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AT&T's telecoms chief is retiring amid industry upheaval
As the telecom industry is going through a seismic shift, the head of AT&T Communications is stepping down. John Donovan set his retirement date for October 1st and the company will name a successor soon.
5G isn’t ready for me
Over the spring and summer, the first 5G networks lit up over the US, with all the major carriers offering a 5G service of some kind. However, there are still only a few compatible phones to go around, the best of which is probably Samsung's Galaxy S10 5G. It's practically an entirely new phone. Samsung substantially upgraded its S10 with more cameras (six) and a third more battery than the standard S10 -- more capacity than the S10 Plus, too. It's an impressive phone on paper even before considering that it's made for next-gen 5G networks. It's been a few months since Chris Velazco tested 5G networks at launch in Chicago, so it was time for another network test -- this time, on the other side of the Atlantic. The plan was simple enough: pit the Galaxy S10 5G against the Galaxy S10 OG in London, UK. Vodafone provided both phones, so we could see how the phones fared on the same network.
AT&T and FTC settle lawsuit over data throttling
AT&T has reached a truce in an FTC lawsuit accusing it of deceptive data throttling practices. A newly published federal court ruling has revealed that the two parties reached a settlement on August 2nd, and requested a 90-day stay while the FTC reviewed and voted on the settlement. The terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, though, so it's not clear how much (if anything) AT&T would concede if the settlement received approval.
Phone companies and state attorneys general join forces to fight robocalls
US consumers receive as many as 350,000 unwanted calls every three minutes, according to the FCC. Despite multiple efforts to end the onslaught, an estimated 4.7 billion robocalls hit American phones in July alone. Now, attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia are teaming up with 12 carriers in a united effort to prevent and block the spam calls.
Study finds US carriers aggressively throttle video streams
US carriers engage in far more aggressive throttling practices than they've led their subscribers to believe, claims a new study. Verizon (Engadget's parent company), AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint have long said they reserve the right to slow down traffic to manage congestion on their networks. When exactly this happens is supposed to depend on the type of plan you have. But in reality, a joint team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Northeastern University found the big four throttle video traffic at all times of day, irrespective of any actual congestion on their networks.
AT&T and T-Mobile will now verify phone calls between their networks
AT&T and T-Mobile have started rolling out cross-network call authentication services for their subscribers. That means the companies will now be able notify their customers if the call they're getting from the other carrier truly is from the number shown on screen or if it's a spoofed robocall. Spam calls are a growing problem in the US today, with customers in the country getting inundated with 48 billion robocalls last year. Call verification won't eradicate the issue, but it'll give subscribers the choice not to answer potentially illegal calls, which could be scams or attempts to steal their identity.
Man charged with bribing AT&T staff to illegally unlock phones
There's no question that there's a market for unlocked phones, but one man may have been too eager to profit from that demand. The US has charged Pakistani citizen Muhammad Fahd with bribing staff at AT&T's call center in Bothell, Washington to disable the carrier's locking software and illegally unlock phones before they're eligible. Fahd reportedly had workers insert malware and "otherwise misuse" AT&T's networks between 2012 and 2017, paying one insider $428,500 over the five-year period and even having some bribes delivered in person.
AT&T rolls out 5G in NYC, but only for business at first
At last, AT&T's 5G network is available in New York City... only you likely can't use it yet. The carrier now offers the higher-speed wireless service in parts of NYC, but it's currently limited to business customers and developers. That's not completely surprising when it's still limiting the Galaxy S10 5G to the corporate crowd, but it could be disappointing if you were hoping to livestream your latest SoHo adventures in 5G.
Some AT&T unlimited subscribers will get Spotify Premium for free
AT&T is adding a new streaming option to its Unlimited & More Premium wireless plan: Spotify Premium. AT&T customers with the Unlimited & More Premium plan are now eligible for Spotify Premium at no additional charge. Other select AT&T customers can sign up for a six-month free trial of the streaming service, after which they'll be able to purchase a Spotify Premium plan for $9.99 per month.
Major broadcasters sue nonprofit TV service over copyright infringement
CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox have joined forces in a fight against Locast, a nonprofit streaming service funded in part by AT&T Inc and Dish Network Corp. The service is marketed as a distribution alternative for people who can't get local TV signals through their antenna, but it's also earned a reputation as a free alternative for consumers who are tired of their cable bills. According to The Wall Street Journal, the four networks claim Locast is retransmitting their local TV signals without permission, therefore violating copyright law.
