Items tagged with (NYSE:T)
T-Mobile is famous for starting trends in the wireless industry that forces its competitors to take notice and match it feature-for-feature. For example, T-Mobile was the first to usher back in the era of "unlimited" smartphone plans. Then, in February, the company launched its Magenta MAX plan that removed data throttling from the equation if subscribers went over an arbitrary data limit. Now, AT&T is responding with updates to its Unlimited Elite data plan. When launched initially, AT&T's Unlimited Elite plan allowed customers to consume 100GB of data during their billing cycle before being subject to data de-prioritization (i.e., throttling at AT&T's discretion). In addition, the...
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The U.S. wireless industry is swiftly moving to 5G technology via sub-6GHz bands and [less prevalently with] mmWave. With AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile doing their best to court customers with enticing promotions, the former is upping the stakes via a partnership with Google. AT&T announced today that its 5G wireless and home fiber customers will now be given a six-month subscription to Google's Stadia Pro game streaming service. AT&T is, of course, limiting the Stadia Pro offer to 5G and fiber customers because it feels that they offer the best possible performance to enjoy gaming streaming either at home or on the go with a mobile device. According to the company, after the first...
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AT&T today announced some big news for customers on its unlimited plans. The wireless industry is swiftly moving to 5G wireless technology and is working to blanket the United States with high-speed coverage (some carriers are having better luck than others with that initiative). AT&T says that it is now extending 5G access to all its customers that are on legacy unlimited data plans. According to the company, access to its 5G and 5G+ networks will now be available at no additional cost to these customers. AT&T's announcement is both welcome and, at the same time, quite comical considering how carriers have obfuscated the meaning of "unlimited" data when it relates...
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Have you ever dealt with slow internet speeds and just became fed-up with the entire situation? Subsequently, have you thought of raising a ruckus somewhere to get your complaints heard and the situation rectified? Meet Aaron Epstein, a 90-year-old gentleman who became the hero of the internet for a day, after he took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal to complain about his AT&T services, or should we say lack there-of. Earlier in February, Mr. Epstein found his AT&T internet speeds to be incredibly slow, averaging around 3 Mbps in North Hollywood (which sounds insane). Because traditional methods, such as contacting customer service, were not working, Epstein took out a quarter-page...
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Last year, 5G availability and performance was disappointing, and realistically not much has changed on that front. Apple touted "5G just got real" when the iPhone 12 family launched, but 5G tended not to be much better than 4G, if at all. Either way, the technology is still improving, and has more widely rolled out, so improvements are to be expected nationwide. Ookla has released its Q4 findings for mobile networks, and we get to see how the competitors stack up. First and foremost, AT&T got to take the crown for both "Fastest Provider" and "5G Performance" based on weighted scores correlated to download and upload speeds. For the overall fastest provider, AT&T had a Speed Score of...
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Earlier this month, AT&T made its plans know that it would no longer be accepting new DSL service connections, which is the only way that many rural Americans can access broadband internet – that is if you really want to classify AT&T's 6Mbps DSL as broadband. “We’re beginning to phase out outdated services like DSL and new orders for the service will no longer be supported after October 1,” said AT&T in a statement last week. “Current DSL customers will be able to continue their existing service or where possible upgrade to our 100% fiber network.” Given that fiber access in rural parts of the country as rare as hen's teeth, we know how this...
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Many analysts are expecting that the next generation of smartphones from Apple will represent a "mass upgrade" opportunity as customers look to upgrade older phones. The general idea is that many Apple customers have been sitting on the sidelines with older devices (i.e., first-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 8, etc.) waiting for the next big thing in smartphones to arrive: 5G connectivity. However, AT&T Communications CEO Jeff McElfresh is throwing some cold water on that notion, and instead says that the launch of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro families might not make a much bigger blip than previous years. "I do believe that you will see many of the iPhone subscribers move to upgrade to...
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When it comes to smartphone plans, many of us have simply become resigned to the fact that prices in general have been on an upward swing (with the exception of T-Mobile in some cases). The arrival of 5G is sending monthly bills even higher, which means that many customers are likely looking for relief. AT&T CEO John Stankey has an idea on how customers could potentially lower their bills, and it might be a controversial one for some. The executive is suggesting that AT&T could adopt a strategy in which a portion of a customer’s monthly bill would be subsidized with advertising. “I believe there’s a segment of our customer base where given a choice, they would...
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With cord-cutters walking away from cable and satellite packages combined with high rates forcing people out, it comes as no surprise that AT&T is looking to get rid of DirecTV. Only a year after we reported on a possible DirecTV selloff, it seems AT&T is feeling the squeeze again this year. Now, according to a new report, AT&T is looking for private investors to take up a majority of the satellite-TV service DirecTV, according to sources familiar with the situation. Over the years, AT&T has picked up some large name companies, and now, they are likely to be looking to trim the fat and save money. If DirecTV were to go, “Such a move could let AT&T remove DirecTV...
