location data pertaining to its wireless customers. While AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have all said they stopped selling phone location information to other companies, AT&T has announced that it wasn't illegal for it to sell the data. AT&T is claiming it did nothing wrong, just as the FCC has started an investigation into the practice. The telecom giant has argues that its sale of assisted GPS or A-GPS data that is used with 911 location services doesn't violate U.S. law. The reason...
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Most of the news in the Samsung world the last few days has been surrounding the very high profile failures of the Galaxy Fold smartphone in the hands of reviewers. Samsung has postponed the launch of the device as it investigates. While the Galaxy Fold debacle is going on, Samsung is business as usual with other products including the gigantic Galaxy View 2 tablet that will land on AT&T. The prominent feature for this tablet is a display measuring 17.3-inches with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The processor running the show is an Exynos 7884 (2 cores at 1.6GHz dual, six cores at 1.6GHz). The big tablet has 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage with a microSD card slot that supports cards up to 400GB....
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We are just at the early stages over the shift from 4G LTE wireless coverage to 5G. So far in the United States, only AT&T and Verizon have lit up their 5G mobile wireless networks, but coverage is limited to just a handful of cities and 4G LTE-trampling speeds are spotty at best. However, once 5G networks become more prevalent and start blanketing the U.S. with coverage, we may see a shift in the pricing strategy of carriers. In fact, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson remarked today during the company's earnings call that its 5G subscribers are almost entirely limited to businesses, which are using it as a LAN replacement. However, the real eyebrow-raising comments came...
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2019 has been a rough year for telecommunications giant AT&T. The company is already being sued by Sprint for falsely branding some of its products as 5G E. A class action lawsuit now accuses AT&T of misleading customers and investors about the pricing of DirecTV Now. Last summer, AT&T purchased Time Warner. The company promised customers that it would slash the prices for DirecTV Now, a subscription streaming television service. The class action lawsuit argues that AT&T not only refused to reduce prices, but that it purposely mislead their customers. AT&T eliminated existing streaming bundles and charged more for new bundles. After some time had passed, it brought back the...
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AT&T has been in hot water with some customers and its competition over its fake 5G E branding for its mobile network. Sprint filed a lawsuit against AT&T over the misleading branding and later blasted the branding in an open letter. AT&T's CEO responded to the backlash essentially telling everyone to "deal with it." Reports showed that the AT&T 5G E network was actually slower in many places than the competition's LTE networks. AT&T is now bragging that it has surpassed the 1 Gbps speed threshold on its "true" 5G network. The carrier says that it "reached this milestone" on its live 5G network in multiple cities using the Netgear Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot. AT&T...
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