Farewell DirecTV Now, hello AT&T TV Now
You'd be forgiven if you were befuddled by AT&T's range of streaming services. Between DirecTV Now, HBO Max, Watch TV and now AT&T TV, it's not always clear what service will meet your needs, or even which app you might need. The telecom thinks it can simplify things a bit... well, maybe. As part of summer trials for its satellite TV substitute AT&T TV, it's rebadging DirecTV Now as AT&T TV Now and folding service into the same AT&T TV app. You'll have just one place to go whether you're a cord-cutter looking for a lean TV package or just looking for an alternative to satellite.
T-Mobile won't sell the Galaxy Fold
Samsung has revealed the beleaguered Galaxy Fold will finally ship this September, but you won't be able to buy it through T-Mobile. The carrier has confirmed it won't sell the foldable smartphone.
AT&T is launching yet another streaming TV service this fall
In case DirecTV Now, HBO Max and Watch TV weren't enough, AT&T has one more streaming service in the works. The telecom used its second quarter earnings to reveal that it will start testing an AT&T TV service in "select markets" during the third quarter, with wider availability in the fall. The company didn't describe how it would work in a statement, but promised more details in the "coming weeks."
Second season of DC's 'Doom Patrol' will also stream on HBO Max
Those murmurs of WarnerMedia making DC Universe's shows more widely available? They're true. DC's Doom Patrol has been renewed for a second season, and it'll be available on both DC Universe and HBO Max when it resumes in 2020. The move will also bring the superhero series' first season to HBO Max. There's no word on other shows following suit, but this could be a test case. It wouldn't be surprising if other shows followed suit if viewership soared.
CBS goes dark on DirecTV Now, other AT&T services in price dispute
Media giants are embroiled in yet another fight over TV rates, and viewers are once again paying the price. CBS' channels in 17 markets (including New York, San Francisco and Atlanta) have gone dark on AT&T services like DirecTV Now and U-verse after the two companies failed to reach an agreement on a new carriage contract before the old one expired at 2AM ET on July 19th. As is often the case in disputes like this, the two sides are each accusing each other of being unreasonable -- though AT&T in particular has also claimed that CBS is using All Access as a weapon.
A sheriff's office in Colorado is using Galaxy S9s as body cameras
Deputies in the Kit Carson County Sheriff's Office in Burlington, Colorado, are wearing Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones on their vests. The phones serve as body cameras and run on AT&T's LTE-based FirstNet public safety platform. In addition to recording footage, they serve as personnel locators, digital cameras and secondary radios.
US networks improved in early 2019 with help from 5G upgrades
Did you have fewer gripes about your cellphone service earlier this year? You're not alone. JD Power's latest US wireless network quality study indicates that the ratio of complaints about call and data performance dropped for every major carrier in the country during the first half of 2019. Verizon (disclaimer: that's Engadget's parent company) had the fewest complaints per 100 people (seven) in all six of the regions studied, but other networks weren't far behind. US Cellular tied for first in the north central US, and both AT&T and T-Mobile usually took turns in second place. Sprint was the lone company consistently trailing behind, although it still saw an improvement.
AT&T will automatically block fraud calls for new customers
AT&T is making quick use of FCC rules explicitly allowing carriers to block robocalls by default. The network will start automatically blocking fraud calls (and issuing suspected spam call alerts) for new phone customers as a matter course, at no extra charge. You'll have to opt out if you don't want the company to screen calls this way. Existing customers, meanwhile, will see the feature automatically reach their accounts in the "coming months."
HBO Max will be the exclusive streaming home of 'Friends'
AT&T's WarnerMedia finally has a name for its streaming service -- and some unfortunate news for people hoping it would share some classic shows. The new platform will be named HBO Max, and will unsurprisingly use HBO's material as its base on top of originals and shows from other Warner networks. Most notably, that includes exclusive rights "at launch" to every episode of Friends -- true to its word, AT&T won't let Netflix and others share its classics. There are similar on-launch exclusives for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Pretty Little Liars.
Real 5G is nearly three times faster than LTE, but not everywhere
Carriers will tell you that 5G is a huge leap over LTE, but how much better is it in the real world? According to Opensignal's crowdsourced data, it's indeed a lot faster -- but mainly in the US. The research firm has found that peak download speeds on 5G reach just past 1.8Gbps in the States versus 678Mbps for LTE, or about 2.7 times faster. That's owing mainly to the use of millimeter wave spectrum whose ultra-high frequencies (about 30GHz and up) allow such a huge bandwidth boost. Other countries don't have it quite so rosy, though, and there are caveats to the American figures.