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It's been a rather eventful year for T-Mobile with the departure of its highly-excitable former CEO John Legere and the acquisition of 4th place wireless carrier Sprint. T-Mobile is now claiming that it is the #2 wireless carrier in the United States. This declaration comes after T-Mobile completed its acquisition of Sprint in April, and added those wireless subscribers to its tally. The additions from Sprint had the biggest impact on T-Mobile's Q2 2020 performance, but the company also claims it experienced strong consumer growth as well to drive its numbers upward. In the end, T-Mobile closed out the quarter with 98.3 million customers versus AT&T's claimed 92.9 million customers...
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AT&T caused a bit of an uproar yesterday when it was revealed that customers were receiving emails from the 2nd place U.S. wireless carrier proclaiming that it would “soon be upgrading our network”. The email went on to describe how the customer’s current smartphone “is not compatible with the network and you need to replace it to continue receiving service”. What made the email so alarming is that given the way it was worded, customers were led to believe that this was action that they would need to take in the short-term in order to avoid service disruptions. In reality, AT&T was actually being more than a bit disingenuous with its email, considering...
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AT&T has announced the next big step for its growing 5G network: nationwide availability. By the company’s own estimates, its 5G network is currently spread across nearly 400 U.S. markets and blankets just over 250 million Americans. As far as we can tell, AT&T thankfully isn’t including its controversial and misleading 5GE wireless coverage (which is basically just a fancy name for 4G LTE-Advanced) in its 5G declaration. Instead, AT&T says that its ultra-fast mmWave 5G technology is available in 35 markets. Its sub-6GHz “low-band” 5G spectrum is used to cover the rest of the nation (crucially, outside of large city centers). “With AT&T 5G reaching...
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AT&T just sent a chill up the spines of thousands of customers who it claims will be forced to upgrade their phones or face service discontinuation. The second-place U.S. wireless carrier is sending notices to customers via email that warn that their device “is not compatible with the new network” and that they will need to upgrade to a new phone. The warning comes as AT&T prepares to shutter its legacy 3G network in order to support newer 4G LTE and 5G wireless technologies. According to AT&T, the official cutoff will occur in early 2022. The wireless carrier writes: To bring you faster speeds and new features, we have to evolve America’s best and also fastest...
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LG doesn’t get the same attention as its fellow South Korean behemoth Samsung when it comes smartphones, but that doesn’t mean that the company isn’t putting out excellent devices. In fact, the company back in the Spring officially announced its Velvet, which is a mid-range 5G smartphone. Today, we’re learning that the smartphone will launch this week on AT&T’s wireless network (tomorrow, July 22nd to be exact). The smartphone will carry a retail price of $600, or will ring in at $20/month for 30 months with an installment plan. However, AT&T is offering a limited time promotion where you can get the Velvet for $10/month over 30 months with a new...
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Yesterday, we reported that Google was raising the price on YouTube TV from $50 per month to a staggering $65 per month. In return, customers would get an extra eight channels; many of which current subscribers have said that have absolutely no interest in. What once started off as a $35/month service has now priced many customers out of the market. Now, we're learning that FuboTV is making a similar move, although the percentage of its price increase isn't as large. The FuboTV family bundle is getting a price increase from $60 to $65 per month. In addition, current subscribers to the "standard" plan that was priced at $55/month will now be forced onto the family bundle. So, they are...
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AT&T is working on trimming its budget and this may include the sale of more recent acquisitions. It is rumored that AT&T plans to sell Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment gaming division. The gaming division may sell for as much as $4 billion USD. Several gaming publishers have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring Warner Bros. These companies include Take-Two Interactive Software, Electronic Arts (EA), and Activision-Blizzard. None of these companies have offered a comment about the potential sale. Warner Bros. itself owns several studios such as TT Games, Rocksteady Studios, NetherRealm Studios, Monolith Productions, and Avalanche Software. The gaming division has its finger...
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T-Mobile made headlines earlier this week for its $15/month T-Mobile Connect plan, which gives customers 2GB of 5G data per month along with unlimited calling and texting. However, the plan came with a serious drawback in that after you exhaust your 2GB allowance, data is shutoff for the remainder of your billing cycle. AT&T is getting in on the action two with a prepaid plan that also costs just $15 per month for 2GB of data with unlimited talk and text. Unlike T-Mobile's offering, however, this doesn't appear to include 5G data. AT&T says that this offer will only be available for a limited time, and can be accessed by signing up at att.com/prepaid. In related news, AT&T...
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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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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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