All Posts Tagged With: "t mobile"
AT&T has sued Verizon for “map” ads.
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Nov 04 2009 | 0 CommentsAT&T is taking the “there’s a map for that ads” to heart, I suppose. Just a few weeks after the ads started showing up all over the television, AT&T has sued Verizon Wireless for the ads.
The suit says that the ads are misleading and can lead a customer to believe that AT&T has large coverage gaps. The truth is, the ads show the 3G coverage gaps and Verizon puts that in large letters at the bottom of the map when AT&T’s map and Verizon’s map are put side by side in the ad.
AT&T is also looking into getting a temporary restraining order against Verizon for the ads. It is claiming that the ads has caused the company to lose market share.
I would say that AT&T needs to shut up and instead of fighting the claims, do something that actually fixes their network. Every time I read about AT&T, it is bad. Usually, no one has anything good to say about AT&T’s network and the only reason that the company is number 2 in the United States is because it was able to get iPhone exclusivity.
The map of AT&T’s 3G coverage is accurate. There isn’t a lot of 3G coverage across the country and a lot of times, it is slow. It really hasn’t done a lot in the past few years to increase the amount of coverage or speed either. While you can get AT&T coverage in areas that aren’t on the map, the 3G coverage isn’t great…or even good in my opinion. Sprint has more 3G coverage. I think the only company that has as little coverage as AT&T is T-Mobile.
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Tags: temporary restraining order, sprint, bottom of the map
Target will rent out retail space to Radio Shack for mobile phone sales
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sun, Nov 01 2009 | 5 Comments
Target will be starting mobile phone sales inside its stores. While most retail stores such as Target and Walmart and even Best Buy offer mobile phone sales, the way that Target is going to be selling mobile phones will be a bit different than others do.
Target will be outsourcing its mobile phone sales to Radio Shack. Because of this, Radio Shack will be opening up kiosks inside the store. Any consumer will be able to buy the same brands they can get other places. They will have T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless.
According to the article, you won’t be able to buy Sprint phones at the kiosks, but I can’t see that holding because Sprint has always been one of the main carriers that sold at Radio Shack stores.
This could be a good idea for smaller retailers; however Target is a pretty big store with a large retail footprint. Target has the ability to sell and the room to sell the phones and plans, but I suppose that they have felt as though this would be the best way to do it and would benefit everyone in the deal.
There wasn’t a lot of information released about the deal between Target and Radio Shack. However, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, California said that Kiosk Operations (a subsidiary of Radio Shack that will be operating the kiosks inside the Target stores) is likely paying Target for the ability to operate In its stores. He said that it is likely for the company to pay between $30,000 and $40,000 per year for retail rent. It is likely that Kiosk Operations will also be paying Target a small amount of its sales, which is probably going to be less than 10 percent.
Source
The change in the way we rent movies is amazing
Tags: verizon wireless, best buy, wedbush morgan securities
Is T-Mobile Planning “Project Dark”?
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Oct 12 2009 | 0 Comments
So with AT&T coming out with it’s $60 a month prepaid unlimited talk and text plan it looks like maybe cellular companies in the United States are finally starting to get competitive. Well, T-Mobile wants to remind people that it is the most affordable cellular provider out there. With it’s growing 3G coverage and a cell phone selection that is growing more and more competitive with it’s Android-based selection, T-Mobile is looking more like a real competitor in the national cell phone market.
It seems like the company is getting tired of being dead last in the list of national carriers. T-Mobile has the fewest subscribers in comparison to Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, and Sprint. It is planning on doing something about it.
T-Mobile has realized that people want to pay less for their cell phone bill. Sprint figured this out and created a $99 unlimited plan with unlimited everything. T-Mo may now trying to one-up the number three carrier by offering the same thing (unlimited talk, text, and data) for $50 a month.
The rumors that are surrounding Project Dark include the carrier offering data intensive phones such as the Nokia N900 and more Android devices such as the Motorola CLIQ. The rumors go on to say that the next stage is the spreading of a 21Mbps HSPA+ system being rolled out across the country. To compare, right now AT&T is still trying to introduce a 7.2 Mbps data coverage.
