What's the cost of a $4 billion gamble gone wrong?
This is part two of a week-long series on the cell phone capacity crunch.
Facing heavy resistance from the U.S. government to its $39 billion bid for T-Mobile, AT&T on Monday officially killed off the deal that would have created by far the nation's largest wireless company.
Verizon pulled a rabbit out of its corporate hat earlier this month. The wireless giant announced a multibillion-dollar deal to purchase rights to largely unused spectrum, which is like an open lane on the congested wireless Internet highway. Verizon purchased these rights from Comcast and Time Warner, two large cable-TV companies, and the smaller Bright House Networks.
AT&T remains the worst carrier in the United States, according to an annual customer satisfaction survey compiled by Consumer Reports and released on Tuesday.
In the era of the smartphone and tablet boom, the hottest wireless commodities are airwaves.
Forget the 4G marketing hype. Which U.S. carriers really offer the fastest mobile-data networks? According to a new report from RootMetrics (a company which conducts its own field tests of wireless networks), Verizon Wireless currently offers the nation's fastest 4G -- by far.
The three largest U.S. cellular carriers by subscribers sell the latest iPhone, and next week, eighth-place C Spire Wireless will join the group.
Your phone company knows where you live, what websites you visit, what apps you download, what videos you like to watch, and even where you are. Now, some have begun selling that valuable information to the highest bidder.
Technology advances quickly in the wireless industry, but animosity can fester.
A new iPhone is widely expected to debut next month for the three largest U.S. carriers, but T-Mobile will be left out, an executive for the carrier said at a technology conference on Monday.
In a response to the government's antitrust suit against its proposed merger with T-Mobile, AT&T issued a glowing report on the wireless industry's health -- with the sole exception of the carrier it is trying to buy.
The government's antitrust lawsuit is bad news for AT&T, but it's potentially disastrous for T-Mobile.
"I'm so happy that I don't have to be an AT&T customer."
The U.S. Department of Justice wants to roadblock AT&T's merger with T-Mobile. But does that mean the deal is off?
The U.S. government is seeking to stop AT&T's $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile, claiming that the deal would "substantially lessen competition" in the wireless industry.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T on Wednesday seeking to block its $39 billion merger with T-Mobile.
Could your phone bill act like your credit card -- and should it?
Few people would say they actually enjoy contacting their wireless carrier for customer service. But if you have a contract for your cell phone, you'll probably get slightly better service, according to a new survey from J.D. Power and Associates.
The term "4G" is particularly confusing, because it means something different to every wireless company: Service, speed and technology vary wildly. A bill introduced to Congress on Wednesday would attempt to clear that up.
CNN's Josh Levs shows some of the best videos for and about dads.
Cell phone users -- a group that, these days, means practically everybody -- are no doubt concerned about Tuesday's news that the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies cell phones as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."
Sprint is offering up to $175 to customers who switch from other wireless carriers.
The federal government famously smashed up AT&T in a landmark antitrust action that completely revamped the telecom market. Almost 30 years later, is AT&T once again poised to grow so big it eclipses all rivals?
T-Mobile offers a humorous spoof on what it would look like if Prince William's wedding party danced down the aisle.
If the real royal wedding looks anything like this one, it'll more than live up to all the hype.
It's been a tough decade for Ma Bell.
Don't expect T-Mobile USA to air a commercial showing its stunning signature lady passionately accepting a marriage proposal from the AT&T guy.
With AT&T dealing for prized asset T-Mobile, Sprint's options may be down to two: buy everything smaller than it or get bought by Verizon.
AT&T's wireless network will face major challenges "in the short term" unless the carrier is able to begin integrating T-Mobile USA's infrastructure, said AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega.
A merger of AT&T and T-Mobile could transform the U.S. cellular phone landscape. CNN's Maggie Lake reports.
Among many consumer and tech bloggers, the initial reaction to AT&T's proposal to acquire T-Mobile USA was venomous -- and skeptical that such a marriage between two giants would be allowed by federal regulators.
If you're skeptical about AT&T's claims that its purchase of T-Mobile will benefit consumers, you're not alone.
Have you been wondering if that new 4G smartphone you purchased is really getting 4G speeds? Wonder no longer.
