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Mayors unite to trash Verizon over slow fiber internet rollouts
New York isn't the only city getting up in Verizon's grill over the provider's reluctance to roll out FiOS across its service areas. The mayors of 13 large US cities (plus a mayoral candidate in Philadelphia) have sent a letter to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam criticizing his company's network practices, especially its lackadaisical attitude toward fiber internet access. The telecom reportedly hasn't met its obligations to offer FiOS in some cities (such as Newark and Pittsburgh), and in other cases (like Albany and Syracuse) is refusing to offer it at all. Verizon isn't just frustrating customers who want high-speed data, the mayors say -- it's reducing competition.
Verizon CEO: I sold Jobs on LTE for iPhone 5
Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam spent some time touting his company's investment in its LTE network and the fact that 4G LTE makes it possible to stream video. McAdam also relayed a story, recounted on Fierce Wireless, about how he was able to convince Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs to build LTE into the iPhone 5 To quote from the article: McAdam was trying to convince Jobs to make the iPhone 5 compatible with LTE. "I was really trying to sell him and he sat there without any reaction. Finally, he said, 'Enough. You had me at 10 Mbps. I know you can stream video at 10 Mbps.' And Apple's next phone was LTE," McAdam said. Part of the reason for McAdam's appearance at NAB was to allay the fears of broadcasters who are concerned about Verizon's plan to use LTE Broadcast technology to broadcast the 2014 Super Bowl and similar live events to its customers. McAdam reassured the crowd, saying "We don't want to get in the way of broadcasters," but noted that there are some events where Verizon could "add a dimension and it becomes better." Photo by Stuart Isett, Fortune Brainstorm TECH. CC BY 2.0
Mobile Miscellany: week of January 7th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, both Nokia and Microsoft discussed strategy for the coming year and Verizon's CEO shared his thoughts on the end of subsidies. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of January 7th, 2013.
Verizon shared data plans show up in employee training materials, still on track?
Verizon said it was working on a shared data solution for 2012, and according to an anonymous tipster, the new packages could be rolling out soon. We've been told that training material for an update to the outfit's internal account management application includes screenshots (one of which you can see above) that show a new section labeled "account level data plans." The new section apparently shows an account level charge for data allowance and a 9.99 charge per line. There's no word on exactly when these backend tweaks might translate into a new family data plan, but if it pans out the way we hope, AT&T's Ralph de la Vega may have to reconsider his oath of silence on Ma Bell's own data sharing plans.[Thanks, Anon]
Verizon CEO says shared data plans coming in 2012
Verizon is gearing up to offer shared data plans sometime in 2012. That's straight from CEO Lowell McAdam, who told the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference this morning, "I think in 2012 we will see it... Getting to one bill and getting to account-level pricing is our goal." Sharing data the way they do family plan minutes is something many consumers have been clamoring for and AT&T's CEO Ralph de la Vega indicated earlier this year that his carrier was planning to offer such an option. Soon enough you might be able to buy a chunk of minutes and data then pile on the lines for a flat rate.
Verizon confirms CEO Lowell McAdam will succeed Ivan Seidenberg as Chairman
It certainly doesn't come as the biggest of surprises, but Verizon confirmed today that its current CEO, Lowell McAdam, will succeed its former CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, as Chairman when the latter retires on December 31st. McAdam, as you may recall, took over as CEO when Seidenberg stepped down from the position in July of this year, with Seidenberg remaining on as Chairman at that point to aid in the transition, which has apparently gone just as planned. In related news, the carrier also announced today that Melanie L. Healey of Proctor & Gamble will be immediately joining the board, which will stand at twelve members following Seidenberg's departure. Head on past the break for the official press release.
Verizon promotes Lowell McAdam to CEO, Ivan Seidenberg stays on as Chairman
Ivan Seidenberg, the man who took the helm as Big Red steered its ship into the iPhone's waters, is stepping down as CEO effective August 1st, the completion of a succession plan that's been underway since last year. His replacement? Current President Lowell McAdam, who helped lead the charge to bring Apple's smartphone to the company's subscribers -- and who proudly stood on stage with Apple's Tim Cook to announce it. Seidenberg will remain Chairman for the time being to help aid in the transition, and while we're not sure for just how long that will be, we wonder if maybe he's not just waiting to pick up a Bionic before heading out.
