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Sprint losing on-network coverage in parts of Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming
If you're in the magnificent boondocks of North America and you're on Sprint, you're going to have to start to be a little more careful with your voice and data usage -- in fact, if you live in parts of North Dakota, Wyoming, or Montana, you might be forced to consider a carrier change on news that some swaths of on-network footprint are changing to roaming coverage on March 1st. The move is said to be a result of Verizon's divestiture of certain ex-Alltel markets to AT&T, and it means that if you're on Sprint and you use more than 800 voice minutes (or half your plan) in the new roaming areas in a month, the carrier's liable to suspend you; similarly, you won't be able to exceed 300MB of data. Certain device and plan features don't work in roaming areas, either -- Sprint details them on its FAQ page about the change -- so if you live in those parts, you might need to look at moving to greener pastures. [Thanks, Kenneth L.]
AT&T offering free MicroCells to top 7.5 percent of customers 'likely to experience poor in-building coverage'
We've known that AT&T has been test-marketing free 3G MicroCells to subscribers with particularly awful reception in certain parts of the country since the product launched last year, but as of January 23rd, they're codifying the offer and taking it nationwide. Bottom line: the "top 7.5 percent of 3G wireless customers identified as likely to experience poor in-building coverage at home or in small offices" will be receiving some snail mail with a discount code; bring it into an AT&T store and you'll be offered a gratis MicroCell. There's a catch, though -- you need to agree to a one-year contract on the unit (separate from your normal account contract), so if you cancel service within that year, you need to either return the MicroCell or get charged $199.99 minus $16.67 per month that you've had it. Of course, that lines up with the newly-increased MicroCell price that the carrier is instituting starting this Sunday. Considering that AT&T needs to acknowledge that you're in a terrible reception area to get it, we can't say we'd hope to be one of the "lucky" 7.5 percent -- but it's a nice benefit nonetheless.
UK and French carriers working on cellular coverage for Channel Tunnel, aim to finish by 2012 Olympics
If you live in a technophile city like Taipei, you'll have been enjoying underground 4G for a long time now, but in London the rule is that you have to bid adieu to your mobile connectivity when diving into a tunnel. The city's Mayor has been active in encouraging (forcing?) the major British carriers to install the necessary equipment to provide coverage on the Tube, and now we're hearing that ambition has stretched beyond the nation's borders as well. The Daily Telegraph reports that Vodafone, O2, Everything Everywhere, and Three from the UK along with Orange, SFR and Bouygues from France have agreed to share the cost of putting together a £20 million ($30.8m) project for making cellular coverage possible while traveling through the 31.4-mile Channel Tunnel between the two countries. The goal is to get things up and running by the Olympics in 2012, though we've no indication as to what speeds those wireless data transfers will reach. Still, having some bars is better than none, right?
Verizon LTE plans start at $50/month for 5GB of data (update)
And here we go: Verizon just announced its 4G LTE pricing and full list of coverage areas. Some 38 markets will go live when the switch is flipped on December 5, including Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and LA, and pricing starts at $50/month for 5GB of data, with an $80/month plan for 10GB. Overages run $10 per GB, which isn't insane, and there's also supplemental coverage in around 60 airports. Check the full PR after the break. Update: Some highlights from today's press conference: More modems will be coming out within "weeks" and are all backwards compatible with its EV-DO network. Verizon will talk about "consumer-oriented devices" (translation: phones) at CES. The modems are capable of 4G-to-3G handoff, but not 3G-to-4G -- they'll stay on 3G until you're done transmitting data. The LTE and 3G plans might integrate, according to CTO Tony Melone, but probably not until 2012 or 2013. It sounds like the modems will only be available in stores on December 5th -- no third-party retailers at first.
MetroPCS' new Metro USA service features nationwide coverage, LTE comes to Philly and LA
MetroPCS' march toward a full LTE overlay continues today on news that it's expanding its nascent (and still tiny) next-gen network to Philadelphia and Los Angeles, two huge markets that should do a good job of stress testing what the network is capable of. As with its existing LTE markets, the only device available is the Samsung Craft, a landscape QWERTY slider dumbphone that offers access to the carrier's video-on-demand library on a 3.3-inch AMOLED display for $299 (no contract, mind you) after a $50 rebate. The move brings MetroPCS' launch total to five markets, with plans to expand to another nine in the coming months. On a related note, the carrier has also introduced its so-called Metro USA service, essentially a brand name for nationwide coverage -- MetroPCS claims over 90 percent of the population, which ain't bad. Though it won't go into details, they're saying that the coverage has been reached through a combination of "both network expansion and roaming agreements" and that customers can expect a mix of 1xRTT and EV-DO (2G and 3G data, that is) as they move around. Follow the break for both press releases.
