While technology and its stakeholders are often blamed for holding back on the roll out of new major platforms like mobile payments, unmitigated problems around security can and should cause equal pause, according to Consumers Union.In a call to action of sorts, the nonprofit...
CTIA came out swinging in its response to the Federal Communications Commission's public notice on how U.S. wireless consumers can avoid experiencing “bill shock,” a term the trade group says is not properly defined in what it considers a flawed FCC survey.A total of...
The nation's leading consumer groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to act on a request to investigate exclusivity pacts between top mobile-phone carriers and handset suppliers that rural wireless operators claim are anticompetitive.Last month, the Rural Cellular Association petitioned the FCC to open a...
High-stakes battles over early termination fees are playing out in official Washington and California at a time when carriers face pressure to make good on commitments to open their networks and embrace consumer-friendly practices, a confluence of forces that appears to be chipping away...
THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION SCHEDULED a June 12 hearing on early termination fees, the announcement coming after a back-channel effort by Chairman Kevin Martin and a nationwide operator failed to find common ground with leading consumer groups on a national policy governing penalty charges...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Jupiter Research's Julie Ask, iGR's Iain...
WASHINGTON-T-Mobile USA Inc., with challenges aplenty as the smallest national cell-phone carrier, has unwittingly angered the nation's top consumer group and publisher of an influential magazine that rates mobile-phone carriers. In doing so, the Bellevue, Wash.-based wireless carrier helped renew criticism of a carrier...
WASHINGTON-Just as wireless was largely left on the edges of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it once again remains in the shadows as lawmakers map out new plans for telecom reform. Broadband is the key word today as fears grow that America is losing...
We have five TVs in our home-three of which are used and two that sit in a corner of the basement. The TVs relegated to the basement are in working order so we don't want to throw them out, but we don't use them.How...
WASHINGTON-Auction revenues from the sale of licenses for 700 MHz spectrum made available with the transition to digital TV first should be used to provide set-top boxes for all of the TVs in America that rely on over-the-air broadcasting, said consumer advocates. "Consumers will...
WASHINGTON-Auction revenues from the sale of licenses for spectrum in the 700 MHz band made available with the transition to digital TV first should be used to provide set-top boxes for all of the TVs in America that rely on over-the-air broadcasting, said consumer...
WASHINGTON-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, just can't seem to keep his hands out of telecom. McCain's targets last week were the incumbent telecom and cable companies opposing municipal-broadband systems. McCain was joined by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) in...
Consumers Union said Monday that customers considering a switch in wireless carriers should first consider Verizon Wireless and not consider Cingular Wireless L.L.C., due to the number of complaints the Federal Communications Commission received-288.9 Cingular complaints per 1 million subscribers."If you're considering a change...
Two key lawmakers recently introduced legislation that would authorize the Justice Department to use wiretaps to investigate and prosecute criminal antitrust conspiracies. Somehow I cannot not see Big Brother listening in on a day in the life of Ivan Seidenberg, whose Verizon Communication's Inc....
Turning rumor into fact, SBC Communications Inc. reported a deal last week to acquire former parent company AT&T Corp. for $16 billion, creating a telecommunications provider with vast domestic and international wireline holdings, as well as a range of domestic wireless operations. The deal,...
WASHINGTON-Hoping to capitalize on recent decisions by a pair of wireless carriers to postpone their involvement in the controversial wireless 411 directory, the Consumers Union is urging Congress to pass legislation that would require consumers to provide written permission to be included in such...
Consumers' love-hate relationship with the wireless industry appears to be as contentious as ever. The latest survey and rankings released by Consumer Reports showed that despite the near-record-level of customer growth during the past year, customer satisfaction scores for wireless services continue to lag...
WASHINGTON-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed legislation requiring mobile-phone carriers to obtain consent from consumers to list their phone numbers in an upcoming 411 wireless directory, despite voicing displeasure with a bill provision creating additional paperwork for wireless operators.The bill, signed into law Friday...
WASHINGTON-Consumer groups today warned federal and state regulators that a merger of Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. would lead to excessive concentration in the local telecom access market in top U.S. markets. "Approval of a merger between the No. 1 and...
WASHINGTON-Consumer groups and cellular dealers asked the Federal Communications Commission to block the proposed merger of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C., while organized labor reiterated its support for the $41 billion transaction. "This merger proposes an unacceptable level of concentration...
WASHINGTON-Consumer groups and cellular agents petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to block the proposed merger of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C., while organized labor reiterated its support for the $41 billion deal. "This merger proposes an unacceptable level of concentration...
WASHINGTON-The Consumers Union is asking the Federal Communications Commission to force wireless carriers to stop locking handsets, saying the move would lead to better coverage, more competition and less pollution."The only reason wireless companies install these locks is to try to hang onto their...
WASHINGTON-Consumers Union on Tuesday asked the Federal Communications Commission to seek ways to stop the industry practice of handset locking, saying doing so would lead to better coverage, more competition and less pollution."The only reason wireless companies install these locks is to try and...
Editor's Note: Each year, RCR Wireless News chooses the person who has most impacted the wireless industry. Our choice for 2003 is the consumer, the collective 150 million wireless subscribers who are changing the wireless industry with both their praises and their complaints. ...