AT&T, criticized and even despised for its inability to keep up with growing mobile data usage, thinks it has found the solution to its network woes. And all it will cost the telecom giant is $39 billion and months (or even years) of regulatory hurdles.
AT&T is set to become the largest U.S. mobile network when its deal to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion is finalized.
U.S. stocks were poised to open higher Monday, as investors felt encouraged by progress in Japan's nuclear crisis and AT&T's $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA.
AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA from telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom for an estimated $39 billion in cash and stock, the companies said in a joint release Sunday.
Once again, there are rumblings that the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers may merge to form a larger combined No. 3. But would this be enough to keep the U.S. wireless market competitive for consumers?
What if you could buy your iPhone and wireless service directly from Apple, without having to sign a contract with AT&T or Verizon? Imagine going to Google.com and buying an Android phone that comes with Google Wireless.
With Thursday's release of the iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless, now is a pretty good time to buy a cell phone.
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile are fighting a losing battle.
For those of you with lengthy tech-toy wish lists and not-so-deep pockets, T-Mobile's new tablet offering may provide the answer you've been waiting for.
Well, it's not like we didn't see this coming.
AT&T has been slow to adopt a feature that lets customers share a smartphone data signal wirelessly to other gadgets and computers.
Touch-screen tablets are poised to flood the market soon.
CNN's Dan Simon visits Las Vegas to preview what new gadgets are going to make waves at the Consumer Electronics Show.
You've seen the 4G advertisements from T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon, bragging about a much-better wireless network with blazing fast speeds.
Get ready for an overload of ads about 4G internet.
Kerfye Pierre had recently returned from volunteering in the aftermath of January's Haiti earthquake when she got the most outrageous mobile phone bill of her life.
Google's Nexus One phone may have been one of the most anticipated devices of the last few weeks. But since the smartphone's launch last Tuesday, it has left a string of unhappy customers in its wake.
So, just what the heck happened?
Competition in the smartphone market is heating up this summer as one new hot smartphone after another hits the street. The latest is T-Mobile's next Google Android device, called the myTouch.
It's been a little more than a year since Google Android was announced and rumors of a little device called the HTC Dream started to leak onto the Web.
Some people are taking the law into their own hands by using cell phone jammers. CNN's Kiran Chetry discusses the issue.
Texting your boss that you'll "brb" (be right back) can save a lot of time and energy, but chances are it won't save you money.
Marry me, Sue!" We've just pulled into the parking lot of Albuquerque's Jefferson Commons call center, home to 800 T-Mobile USA customer-service representatives, and outside there's mayhem. Hundreds of screaming, chanting people are standing in front of the building, bedecked in a wild array of hot-pink clothing (T-Mobile's signature color) ranging from T-shirts to cowboy hats to feather boas. They're waving signs, holding up camera phones, and generally acting like starstruck teenagers. One guy's wearing a fuchsia bathrobe; another, in a fluorescent-pink wig, is screaming, "We love you!" over and over.
Q: If I my cell phone goes missing or is stolen, am I responsible for charges that I didn't ring up? How can I protect myself from fraud?
The leaders of the Tour de France were playing chicken in the final climb of stage 14 on Sunday when they were briefly overtaken by ... a chicken. To the Borat impersonator in a lime singlet who ran alongside the cyclists during stage 8, waving the flag of Kazakhstan, and the guy who adorned his bike with gigantic racks of deer antlers in stage 10, add the fellow in the yellow-feathered costume to the list of amusing spectators at this, the most unpredictable Tour in memory.
Finally, a French rider wins a stage of the '07 tour de France. Felicitations to Cedric Vasseur, who outdueled four other escapees from the peloton to cross the line first. The second Tour stage victory in Vasseur's career was overshadowed, alas, by news that broke moments before the riders punched the clock in Tallard this morning, 229 km to the north.
This will be a rushed dispatch: I arrived late to this ancient city in the southern Alps as the result of some travel misadventures that I will share later this week (suffice it to say that the doors of a train closed on my fingertips while a French conductor met my pleas with an impassive stare that reminded me of Merseault from The Stranger).