Verizon to debut LTE in 38 cities, 'half a dozen' 4G smartphones and tablets in 1H 2011
We're live from CTIA 2010 in San Francisco, where newly-appointed Verizon president and COO Lowell McAdam has taken the stage. He's been on the job just five days now, but he's already got a nice spot of news: Verizon will have LTE connections in 38 markets as soon as they flip the switch -- up from the 30 football cities announced earlier this month. More exciting, a host of LTE devices are on the way, too: "Come CES at January, and we will show half-a-dozen smartphones and tablets from the top OEMs in the world that will be available in the first half of the year," said McAdam. 8 to 12 megabits per second, here we come. See the full tentative 4G coverage map with a list of confirmed cities in our gallery below. %Gallery-104428%
Apple is the most-covered tech company
Here's a bit of news that's no shock to us. According to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, Apple receives more coverage from the press than any other tech company. The research center recently concluded a year-long study, which found that a full 15.1 percent of all tech articles were about Apple. Google commanded 11.4 percent of articles while 3 percent were primarily about Microsoft. The study used data from 52 newspapers, broadcast, and websites from June 2009 through June 2010. What's powering Apple's popularity? Its computers represent only a fraction of those in use. However, the iPhone and the iPod's meteoric rise to stardom, and infiltration of popular culture, has caught the attention of journalists across the globe. But there's more to it than that. Amy S. Mitchell, the deputy director of the Project, notes the hype that precedes a new release, as well as Apple's "very public way of releasing products," is powerful. As I said on a recent podcast, even the local news station in my little Podunk town covered the recent iPod updates. As I said, telling us that Apple gets a lot of press coverage is like telling bees that honey is popular. But anecdotal evidence is one thing; empirical research is another.
Best Buy to expand iPad availability, sales cannibalizing laptops by up to 50%
Here's another report of the iPad stealing attention and money away from more traditional computing. Best Buy's CEO Brian Dunn tells the Wall Street Journal that the iPad has "cannibalized" sales of laptops by up to 50%, meaning that customers in the big box retail store have gone for Apple's tablet rather than a traditional keyboard-and-screen computer. That's pretty astounding, although if you think about the period Best Buy has just been through, with back-to-school students and parents shopping for consumer technology, it's not surprising to think that lots of people would go for a brand-new iPad over a similarly-priced laptop. Best Buy is also expanding its iPad coverage, bringing the Apple product to all of its over 1,000 U.S. stores by the end of this month. The big retailer is in the midst of a transition, moving away from previously huge libraries of DVDs and CDs and towards consumer electronics and end-user entertainment devices. It's still projecting higher revenues, but one analyst says that Best Buy is really aiming for "tablets, e-readers and probably the higher-end digital cameras." That means that it makes a lot of sense for them to get in close to Apple and the iPad. [via MacRumors]
Sprint adds Boston, Daytona Beach and Providence to its 4G coverage map
Sprint's treating the East Coast to a shot of adrenaline-fueled mobile internet today, with Daytona Beach in Florida, Providence in Rhode Island, and Boston (you know the state, right?) all getting the green light for 4G activation. Notably, this takes the number of markets Sprint has now lit up in sexy WiMAX airwaves beyond 50 and ratchets up the states that have at least some coverage up to 21. It's also jolly good news for any residents of those three cities that were lustily eyeing the Epic or EVO 4G but felt they couldn't justify it without an actual 4G network to hook up to. [Thanks, Nick]
Antenna-aid bandages your iPhone 4 reception issue, hopes for role in next Eminem video
Oh, Steve -- you should've known better. You show up and remove a laptop from a manila envelope, and Earth's most creative go and create a case fashioned out of one. You go and suggest that Eminem could "come out with a band-aid that goes over the corner" of your controversial iPhone 4, and well... this happens. You could wait for a free case, or you could buy six of these Antenna-aids for five bucks. The choice is obvious.
