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It’s been a strange trip for Verizon. First they say they have unlimited data. But then when some people mistakenly think that “unlimited” means “unlimited,” they’re booted off the Verizon network. Verizon gets sued, of course, for falsely advertising the plan, and pays out roughly a million in the process. So they become up front about their 5 GB soft cap on data. Well, now they’re putting that same 5 GB cap on their BroadBand Access plan, which covers people with wireless data cards. While before they’d just reduce your connection speed when you exceeded the cap, now it appears there will be a monetary penalty.
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Hi, Sprint? It’s Verizon. What’s going on, old buddy? We were just sitting around the table, me, T-Mo, AT&T, sipping on martinis. Nah, we weren’t ripping on you. Okay, so maybe we were making fun of all the customers you’ve lost and the $29 billion you just wrote off. But come on. You make it so easy. So…when are you coming to join the unlimited party? Or so I imagine the conversation would go. But Sprint finally has arrived to the party. Only they didn’t come alone. See, AT&T and Verizon are there solo. They’re so big that they don’t need any goons by their side. T-Mobile, knowing its disadvantage, took unlimited text messaging along. But Sprint brought the kitchen sink to the party.
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Yes, you read the headline right. Roughly a third of the U.S. population has completely ditched their landline in favor of a cell phone only lifestyle. I count myself among them. In fact, many 20-somethings fall into this new category. We’ve become so used to using our cell phones that having a second line that no one calls seems a bit pointless. And you know what? With the unlimited plans hitting the major carriers, people now have more of an incentive to ditch the landline. The $99 per month fee might seem steep, but consider that you’re also cutting out the landline bill. After all, why pay for two phones when one gives you unlimited calling?
Read the rest of Cell phone only population grows to 33 million…

Year-end reporting tends to come late. This is because not only is the company working on its fourth quarter data, but they’ve got to assemble a report for the year as a whole. We’re seeing many of these announcements come in this week, more than halfway through the first quarter of 2008. T-Mobile is our target today, the nation’s No. 4 wireless carrier. We know they’re not catching Sprint anytime soon, but making up any kind of ground is good for them at this point. Then again, that’s not very tough, considering Sprint is losing customers. So did T-Mo put up a positive mark?
Read the rest of T-Mobile posts fourth quarter, 2007 results…

Well, I guess there’s a market for everything. Alltel today announced the introduction of Voicemail MAX. When I see the term “MAX,” especially when in capital letters, I think “maximum.” As in, getting the maximum out of my voicemail in this case. My hopes upon reading the headline was that Alltel would be further expanding its voice-to-text service that it rolled out in December. However, I was very disappointed to find that it’s a service that lets you put “the voices of Hollywood stars, comedians, celebrity impersonators, and top-selling music artists” as your outgoing voicemail message. Pardon me while I let out a very sarcastic “woo hoo.”
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It’s a day we’re certainly going to see in the U.S. before long: THe Mobile Phone Day of Action. No, it won’t be a slew of cell phone users protesting that they want open networks and unlocked phones. That’d be too idealistic. Rather, it’s a term to describe the UK police and their crackdown on driving while talking on a handset. The practice has been banned or about a year overseas, and they’re now starting to get serious about it. You can figure it’s coming to the U.S. soon enough, because we’re now starting to see state after state ratify such laws, which force motorists to use a hands-free device while driving.
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If you believe those AT&T commercials, we’re all in tune with acronyms. Unfortunately, not all of them are as straightforward as “IDK” and “BFF.” In the mobile industry, acronyms are everywhere — and I’m not even talking about as they relate to text messages. I’m talking particularly about GSM and CDMA. These two acronyms are at the very core of cellular communications, and are essential for a basic understanding of the industry. It doesn’t help that many writers use the terms as if they’re familiar to everyone. So today I’m going to explain what the two are, and what they mean to your mobile experience.
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Social networking has been the phenomenon of the past few years. While many people use it for recreational purposes, there is a growing trend of social networking use in a business environment. Research In Motion’s CEO Jim Balsillie has said that the future of the BlackBerry lies in social networking. Many of our business tools of today, including instant messaging, started as recreational social activities. Of course, there’s already a business social network: LinkedIn, which is 19 million professionals strong. And now they have the opportunity to grab more, as they’re entering the mobile world.
Read the rest of LinkedIn launches mobile platform…

It’s often said that technology can be used for good, or it can be used for evil. This couldn’t be more true for a new BrickHouse Security gadget that allows you to view deleted text messages. While it might put the clumsy among us at ease, on the other hand, it puts the heat on those who are less than honest in their communications. And honestly, the spying prospect here kind of scares me. Not that we can’t do similar things on our computers — there are those programs which record your every keystroke, which I’m sure has led to at least a handful of divorces. But in any event, BrickHouse, despite the spying implications, can serve a deal of good.
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So going unlimited isn’t all good, at least initially. The two largest cell phone service providers in the U.S., Verizon Wireless and AT&T, saw their stocks drop on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is the largest two-day drop either company has seen in at least five years. The cause, according to analysts, is the strong possibility of a bidding war opening up among the cell carriers, resulting in lower prices, and as a result lower revenue. There are a few factors involved in this projection, including the fact that roughly 80 percent of Americans own cell phones. But in the end, I believe the analysts. Prices for unlimited service will come down because of competition and consumer trends, among other factors.
Read the rest of AT&T, Verizon see stocks fall amidst unlimited campaign…