Posts Tagged ‘fires’

AT&T fires shots at FCC over its merger report

AT&T responds critically to the FCC’s report on the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger.

AT&T has responded to a report made public by the FCC regarding AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile. AT&T certainly doesn’t hold anything back in its assessment of the FCC’s report, and accuses the government agency of misrepresenting facts. But how much of the response is just smoke and mirrors and PR spin?

Many would argue that AT&T has met a lot of friction regarding the proposed deal, with other carrier CEOs, government institutions and the public in general expressing their concerns over the merger. Yet AT&T is adamant in pushing the deal through, even if it means a partnership or joint venture with T-Mobile if the merger deal isn’t approved.

In its reponse, AT&T says that the FCC report is clearly “one-sided” and is not a careful analysis–instead, it is a “an advocacy piece.”

Consider the following from AT&T:

We have summarized here only a portion of the infirmities we see in the FCC’s report.  We would encourage all observers to read the report itself.  We believe that the utter absence of balance is clear, and demonstrates that the document lacks all credibility.  The decision to issue such a report that has no legal status, without a vote of the Commission, and in a proceeding that has been withdrawn, was also without precedent, and underscores that this was intended more for advocacy and to impact public perceptions.

The problem is that AT&T still doesn’t give enough facts to support its claims that the merger is in the general public’s best interest, and that acquiring T-Mobile would help alleviate its current spectrum crisis.

The impression one gets from this report is that the finger-pointing is just going to go back and forth until the public’s perception of the matter is one of total and utter confusion.

Image: Engadget

Know Your Cell

T-Mobile fires up 42Mbps HSPA+ in 56 new markets

T-Mobile doubles the theoretical speed of its 4G HSPA+ network in 56 new markets

T-Mobile is now blanketing 170 million Americans with 42Mbps HSPA+ after bringing 56 new markets to the fold. 

That effectively doubles the theoretical speed of T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ network from the original 21Mbps in those areas. 

That brings the grand total of upgraded HSPA+ markets over the 150 mark after the last upgrade back in June. 

The only downside is that there is currently only one device that’s capable of taking advantage of the speed, and that’s a boring old Rocket 3.0 laptop stick.

However, T-Mobile has promised that a HSPA+ 42Mbps-compatible smartphone will arrive by the end of the year.

The complete list of new 42Mbps cities is as follows:

Allentown, Pa.; Anderson, S.C.; Asheville, N.C.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Baltimore, Md.; Barnstable, Mass.; Bellingham, Wash.; Bloomington, Ind.; Boise, Idaho; Boston, Mass.; Bremerton, Wash.; Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.; Brunswick, Ga.; Carson City, Nev.; Charlotte, N.C.; Charlottesville, Va.; Chico, Calif.; Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Eugene, Ore.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Flint, Mich.; Greensboro, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Hartford, Conn.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Lafayette, Ind.; Lancaster, Pa.; Laredo, Texas; Lynchburg, Va.; Manchester, N.H.; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; New Haven, Conn.; Ogden, Utah; Providence; R.I.; Provo, Utah; Raleigh-Cary, N.C.; Redding, Calif.; Reno-Sparks, Nev.; Richmond, Va.; Roanoke, Va.; Rockford, Ill.; Salem, Ore.; Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Spartanburg, S.C.; State College, Pa.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Terre Haute, Ind.; Tucson, Ariz.; Washington, D.C.; Wichita Falls, Texas; Winchester, Va.; Winston-Salem, N.C.; Worcester, Mass.; and York, Pa.

For more of the latest cell phone and tablet news and features click here.

Know Your Cell

Samsung fires back at Apple, files countersuit

Samsung has followed through on its promise to sue Apple in response to the lawsuit Apple filed against Samsung last week. Samsung has filed suit against Apple in South Korea, Japan, and Germany over 10 infringements on patents related to smartphone technology.

Read the full story here.

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Google Fires An Average Of Two People Per Month For Leaking Company Secrets? [Unconfirmed]

We’ve heard that Apple’s so secretive that it fires people just for mentioning product codenames, but Google might not be much more lenient either. Supposedly the search engine giant fires “an average of two people” per month for leaking secrets. More »

View full post on Gizmodo

Google fires Nexus S into space, invites tenuous Galaxy S analogies (video)

How are you killing the time until the Nexus S finally goes on sale? Google’s answer to that question has been a typically outlandish affair, involving seven Nexi, a collection of weather balloons, and another quest to see how much can be learned from a humble smartphone’s sensors when they’re shot to the edge of space. Yes, the Mountain View madmen fired a week’s worth of their latest and greatest smartphones through the Earth’s atmosphere, hoping to test both the durability and the information-gathering skills of the onboard compass, gyro, and accelerometer, while dedicated GPS modules were installed in each “shuttle” (made out of styrofoam beer coolers, if you can believe it) to help recover the cargo on its return to terra firma. So far, only six of the phones have been recovered — might this be another of Google’s crazy puzzles? A treasure hunt for an Android fallen from heaven? Video after the break.

Continue reading Google fires Nexus S into space, invites tenuous Galaxy S analogies (video)

Google fires Nexus S into space, invites tenuous Galaxy S analogies (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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