AT&T bonds two phone lines to extend U-verse's reach, ensure it is the 98th caller
Like your average teenager, AT&T has recognized the power in using two phone lines to cheaply extend its reach and influence. Pair bonding technology expands U-verse's reach by sending the signal over two copper phone lines at once and was supposed to roll out back in '08. No word what caused the delay, but that it's a cheaper option than putting more "shovels in the ground" should keep costs down and Randall Stephenson happy. According to AT&T, that extra distance (about 1,000 to 2,000 extra feet from neighborhood nodes) will help expand availability to 30 million households by the end of next year, so if you've been waiting for some Total Home DVR / Xbox 360 Mediaroom / mobile U-verse (once the latter two actually launch, of course) action but live a block or two too far outside the radius then things are looking up. The bad news? It won't add bandwidth for the compression issues or lack of additional HD streams Home Theater Review noted, and definitely won't help you score concert tickets during the top 8 at 8.
AT&T says New York City service is improved
While AT&T's service has been notoriously bad even before the iPhone launch, iPhone users in New York City have suffered some of the worst of it, with one Apple Genius reportedly saying that 30% dropped call rate was average. (I think he misspelled "atrocious.") The good news is that AT&T has rolled out a network upgrade in the NYC, according to the company's press release this week. The big question was: Will it actually help? Early anecdotal reports are that yes, it has made a big difference. I've seen various snippets around the web of people posting that things seem to be better. I guess only time will tell for sure. This also seems like a good time to remind you about AT&T's free Mark The Spot app for noting when you have either a voice or data issue. We've noted that some users are getting updated with news of tower build-outs near their reported dead spots. Personally I wondered if this was leveraging towers AT&T planned to install anyway, but I spoke with a friend who works for AT&T and he said "I know it's hard to believe, but it really does matter." What say you, NYC folks? Has the upgrade been noticeable for you? [via Engadget]
MobileProtect now officially ready to insure your iPhone 4 from everything*
And just like that, it's confirmed. We'd heard through the grapevine that AT&T may be fixing to certify a third-party to sell an iPhone insurance program, and now it looks as if Asurion has been given the green light by Ma Bell, and not a moment too soon. According to the company, MobileProtect is the "only iPhone (and iPhone 4) insurance to protect against loss or theft (the reason for nearly 50% of phone claims), while also covering water or other liquid damage, accidental damage, and out-of-warranty failure." Of course, you'll have to shell out a borderline-ridiculous $11.99 per month for the coverage (and yeah, there's still a deductible), which is made even more outrageous by the fact that the iPhone 4 and its Gorilla Glass is nigh indestructible. Er, wait... *Claims of "everything" are subject to interpretation, as anyone who has ever dealt with an insurance company will attest. P.S. - SquareTrade still works on the iPhone 4, and it's probably worth considering. Take a look at the price breakdown after the jump. Also, Worth Ave Group has an option that looks even more acceptable. The bottom line? You can insure everything.
Analyst: 40% of AT&T customers may head to Verizon if there's a vPhone
If the rumors are true and Verizon does eventually get to carry the iPhone, AT&T's CEO should probably be a little more worried than he is. Analyst Drake Johnstone says that if Verizon does carry Apple's smartphone, 40% of its customers are likely ready to jump ship for another carrier. That's 6 million of AT&T's estimated 15 million customers, all yearning to break free of their bonds to AT&T. That sounds high to me, and indeed, Johnstone admits that, as time goes on, that number will probably be much lower. Not only are AT&T's plans tough to get out of (and therefore not really worth the trouble to switch), but even if you do, they've just upped their termination fees, which will put another roadblock in the way. And Johnstone also says that AT&T's coverage is getting better by the day, so by the time Verizon does have the iPhone, AT&T's technical problems might not be so bad. Even if the number isn't quite as high as 40%, iPhone exclusivity has been a huge boon for AT&T in the past, and losing it won't be good for the company. If Apple announces a Verizon deal later this year, investors will be keeping a huge watch on what AT&T ends up dealing with.
Mark the Spot app delivering results for low-coverage iPhone users
Back at the end of 2009 when AT&T introduced its Mark the Spot app, some were skeptical that the location-aware self-reporting tool for coverage issues and dropped calls was anything more than a sop tossed to irked iPhone owners in the interest of better PR for the cell carrier. Still, like the 'close door' button in a high-rise elevator, any opportunity for feedback or a sense of control is eagerly seized upon by us crazy hairless primates, and the presumed database of GPS-tagged trouble spots has been accumulating. Where, however, are the improvements? The new towers? The carefully tweaked coverage maps? Is this thing even on? Apparently, it is. We've gotten a few reports from readers who say that they've received surprise free texts from AT&T, telling them about network improvements directly linked to their feedback on poor coverage. The message is as follows...