Verizon confirms iPhone will get $30 unlimited data plan, we try to act surprised (update: WiFi tethering prices)
Hot on the heels of re-tooling its data plans Verizon is now confirming that the iPhone will indeed be eligible for the company's $30 unlimited data plan. COO Lowell McAdam told The Wall Street Journal "I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot," thus confirming what we already knew and showing his keen sense for both business and self-preservation. No comment on whether discontinuing the company's $15, 150MB monthly data plan will result in penetration wounds to any other appendages, but time will tell on that one. Update: As spotted by SlashGear, WSJ has posted an update indicating that the unlimited plan is a decidedly limited time thing, with tiered pricing to come in the "not too distant future." Intrigue! Update 2: And Macworld's confirmed that Verizon's iPhone WiFi data tethering pricing will be the same as all their other phones: $20 a month on top of your regular data plan, with a separate 2GB cap and $20-per-gig overage charges. [Thanks, Mike]
A brief and anecdotal history of the Verizon iPhone 4 deal
It's time to start penning the epilogue to the story of how Verizon and the iPhone came to be happily betrothed yesterday. We've already heard a good deal about how the last suitor failed to live up to expectations, but this report keeps the focus predominantly on the newlyweds and their courtship. The agreement came last year and was brokered by Verizon President Lowell McAdam and Apple COO Tim Cook, with input from CEOs Ivan Seidenberg and Steve Jobs (naturally), and though the commercial aspect only took about a day, the preceding technical hurdle was a six-to-nine months ordeal. That entailed putting Verizon cell towers at Apple HQ to check signal and avoid reliability troubles, as well as having Verizon's Executive Director of Technology David McCarley work in Cupertino for more than a year. As for the rest of the deal, both parties agreed to share inside knowledge (Verizon's network plans for Apple's device plans -- wouldn't you like to know) and Verizon had to agree to a logo-free device. Which, given the sure-to-be mindblowing sales, probably isn't a hard pill to swallow.
Live from Verizon's iPhone event
We've waited. We've watched. We've wondered. And now, by the grace of Steve Jobs and Lowell McAdam, we're supposedly going to see a reveal of the mythical Verizon iPhone. Of course, there's always a chance that Verizon just wants to reveal more details on LTE, or talk about the company's commitment to openness and Android... but according to the rumor mill, it's time for Big Red to get some Apple magic. No matter what happens, we'll be there live, reporting on the news as it happens with the best liveblog in the business. Tune in at the times below on Tuesday, January 11th to see it all go down. 06:00AM - Hawaii 08:00AM - Pacific 09:00AM - Mountain 10:00AM - Central 11:00AM - Eastern 04:00PM - London 05:00PM - Paris 07:00PM - Moscow 12:00AM - Perth (January 12th) 12:00AM - Shenzhen (January 12th) 01:00AM - Tokyo (January 12th) 03:00AM - Sydney (January 12th)
iPhone locked for early 2011 on Verizon, says Fortune
Though Verizon famously turned down the original iPhone before Apple ultimately signed a deal with AT&T, the company's outspoken CEO -- Ivan Seidenberg -- has been very careful over the past couple years to note that he'd love to eventually have an iPhone in his lineup. With Verizon Wireless boss Lowell McAdam tapped to take over the top job next year, what'd be a better swan song for Seidenberg than to finally pull it off? Fortune's new profile of the longstanding chief exec and elder statesman is reporting in very matter-of-fact terms that a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 will be a reality on Verizon in "early 2011," lining up with most of the rumors the interwebs has been generating over the past few months. The piece details the phone as the culmination of literally years of careful discussions between Seidenberg, McAdams, and Steve Jobs; Verizon's guys claim that Jobs acknowledged in late 2007 that the two companies had "missed something" by failing to partner up. The first visible fruit of those talks is the MiFi-bundled iPad that just launched, but that's clearly a minor stepping stone on the way to an actual handset. Fortune reports that Jobs has voiced his concerns over CDMA in the past and the fact that it doesn't work in nearly as many countries as GSM does, but the story goes on to say that the first model on Verizon's shelves "probably" won't be dual-mode and presumably won't have compatibility with the company's shiny new LTE network, either. If true, that'll make for an interesting battle for the spotlight in the first few months of 2011 as an EV-DO iPhone wages war with a number of LTE phones -- some of which look downright gorgeous -- and might put Verizon in the awkward position of having to heavily push two almost diametrically opposed handset and platform initiatives. Furthermore, it's hard to deny that a Verizon iPhone would stress the carrier's network in ways it's never been stressed before; they may be prepared for it, but there's no way of knowing until it all goes down and they get a sense for uptake and conquests from AT&T. Translation: McAdam looks to have a busy 2011 ahead of him as he transitions into the new office.
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%
Lowell McAdam tapped to succeed Verizon head Ivan Seidenberg
This quirky, fun lovin' gent is Lowell McAdam, who becomes the president and COO of Verizon Communications beginning October 1. According to the company press release: "The appointment of McAdam by the Verizon board of directors is an important step in the succession process for when Seidenberg retires from the company." McAdam will be in charge of Verizon Wireless, Verizon Telecom and Business, Verizon Services Operations, and -- presumably -- begging for the iPhone. PR after the break.
