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AT&T's video streaming services have been decidedly "me too" affairs, ranging from a video portal that was effectively a Hulu clone to the U-Verse Screen Pack, which was touted as a "Netflix killer" but suffers from a limited catalog and is only available to U-Verse users for an additional $5 a month. However, a new survey being sent to U-Verse customers indicates AT&T is pondering expanding these options. Variety notes that the survey hints that the service might not be directly run by AT&T: A customer survey sent out March 14 to AT&T’s U-verse subscribers asked whether they would be interested in signing up for, or even inquiring about, a “new video and Internet service” that would: Stream to customers’ own devices without a receiver box; include local broadcast channels and “popular sports and entertainment” cable channels; the option to bundle one streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime; and better picture quality and shorter wait times for streaming, All this would be offered “at a significantly lower price than traditional pay TV services” and without usage charges for streaming. As we noted recently, U-Verse users currently aren't being charged for overages but AT&T DSL users are. AT&T's curiosity in such a project comes after Verizon recently launched a streaming video service in conjunction with RedBox. 10 comments
The FCC still has around $185 million out of the $300 million broadband funds available from phase one of their Connect America Fund, dedicated to shoring up broadband coverage gaps. While companies like Frontier took $71.9 million to wire some 92,000 homes, other companies like Windstream balked at taking full funding, saying that getting $775 per install wasn't enough for their liking.  story continues..61 comments
For some time now rumors have suggested that Verizon was trying to buy out UK wireless carrier Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless after talks of a full merger stalled last December. In an interestering twist, anonymous sources tell the Financial Times that Verizon is now working in conjunction with AT&T to buy Vodafone outright. 32 comments
The Navajo Nation is putting the finishing touches on a $46 million broadband improvement project that will connect 30,000 households and 1,000 businesses to improved broadband services. According to Farmington, New Mexico Daily Times, the upgrades are in-large-part thanks to a $32.2 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with $11.3 million provided by the local utility, and another $2.2 million provided by a regional ISP by the name of Commnet. In addition to wiring homes and businesses, the 550 new miles of fiber and 32 new towers (so far) will help serve 1,100 community institutions, including public safety, health, social services and emergency care facilities. 10 comments
Back in May of 2011 we were the first to exclusively report that AT&T would be imposing usage caps on the company's DSL and U-Verse users. Users were told DSL users would see a cap of 150 GB a month and U-Verse users would see a cap of 250 GB a month -- with both sets of users paying $10 for every additional 50 GB of data they use. 67 comments
Consumer Reports has released their annual rankings of the best providers when it comes to triple play services. The survey of 84,000 Consumer Reports readers measures broadband speed and reliability, TV picture and reliability, and phone call quality and reliability -- and is featured in the May issue of the magazine. 26 comments
Streaming OTA video provider Aereo this week saw another major win in their fight against broadcasters looking to shut the service down. Fox network founder Barry Diller started Aereo trials last year in New York City, the service offering users a $12 a month option for local broadcast television services -- adding an interesting and inexpensive option for those eager to cut the cord. 56 comments
The Supreme Court this week ruled for Comcast in a case that was levied against the company alleging they'd intentionally created a monopoly in the Philadelphia area -- then jacked up prices to punitive levels (we've been talking about the case since it was filed in 2003). According to the decision (pdf), the ruling fell along the usual 5-4 partisan lines. 32 comments
Earlier this month CenturyLink confirmed to us that the company now imposes usage caps of 150 GB for 1.5 Mbps lines, and caps of 300 GB for anything faster. Users who exceed those caps get on-screen warnings and are urged to upgrade to faster tiers or business-class service. 38 comments
Despite being BFFs just a year ago, T-Mobile and AT&T have grown increasingly chirpy toward one another over the last few months as they've started competing more intensely. That competition is precisely why regulators blocked the deal, and at T-Mobile's LTE network launch presentation today much of the company's PR ire was directed at AT&T. T-Mobile CEO John Legere pointed out repeatedly that T-Mobile's new plans will save users $1,000 over AT&T during the year, also going so far as to call competitor pricing a "crock of shit," singling out AT&T in particular as a company that is "vaguely sinister." AT&T's unified response to media outlets like CNET and AllThingsD looking for a quote on T-Mobile's new plans? "Whatever." 53 comments