Bad call reception at home? A new mobile service allows you to seamlessly place calls on both your cellular network and on any open Wi-Fi hotspot cell phones, which are supposed to let you call from anywhere, often work worst in your own home; signals can't penetrate walls as well as they travel urban canyons and the great outdoors.
Wouldn't it be great to have your own cellular tower at home? You'd always have a strong signal on your mobile phone, and you wouldn't be paying to use the carrier's network
Business 2.0: The Sidekick grows upupdated: Fri May 04 2007 13:45:00
Here's how T-Mobile's popular handheld has changed since its 2002 launch.
What phone has starred in rap videos, appeared on the David Letterman Show and been spotted in the hands of hotel heiress Paris Hilton? The T-Mobile Sidekick, of course.
Top-of-the-line cell phones may offer Internet access, but not even the do-it-all Apple iPhone comes with the ability to make calls over Wi-Fi.
Things haven't exactly been going David Beckham's way since he signed his lucrative contract to join the Los Angeles Galaxy in January. First he suffered a serious knee injury that will sideline him until the end of April and possibly May and now he's having a difficult time finding a new home in Los Angeles. While many outlets had soccer's royal family all but moving into the former mansion of Meg Ryan in Bel-Air last week, the asking price for the seven-bedroom, six-bathroom house is apparently too high for the Beckhams.
Last month, when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone at the annual Macworld expo in San Francisco, he declared that the hyped-up handset's killer app would be "making calls."
Business 2.0: Bling! Bling!updated: Fri Jan 19 2007 10:12:00
Designer phones are all the rage. Check out these high-end models.
Paris Hilton is a woman of few words, even when she's endorsing products. This summer, while at the launch party for the newest T-Mobile Sidekick, the hotel heiress showed off a Swarovski crystal-encrusted version made just for her. "That's hot!" she gushed.
Fortune: Wi-Fi? Why not?updated: Thu Sep 28 2006 10:07:00
Wi-Fi phones were the talk of the town this week.
Life as a business traveler doesn't have to wind up like the movies "Terminal" or "Jet Lag" where the main characters find themselves idling away at the airport.
WHEN SUE NOKES JOINED T-MOBILE AS senior vice president of customer service in 2002, the cellphone company, based in Bellevue, Wash., had a little problem: Lousy customer service was driving T-Mobi...
With more than 20,000 hot spots just in the U.S., it's no wonder everyone has gone wi-fi. Maybe you check your e-mail at your local coffee shop or connect with work online from the frequent fliers' lounge.
SO I WAS AT A WINTER CARNIVAL the other day, and I ran into this fortuneteller who looked like a cross between Ivan Boesky during his jail years and one of the guys in ZZ Top. "Hey, Serwer," he ras...
Cell phone ringtones, the snippet of songs replacing a phone's ring, are set to expand to playing a song to callers before the phone owner answers, according to a published report.
The hybrid handheld used to be more of a curiosity for gadget freaks than a truly useful device for the business traveler. But that's changing as more powerful chips and more sleekly designed units...
One of the most indispensible tools of campus life is the cellphone, and I have two recommendations: the T-Mobile color Sidekick phone/PDA/web browser and e-mail device ($300) and the Nokia 3650 (r...
It was a pristine morning last August in San Francisco, and the Starbucks on Mariposa Street near Franklin Square was abuzz. Smiling executives from the coffee giant and from wireless telco T-Mobil...
Let's face it: The novelty of hearing your cell phone play Fur Elise--or even a riff from 50 Cent's "Wanksta"--wears off pretty fast. Ditto for most of those video games you can play on your handse...
Money Magazine: Chat And Shootupdated: Tue Apr 15 2003 11:10:00
Let's face it: The novelty of hearing your cell phone play Fur Elise -- or even a riff from 50 Cent's Wanksta -- wears off pretty fast. Ditto for most of those video games you can play on your handset.
Considering the sorry state of the airline industry, it's quite a shock to learn that airports trail hotels in high-tech services. Things are improving, albeit slowly. Airlines are embracing self-s...
Danger Inc. is introducing a design for a really cool new device called the Hiptop, which seems as though it should succeed because it represents a fundamental contribution to the field of communic...
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