Verizon looking at non-unlimited plans for 4G data, will use LTE for voice by 2012
We'd not-so-secretly hoped that carriers would be looking to dispense with those troublesome 5GB caps on so-called "unlimited" 3G data plans, but there's a big problem with that: spectrum is still limited, and even though 4G technologies help use it more efficiently, it's still a constraint that the FCC is going to need many years to solve. We're not sure how much the spectrum crunch really factors in here, but in addition to his comments on Droid Incredible inventory problems, Verizon Wireless boss Lowell McAdam mentioned at a Barclays Capital conference this week that he hopes to move away from unlimited plans altogether for the company's LTE network, instead charging for "buckets" of megabytes, just like in the olden days -- despite the fact that it'll cost it a half to a third of what it costs today to transmit the same amount of data. On a happier note, McAdam said that the company expects to be using its LTE network for voice by 2012, which comes just after its first volley of LTE-capable handsets in early 2011. He also mentioned that at least some of those devices will be shown off at CES 2011, and naturally, we'll be there -- not just to check out the phones, but to raise some hell at the notion that unlimited data is a thing of the past. At this rate, how are we ever going to run the Engadget servers on a wireless connection?
Verizon confirms it's working on a tablet with Google (Update: Android!)
Not much by way of detail here, but Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam just confirmed that his company is working on tablets with Google in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, that's all we've got to work with at the moment -- McAdam said tablets are "part of the 'next big wave of opportunities,' but didn't say what OS the Google devices would run, just that Verizon's "looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience." That sounds like something Google's been working on for a while, so we'll take a guess and say it's Android-based, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a Chrome OS tablet or netbook make the scene at some point in the future. We're also wondering who'll build this thing: any number of companies from Dell to Toshiba to MSI have already started working on Android tablets, and we're sure HTC and Motorola would totally jump at the opportunity. A nice crisp confirmed fact wrapped in layers of chewy speculation -- just how we likes it. Update: Bloomberg scored some more details in an interview with Marquett Smith, Verizon's VP of corporate communications; the tablet is said be Android-based, and more details will be released later this week. Let the wait begin!
Caption contest: Big Four's CEOs finally united by a very large check
The CEOs of Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile -- Lowell McAdam, Ralph de la Vega, Dan Hesse, and Robert Dotson -- came together on stage for a fleeting moment at CTIA today to present a $1 million donation to nonprofit organization One Economy. It was a PR opportunity, yes, but what was really going on in their minds? Chris: "Dan, seriously, will you come off the stilts for 20 seconds?" Nilay: "One Economy will of course have to pay a $40,000 activation fee." Joe: "Not to be outdone, Boost Mobile extends One Economy a gift certificate for one free Kid Cudi ringtone." Josh T.: "Here, enjoy 0.1 percent of our collective salary." Richard: "Do you think they're standing in order of who has the most bars?"
Second Verizon Android phone to be an HTC, Motorola Sholes makes an appearance
digg_url ='http://digg.com/hardware/Second_Verizon_Android_phone_to_be_the_HTC_Hero_Motorola_Sh'; Google and Verizon were awfully coy this morning regarding the upcoming Android devices that'll be launching on Big Red over the next few weeks, but you know, that certainly looks like a Verizon-branded HTC Hero in Eric's hand there, doesn't it? And over on the right, well, that's exactly what the Motorola Sholes looks like, isn't it? Cat's out of the bag, fellas -- might as well push up those launch dates. P.S.- This also jibes perfectly with that HTC Desire rumor from last month, but we'd bet almost anything the internals are the same as the Hero. [Thanks, Berry]
Verizon plans to support Google Voice, will launch two 'game-changing' Android devices in coming weeks
We're currently on a press call with Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam and Google CEO Eric Schmidt to discuss their new partnership, and while it's mostly a love-fest between the two with no real announcements, there's been some interesting tidbits. First off, Verizon will be launching two Android products in the coming weeks -- we'd say at least one of them will be the Motorola Sholes, and while the other is still a mystery, Google says it'll be "game-changing." Very intriguing. Second, and perhaps much more interestingly, Verizon's making a big push to be seen as the "open" carrier, and flatly stated that they'll be supporting Google Voice on their network: "Either you have an open device or you don't." That's a big change for Big Red -- just remember that a year ago Google and Verizon were still at each other's throats over 700MHz open-access rules. Now? Rainbows and kittens all around. Lastly, there will be a major app push coming from these two -- Verizon's obviously going to preload Android Market on its devices, and there should be some 10,000 apps available when all is said and done. Not a bad show of support by Verizon, we'd say -- and there was a lot of talk about long-term roadmaps and a "family" of products, so we'd expect much more than just two phones and smiles over the next few months. Things are certainly getting interesting, no?
Verizon Wireless opens network to "Any Apps, Any Device" in 2008
By the end of 2008, Verizon Wireless will open their network to any device which meets a "minimum technical standard." What that standard is, exactly, VZW isn't saying yet -- that will come in "early 2008." So any device (including applications) tested and certified in VZW's new $20 Million test lab is fair game for use on their wireless network. In other words, Verizon becomes the data pipe, and nothing more for these new "bring-your-own" customers. It's too early to say if this is a watershed moment or not. Verizon certainly thinks so with Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless president and chief executive officer, calling it, "a transformation point in the 20-year history of mass market wireless devices." As usual, the devil (certification fees, turnaround times for testing, those magical minimum technical standards, etc.) might be in the details.P.S. In case you're wondering, Verizon is currently not a member of Android's Open Handset Alliance.