The FCC's sixteenth annual report on the wireless industry (pdf) provides a myriad of data (as required by Congress), but once again refuses to directly state whether or not the wireless industry is actually competitive. That's becoming a sort of annual tradition, as the FCC tries not to offend the wireless industry. 19 comments
A new report from research firm OpenSignal found that T-Mobile LTE is currently live in nine United States cities ahead of the company's official network launch expected tomorrow. Only Kansas City and Las Vegas were specifically mentioned as launch markets, though the firm notes they've also seen significant LTE presence in Seattle, Denver, New Orleans, New York, San Diego, and the Bay Area. 30 comments
As expected, T-Mobile over the weekend launched the company's new contract-free pricing plans that are part of the company's aggressive new "uncarrier" disruption strategy. T-Mobile's getting rid of contracts entirely, and their new base pricing offers users an new unlimited talk, text, and 500MB of data for $50 a month. An additional $20 nets users unlimited data, or users who want to use their phone as a mobile hotspot or modem can add $10 for every extra 2 GB of data. The company is expected to formally announce the new plans on Tuesday. As part of T-Mobile's strategy, they're also getting rid of phone subsidies, letting users either pay full price for a device, or pay in installment plans tacked onto their monthly bill. 78 comments
For several years now the city of Baltimore has been asking Verizon why they, and several other significant cities like Buffalo, Boston, and Alexandria weren't seen fit to receive FiOS upgrades. Despite half a decade of asking the same question, they still don't seem to be getting any answers. 76 comments
AT&T appears poised to begin offering new U-Verse speed tiers that should offer a belated speed increase for bandwidth-hungry users. Earlier this year AT&T promised users they'd eventually see 75-100 Mbps using line bonding, though the company was somewhat murky on deployment time -- or upstream speeds. 96 comments
Rumors surrounding the next Xbox suggest that the game console may require a constantly running broadband connection to function -- in addition to banning used games. Leaked screenshots of an Xbox Development Kit (XDK) for Microsoft's next-generation console (currently code-named "Durago") strongly suggest that game installations to the hard drive will be mandatory, after which "play from the optical drive will not be supported." The last few round of rumors have collectively suggested that Microsoft could be cooking up some incredibly dumb new ideas for their new console: An installable game requirement backs up claims that Microsoft is developing an anti-used games system that requires activation codes for 50GB-capacity Blu-ray discs. 125 comments
The folks over at the Google Fiber blog have announced that the company's 1 Gbps fiber service is expanding into some additional markets -- just probably not yours. Google Fiber community manager Rachel Hack states that the Olathe, Kansas city council has given the green light for Google Fiber to be expanded to that city, about twenty minutes away from Kansas City. "We think that Fiber and widespread Internet access will help to create jobs, grow local businesses, and make Olathe even stronger as it grows," insists the search giant. The Kansas City Star notes that the agreement involves providing free 1 Gbps connections to four public facilities for up to 10 years. 78 comments
When pitching last year's co-marketing arrangement between Verizon and the cable industry, the companies promised that they would offer interesting new cross wireless and cable video services. A new job listing for the Comcast and Verizon's innovation lab promises that they're working on "magical experiences," like letting you resume Xfinity TV shows you were watching on your smartphone. Right now, the partnership simply involves cable companies bundling Verizon Wireless services with a prepaid gift card (the total varies depending on the cable company), while with a wink in return, Verizon quietly jacks up DSL prices and shoves DSL users they don't want to upgrade in the general direction of cable. 23 comments
Just a few years ago, Nielsen proclaimed that the idea of TV cord cutting in favor of Internet video alternatives was "purely fiction." Subsequent Nielsen reports have often quite adorably gone out of their way to downplay cord cutters to protect their cozy relationship with cable ad executives. Fast forward a few years and the latest Nielsen data shows that there are now five million users who consume video -- but don't use a traditional cable connection to do it. 60 comments
The FCC today announced they would unsurprisingly be approving T-Mobile's acquisition of MetroPCS. The agency argued that T-Mobile, though only the nation's fourth-largest carrier, has traditionally been a disruptive player and even combined with MetroPCS "would have an economic incentive to continue to play this role. The freshly-fused company would likely not have "the ability to unilaterally raise price or otherwise harm competition at the national level," according to an agency that blocked AT&T's attempted acquisition of T-Mobile for just those reasons. In a statement, FCC boss Julius Genachowski stated that the deal would help shift the market "toward robust competition and revitalized competitors." 24 comments
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