Clearwire WiMAX to cover 120 million prospective HTC EVO 4G owners by end of year
With the HTC EVO dual-mode 3G/4G handset launching this summer (and nearly ready for pre-order) with built-in hotspot capability, we've got a pretty good idea what all you US Americans are wondering: is WiMAX available in my city? Well, buried inside the Clearwire financials is mention of the 19 additional cities scheduled for WiMAXing this summer, joining the 32 markets (pictured above) and 41 million people already served by its 4G network offering 3Mbps to 6Mbps average downloads with an occasional 10Mbps peak: Clearwire also today announced plans to launch 4G mobile broadband service in 19 additional cities this summer, including previously announced markets Kansas City, KS; St. Louis, MO; Salt Lake City, UT, and the core area of Washington, D.C. and newly announced markets Nashville, TN; Daytona, Orlando and Tampa, FL; Rochester and Syracuse, NY; Merced, Modesto, Stockton, and Visalia, CA; Wilmington, DE; Grand Rapids, MI; Eugene, OR; and Yakima and Tri-Cities, WA. Things will get really interesting later in 2010 when Clearwire and Sprint take their 4G mobile broadband network to New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, the San Francisco Bay Area, Miami, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh for a 120 million person strong data footprint. LTE who?
Verizon to blanket 'one third' of America with LTE this year, double coverage in 15 months
Remember when we heard that Verizon Wireless just might be able to bump its commercial LTE rollout to the first quarter of 2010? Man, talk about having our hopes and dreams dashed. Here at CTIA, we heard a few details on the company's most up-to-date deployment plans, and it sounds like things are pretty well locked into place at this point. Tony Melone, the company's Senior Vice President and CTO, seemed remarkably enthused that a bona fide LTE network would be launching "in the not too distant future," and when pressed for specifics, he stated that they would launch "25 to 30 networks this year, covering one third of America by the end of 2010." Beyond that, we're looking at a footprint twice that size "15 months" after the initial rollout, and by the end of 2013, the company's 4G coverage map will be the same size, "if not larger," than its existing 3G map. Of course, the carrier insisted that they wouldn't be abandoning 3G advancement while being fixated on 4G, noting that it was moving "fast and aggressively" on both fronts, with hopes that its LTE network would eventually eclipse even the 3G networks (in terms of coverage size) of competitors. Them's bold words, VZW, and we'll be carefully watching to see if that really does come to fruition.
FCC comes through with a Consumer Broadband Test app for iPhone, Android and the home
We talk about the FCC a lot here, but usually the ways ye olde Commission affects our lives are indirect. A little extra spectrum here, a nice leaked image there, that kind of thing. Not this time, though, as the FCC is getting involved directly with its own Consumer Broadband Test app, designed to probe network latencies and download speeds on your home connection or mobile device. Part of the hallowed National Broadband Plan, this will furnish the FCC will useful data to show the discrepancy between advertised and real world broadband speeds, and will also -- more importantly perhaps -- serve as a neat way for users to directly compare network performance in particular areas. It's available on the App Market and App Store right now, with versions for other operating systems coming up, so why not get with the program and give it a test drive?
WiMAX will cover one billion people in 2011, coming soon to NYC and San Francisco
Thought WiMAX was just beaming high-speed internets to a very few lucky technosapiens in far-away lands? Think again! If all goes according to plan, more than 800 million people from the future will be wrapped in its soothing vibrations by the end of this year, and over a billion worldwide in 2011, surpassing expectations. That's an impressive spread given that Sprint just got things rolling domestically in Baltimore about a year and a half ago. Next up will be stops in New York City and San Francisco, good news for urban folks, but will it be enough to hold off the progression of LTE? Don't you love a good wireless format war? We don't. [Thanks, COCOViper]
Verizon 'vampire' ad rips off Twilight, sticks it to AT&T
Hey, remember how all the lawsuits got dropped over the holiday period and we thought AT&T and Verizon would finally start to coexist like mature entities engaged in a civilized industry? Yeah, that didn't last very long. Verizon is back with a biting ad campaign that continues poking fun at AT&T's 3G coverage. The consumer is appropriately a vampire, whereas the young maiden keen on being consumed turns out to be... well, it's more fun if we just let you watch it without any more spoilers. Needless to say, it's some of Verizon's funniest work yet. Head on past the break to see it. [Thanks, Jay]