Of course, all of this is just based on rumors floating around the internet. T-Mobile has always been the carrier with the spottiest coverage, but usually the cheapest price (other than small, regional carriers). This does seem like a move that the company would make to entice people to drop their contracts with other carriers and switch.
A few days ago, I was talking to Chris about cell phone companies and their ability to compete and I told him that if one of the major carriers started dramatically dropping their prices then others would follow suit. I also said that if other carriers could get their hands on the iPhone, prices would drop dramatically. But because AT&T has a firm hold on the iPhone, it isn’t likely to see other carriers get it any time soon and therefore, AT&T won’t be dropping their prices.
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Tags: national carriers, cell phone companies, cell phone market
Hey AT&T, if you’re going to charge more for your plans, at least make sure that your service works.
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Fri, Aug 28 2009 | 0 Comments
AT&T was highly criticized recently because of outages of not only data services but also voice services during the South by Southwest festival. The problem arose from the use of iPhones and other heavy-data usage devices. Everyone who has these devices are paying more for unlimited data and (usually) text message plans both of which are extremely profitable for the company.
AT&T had to bring in extra equipment to handle the issues with the network, however, with all the extra money the company is bringing in from the sales of the plans one would think that their network could handle the issues that are arising from heavy data usage?
Recently, I was using a friend’s iPhone and realized that, without WiFi and WITH 3G coverage, the internet was crawling. I needed her Facebook application for something, otherwise I would have just used my phone.
The way that the cell phone companies are battling this increase in usage is to start coming up with the 4G network. 3G networks are all being touted as the newest and fastest thing now, but these carriers are starting to come up with the 4G networks “of the future”. Sprint has already started to launch its 4G network. It has already launched in Atlanta and Baltimore. I feel bad for T-Mobile at times because most of its coverage still isn’t 3G and watching Sprint launch 4G just reminds me how slow T-Mobile is at getting its coverage ready.
With these heavy data usage phones, the networks have got to get it together. They really need to start catering to the users who are paying the premiums for the phones and data plans. The average iPhone user spends more than $100 per month on the plan, other users on AT&T spend half of that amount.
Related posts:The Battle of the Prepaid cellular prices continues
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Tags: south by southwest, extra equipment, extra money
It was going to happen eventually: Employees sue employers for extra work done
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Aug 12 2009 | 1 Comment
In our day and age, people are hyperconnected; meaning they are always connected to some device where they can be reached. Things, of course, weren’t always this way. Now, if your boss wants to get in touch with you all he or she has to do is pick up the phone or sent out an email. This has led to some employees working while they are off work; either after hours or on off days.
In response to this, a lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of New York against T-Mobile by employees alleging that they were required to be on call and respond to some customer problems while they were scheduled to be off or weren’t getting paid for the work. During the time they were on call they weren’t getting overtime.
According to the lawsuit, the employees (some former and current), were required to “review and respond to numerous T-Mobile related emails and text messages at all hours of the day and night, whether or not they were logged into T-Mobile’s computer based time keeping system.” The employees were also required to be a part of conference calls during off days and during lunch and other times that they were off the clock.
There was another, similar lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin by a real estate worker who wasn’t being paid overtime for responding to maintenance issues after hours.
All of this shows that people are expected and sometimes have to be connected at all times for job security and some employers are taking advantage of that. You should be getting paid for all the hours that you’re working, even if you’re at home. If you work past 40 hours a week, you should be getting paid overtime. This is definitely true if you’re an hourly worker. If you’re a salaried worker, sometimes the line can be a bit blurred, but that isn’t any excuse for your employer to take advantage of you and your constant connection to the world.
Some people are simply addicted to being connected and doing things that involve work. This includes those who have an addiction to work.
If you are checking your email after work then you may not be on the clock for that, but if your boss is asking you to respond to work related emails after hours then you should be getting paid for the work that you’re doing then.
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Tags: maintenance issues, job security, eastern district of new york
