A California judge cleared the way for what is believed to be a record settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Verizon Wireless in which the nation's No. 1 mobile-phone operator has agreed to make broader disclosures and provide free headsets, billing credits and vouchers...
Within a year of the Nov. 24 implementation of wireless local number portability, 30 million consumers will switch providers, according to new research from The Management Network Group (TMNG) Inc.Of those, 18 million will switch because of WLNP, while 12 million who planned to...
I am the kind of customer every wireless carrier seeks. Earlier this year, I cut the cord, and I like to talk A LOT. In other words, I am a high-volume wireless-only customer.So you would think that my wireless carrier, which shall remain nameless,...
WASHINGTON-The California Public Utilities Commission, facing heavy pressure from mobile-phone carriers with generous funding support from their national trade association, last week sent fresh signals that it may postpone a scheduled Sept. 18 vote on a proposed telecom consumer bill of rights.Last Wednesday, the...
Opponents of wireless local number portability lost a substantial ally last week as Verizon Wireless threw in the towel on fighting the proposed Federal Communications Commission mandate and announced plans for how the nation's largest wireless carrier would handle customers looking to change carriers...
WASHINGTON-Amid a backdrop of two new studies showing low-income, minority and disabled citizens continue to have less access to computing devices and the Internet than others in society, a broad cross-section of Democratic House members plan to distill pending digital divide bills into one...
A new report says the Digital Divide is widening as Internet usage grows. The Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union said policy should be focused on people through education and making resources available to acquire computer technology. Studies indicate that lower income, older...
WASHINGTON-Senate Judiciary Committee members last week voiced serious concerns about the proposed $160 billion America Online Inc.-Time Warner Inc. merger, a deal that takes on added significance in light of new strategic partnerships between AOL and several wireless firms."he most significant danger to the...
WASHINGTON-The merger train rolled through the Federal Communications Commission last week as the FCC reacted to a number of telecommunications industry-changing mergers.The FCC does not officially review mergers but has to review the transfer of licenses, considered to be a key part of any...
WASHINGTON-The wireless 911 bill, once assumed a sure bet for congressional approval this year, has hit snags over liability, privacy and other issues that threaten passage of the legislation in 1999.Failure to pass the 911 bill-the centerpiece of the wireless industry's lobbying campaign in...
WASHINGTON-Telecom mergers are not just about mergers anymore.Multibillion-dollar deals have become the jumping-off-point for activism on labor rights, civil rights, regulatory reform, consumer protection, globalism, politics and a slew of other special-interest issues.So many and so big have mergers become that Senate Judiciary Committee...
WASHINGTON-A Federal Communications Commission plan to increase subsidies to connect schools, libraries and rural health care providers to the Internet has come under fierce attack from wireless carriers, consumer groups and a top telecom lawmaker in Congress.The plan would hike quarterly contributions to the...
