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Tagged: Verizon

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August 31, 2011
11:15 • 1 year ago

Justice Department attempts to block AT&T merger with T-Mobile

Tags: AT&T justice department mergers T-Mobile verizon wireless wireless networks

  • then A while back, AT&T announced it would attempt to purchase T-Mobile for $39 billion, in an attempt to shore up deficiencies in its wireless network. Other companies and consumer groups, most notably Sprint, loudly complained.
  • now Now the Justice Department’s trying to block the merger. “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market,” their complaint said. *BOOM.* source

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August 25, 2011
10:44 • 1 year ago

Unemployment claims rise based on a single company’s labor issues

Tags: economy jobless claims jobs labor unemployment unemployment claims verizon verizon strike

  • what Even though investors were expecting a drop in first-time jobless claims last week to roughly 400,000, they actually went up to 417,000 — up 5,000 from the prior week. Wait a second …
  • why Simple — Verizon workers went on strike, and 8,500 of them filed unemployment benefits (12,500 filed the week before). They’ve since gone back to work, so expect this to change next week. source

August 20, 2011
13:08 • 1 year ago
Tags: News Unions Verizon verizon strike verizon unions landlines from brooklynmutt
brooklynmutt: @nytimes So the big question: Are they close to settling the contract, or did the strike hurt them so much that they had to come back? EDIT: Reuters says the former; they’ve reached a bargaining agreement.

brooklynmutt:

@nytimes

So the big question: Are they close to settling the contract, or did the strike hurt them so much that they had to come back? EDIT: Reuters says the former; they’ve reached a bargaining agreement.

August 10, 2011
10:30 • 1 year ago
Tags: fios landlines mobile phones verizon verizon labor dispute verizon strike verizon workers verizon workers strike
All the benefits that we’ve worked and fought for, 30 and 40 years, they want to take off the table … they want to make us like Wal-Mart workers. No benefits and low pay.
Striking Reading, Mass. Verizon worker Paul Murphy • Offering his take on the negotiations that led to the first strike Verizon’s had in over a decade. The strike, which involves the company’s landline workers, flared up after the company pushed to make it easier to fire workers and give raises based on performance, not seniority. The company says that the workers are among the highest-paid telecommunications workers in the industry, and that they have no plans to outsource workers. (h/t John Ness) source (via • follow)
August 7, 2011
11:39 • 1 year ago

Verizon: “Can you hear me now?” Workers: “No, because we’re on strike!”

Tags: fios landlines mobile phones verizon verizon labor dispute verizon strike verizon workers verizon workers strike

  • 45,000 Verizon workers are now on strike source

» Verizon’s tough stance led to strike: In the first strike the company has faced in 11 years, many of the company’s field technicians and customer service workers were fending off a tough stance the company took in negotiations — they were hoping to make it easier to fire workers and also wanted to change the method they decided on raises. Verizon’s push is indicative of the evolution away from the more-profitable landline business and towards wireless.

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June 4, 2011
23:13 • 1 year ago
Tags: wifi mifi clear verizon asking for advice verizon iphone phone tethering mobile broadband

Need help from fellow Tumblrs: What would you recommend for cheap, decent mobile broadband? Verizon's iPhone 4 tethering plans totally suck. Any help?

So, I have an issue: If a coffee shop doesn’t have wifi, I’m totally screwed and can’t post. As a contingency plan, I’ve used an iPhone 3G with an old version of the iOS software that supports free tethering. However, at some point that felt wrong/was going to bite me in the rear-end, so I switched to a Virgin Mobile mifi device. However, while the price is OK, the device itself overheats and the network is flaky. Now, my hope was to switch my phone service over to Verizon and pay $20/month for the iPhone mobile hotspot thing, but as you’ll see at the link above, they’ve totally made the overage prices unreasonably high. $20 for every extra gigabyte seems really high — especially with a 2 gig starting point, right? Another option is Clear, which has decent prices, but 4G isn’t supported outside urban areas (and their 3G devices don’t support wi-fi, so no iPad), making it lame for long-distance travel. Any ideas? I’m all ears. — Ernie @ SFB

*EDIT*: To clarify, this is for purposes of tethering the device to my laptop and iPad.

