AT&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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Sprint and Palm have announced the release date for the new Palm Pre. The device is the first to be released from Palm with its new WebOS platform. Until this point, Palm has only had its outdated PalmOS operating system and Windows Mobile on its Treo and Centro phones. With the PalmOS not ever having had a real update and Windows Mobile the bane of many smart phone users’ cellular experiences.

Perhaps because I, myself, am an avid Sprint user, I feel that the Pre has a lot to offer not only me but many of Sprint’s millions of customers.

On June 6th when the phone is released, there is expected to be a shortage, so says Dan Hesse, the CEO of Sprint. With that in mind, Sprint is purposely not advertising the phone as heavily as it should regarding the device.

The Pre is getting a lot of attention right now because it is something that may actually come from Sprint and Palm (both companies have been all but written off as failures) that may actually be a success. Not only that, there are a lot of people out there saying it may give the iPhone a run for its money. I would love to see this phone give the iPhone a run for its money; I have had time to play with the iPhone and will honestly say that it is truly a great device. The fluidity in movement with the operating system is amazing and Palm really has to keep up with that in order to be seen as a true competitor to Apple’s phone. The Pre is also being released just two days before the Apple conference where it is expected for the company to release information regarding a new iPhone model. As of now, there are a few rumors floating around, but aside from an OLED screen and a glowing Apple logo on the back, the rumors are few and far between.

Of course, I have a biased opinion of Sprint’s service and phone selection because I have been with the company since 2005 when I switched from T-Mobile. I have always been happy with the phones and especially the service (they have 3G coverage in my small Mississippi town of around 20,000 without students, 35,000 with). While Sprint’s customer service may not be the most amazing out there, I have always been able to get the answers to all the questions I have regarding to my service. Once, I was on the phone with customer support for over two hours trying to fix my problem I was having (I was not receiving phone calls while I was at home), and the most amazing part was that the problem was directly related to another carrier’s tower I was roaming on, not Sprint’s service. Sprint was actually able to take care of the situation.

You can pick up the contract-free smartphone starting next Thursday.

While the phone can be used on the AT&T network, it will take a little work to get the phone to work on another GSM network like T-Mobile.

And as far as the price goes, if you bought the phone on contract for $199 for the 8GB version and then paid the early termination fee, it would be cheaper than buying the phone outright without a contract and the end result is the same. Since the phones are still tied to the AT&T network, if you really wanted the phone this would be the cheapest way to get an iPhone out of contract.

A $50 a month unlimited voice plan for “loyalty.” Customers that have been with the service for 22 months and haven’t had to default on their contract are able to get the plan.

However, this is only for “voice” service and not data or texts, but with T-Mobile those fees are nominal (from what I remember).

I think it’s amusing that T-mobile believes its most loyal customers are those who have held a contract for 22 months. I wish Sprint would consider me a loyal customer after holding a contract for over 3 years…However, I think getting the amazing SERO plan is worth it.

All cell carriers around DC experienced extremely high call volume today even when they were routing calls to less used towers. Even with calls having problems getting through, texts weren’t having any problems.

From NewsFactor Network:

The largest wireless carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, had boosted capacity, with AT&T reporting it spent about $4 million. A Verizon spokesperson, Debra Lewis, told news media that mobile Web, e-mail and Twitter short messages were good uses of the bandwidth, and the company’s D.C. network was experiencing traffic up to five times its normal call volume. Even so, she said, most of the calls were going through on the first try.

I always thought that this kind of thing happens whenever there is a major event happening were as few as thousands of people are gathered. There were over a million in D.C. today…

Source

This would be the first mobile computer offered at a contract price through a wireless company (but certainly not the last). The news was first “broken” though a RadioShack ad, displaying the price with an AT&T 2 year contract for at least a $49.99/mo. data plan (just for the internet, no talk time).

RadioShack Offers $99 Acer Netbook