While Google’s Nexus One phone was supposed to rattle the wireless status quo by offering users unsubsidized phones via a Google store, the promised revolution never arrived. That was due to a number of factors, including the fact that the phone was initially only available via T-Mobile. However, the Nexus One also came with fairly awful 3G connectivity bugs and annoying fees — but not with phone support (Google fixed the latter... 

Consumer group Free Press is apparently hitting some of AT&T’s buttons this week, if this missive from AT&T lobbyist Hank Hultquist is any indication. Hultquist this week attacked the consumer group as a purveyor of “Da Vinci Code conspiracy theories” for a recent letter the group wrote to the FCC that points out how AT&T’s long-standing dream of “paid prioritization” could be bad for consumers.... 

Back in July , slides shown at a T-Mobile manager’s meeting suggested the company wanted to push their 3G HSPA network toward downstream speeds of 42 Mbps. T-Mobile today confirmed those ambitions . T-Mobile’s busily deploying HSPA+ upgrades capable of 21 Mbps downstream speeds (though users see half that), and 42 Mbps speeds will arrive sometime in 2011. While technically still just 3G, the company will be offering speeds as fast... 

Apple today unveiled their new Apple TV device, which as rumors had suggested costs $99, tops out playback at 720p, and is focused on renting TV episodes for a dollar or new films for five dollars. There’s no hard drive in this incarnation, with everything streamed via either 802.11n Wi-Fi or Ethernet connectivity. The unit also comes with Netflix streaming service embedded. As rumors also suggested , broadcasters are still afraid of cannibalizing... 

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal , Sprint is seriously considering letting T-Mobile have a stake in the Clearwire joint venture, a move that would infuse the effort with needed cash — while giving T-Mobile a 4G upgrade path once beyond their aggressive HSPA+ upgrade ambitions . The deal isn’t a given, with the Journal claiming that some Sprint board members are “adamantly opposed to the idea,” largely... 

“White space” broadband technology could use unlicensed and partially vacated spectrum created by the shift to digital television to create a new wireless broadband delivery system. You’ll recall that in 2008 the National Association of Broadcasters was busy bickering with the companies pushing white space usage (Dell, Google, Microsoft), and the FCC began fielding comments on possible rules for the technology. According to... 

Canadian regulatory authority the CRTC hasn’t exactly been a friend to Canada’s smaller, independent ISPs over the last few years. As such, it’s interesting to see users in our Canadian forums direct our attention to the fact that the CRTC has ruled in favor of small operators, and is forcing larger carriers to offer wholesale access to services at the same speeds they themselves offer. As the CBC notes , the ruling reinforces... 

While offshore support is less expensive, that cost savings continues to come at a significiant hit for customer satisfaction ratings, according to a new study by the CFI Group (pdf). According to CFI, call support satisfaction is only 58 out of 100 when the call is handled by an offshore agent, compared to 79 for U.S.-based agents. The study also found that U.S. support reps are 34% more likely to resolve the problem on the first call than... 

We recently noted that Sprint is now giving subscribers new 3G-capable Airave femotocell devices, which allow users with poor cell coverage indoors to route calls over their home broadband connection. We’ve confirmed with Sprint that they are giving these units away to customers who call in to complain about coverage. Indications are that Verizon is busy working on their own upgraded femtocell unit with EVDO functionality. Verizon’s... 

Last week Clearwire dropped a few cryptic hints that the company today would be announcing plans to “serve a new customer segment.” As we noted at the time, it seemed likely that the company’s secret was that they would be announcing new prepaid pricing options — and that appears to be precisely the plan according to SEC filings . The announcement will come with a new brand for the prepaid service, all of which will be... 

Like their cable and telcoTV competitors, Dish Network is hoping that by offering a limited selection of paywalled broadband video content to paying customers, they can prevent customers from cutting the cord and going with Internet video alternatives. Dish this week launched their version of “TV Everywhere” , which the company says will include 150,000 video clips, full-length episodes and movies made available via broadband through... 

Back in June Hulu announced Hulu Plus , a $10 a month broadband video subscription service that is supposed to allow users to access entire back catalogs of TV shows above and beyond what’s available on free Hulu — albeit still with commercials. According to an analysis of the offering by One Touch Intelligence however, about 88% of the content available through Hulu Plus is already available via vanilla Hulu for free. In other words,... 

Despite a few hiccups, Google’s launch of VoIP integration for Gmail has gone rather smoothly, with the company stating they placed over one million phone calls (about one out of every 3,000 phone calls made that day) the first day the service was live. According to Google, more than 200 million people worldwide are active Gmail users, and all of the company’s users in the U.S. now have access to this new functionality. Google is... 

It has been interesting watching Blockbuster video adapt to the broadband age, with the company seemingly not trying very hard — either out of fear of cannibalizing their brick and mortar revenue, or just a general fear of losing control. Early efforts to mirror Netflix’s success at broadband video delivery have seemed relatively lackluster , and the company’s CEO, when announcing such broadband initiatives, seems to  Read More →

Three times now, AT&T and Time Warner Cable have tried and failed to pass laws aimed at stopping towns in North Carolina from building fiber networks. Such networks offer symmetrical fiber at higher speeds and lower prices than either company’s willing to offer. The politicians that pass these carrier-written laws (without even understanding them) pretend the bills were their idea, though Ars Technica notes NC Senator David Hoyle...