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March 20, 2011
21:30 • 2 years ago

AT&T’s T-Mobile buyout: Infrastructure, antitrust concerns at play

Tags: antitrust AT&T infrastructure mergers mobile phones sprint T-Mobile tmobile verizon wireless spectrum

  • 35 million subscribers on T-Mobile’s current wireless setup
  • 100M number of subscribers Verizon has, buoyed by a large infrastructure that nobody can touch
  • 95M number of subscribers AT&T has — if the merger goes through, they’ll top Verizon
  • 40M number of subscribers Sprint has; they were also having merger talks with T-Mobile source

» It’s all about infrastructure: AT&T is trying hard to play catch-up with Verizon, which not only has more customers and bandwidth, but also now has the iPhone. The bummer for T-Mobile users is that AT&T’s monthly rates are far higher than T-Mobile’s, which as you might guess has people worried. While T-Mobile has tried to get ahead of talk like this, the concerns are enough that many analysts are warning that the deal won’t go through.

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February 8, 2011
11:01 • 2 years ago

Did Verizon pull bait-and-switch on iPhone buyers with data plan?

Tags: apple controversial data management data speeds iphone verizon

  • cool After many years of waiting, Verizon started selling the iPhone on its service. It’s reportedly selling at extremely fast rates – faster than the Droid, even, Verizon’s previous best-selling phone. Apple could break its own sales record, too.
  • lame But, in a sneak attack only made public after a blogger happened to trip upon it, Verizon changed its data-management policy so that “unlimited” data users will see their speeds slow to a crawl if they use too much of it. WTF? source

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February 6, 2011
23:39 • 2 years ago

Quick facts: Three strikes against Motorola’s new Xoom tablet

Tags: apple data plans expensive honeycomb ipad motorola overpriced verizon xoom

  • strike The device, based on Android 3.0 and getting a lot of attention, has a starting price of $799 – which is way higher than the entry-level iPad.
  • strike The data plans are really expensive for 3G usage – 1 gigabyte is $20, and the plans go as high as $80 for 10 gigabytes. That’s right – $80 a month!
  • out And don’t think you’ll get around this with a hotspot like you can with an iPad. Wi-fi won’t be activated unless you buy a data plan! source

January 7, 2011
21:08 • 2 years ago
Tags: announcements apple AT&T iphone keynotes verizon verizon iphone
This is the sort of thing where Apple needs to play it cool, and act like this is just another carrier. Good news, but not big news. The bottom line from Apple is going to be something like, ‘We’re delighted to add Verizon as an iPhone carrier’. That’s it.
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber • Offering some perspective on Verizon’s forthcoming announcement, likely about the iPhone coming to the wireless provider (freaking finally). Truth is, this is a smart move. Back in 2006, Apple had a special event for stuff unworthy of a special event (remember the overpriced iPod Hi-Fi?) and they drew a ton of criticism, creating one of their biggest stumbles in recent memory. By having an Apple special event for the Verizon iPhone, they’d run the same risk. So, handing it over to Verizon gets around the problem entirely. Plus, now Verizon can fight with AT&T without Apple getting its hands dirty. Smart. source (via • follow)
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October 14, 2010
10:06 • 2 years ago

Harbinger? AT&T, Verizon to start selling iPads at the same time

Tags: apple ipad MiFi verizon

  • at&t They’ll begin selling Apple’s iPad, including the 3G version, starting October 28th.
  • verizon Strangely enough, so will Verizon, but they’ll bundle it with MiFi, which is pretty genius. source

October 9, 2010
19:02 • 2 years ago

News flash: Tech sites use SCARE LANGUAGE to draw hits

Tags: apple cdma crippled iphone scare language verizon

  • lame Let’s say you’re a member of the tech press and you need a story on something. TIME TO DIG IN THE APPLE/VERIZON WELL AGAIN! WHOO! At this point, it’s totally cliche and you shouldn’t believe a word that they write.
  • lamer Now let’s say you want to stand out. PC Magazine went the “Rumored Verizon iPhone Crippled on CDMA… For Now” route. Why? Verizon can’t do voice and data at the same time. So it’s crippled. SCARE PHRASES. source

October 3, 2010
20:36 • 2 years ago

Here’s six bucks: Verizon sorry for all those “accidental” data charges

Tags: cell phone bills cell phones data charges data usage david pogue verizon

  • $90
    million     the amount Verizon agreed to pay consumers affected by overcharging
  • just six bucks the amount consumers will actually see in the end – laaaaaaaame
  • what Verizon agreed to refund its customers for overcharging them for data usage. The FCC twisted their arm.
  • why Verizon designed their phones in such a way that you could use data by accident – and get billed for it.
  • who Credit the NYT’s David Pogue for this one – he brought the issue to the attention of a larger audience. source

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