Carriers

Sprint said to be preparing new ‘One Up’ early upgrade program

You knew this would happen sooner or later. Following in the footsteps of T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon, it looks like Sprint is preparing to enter the 'early equipment upgrade' club with a new program called 'One Up.'

Much like T-Mobile's Jump or AT&T's Next, One Up is a program that will allow Sprint customers to pay for their devices in monthly installments. And after a year, they'll be able to trade them in for an early upgrade...

Apple’s budget-minded iPhone 5C will fit T-Mobile ‘like a glove’

Apple's much-expected iPhone 5C, noted for its multi-colored plastic body and inexpensive price, could become known for something more: mortally wounding cellular contracts. The test could come this month as Apple unveils the less-expensive iPhone at around what analysts believe will be $400-$500, unsubsidized. For the first time, US carrier T-Mobile - which doesn't require subscribers sign a two-year contract - will go head-to-head against traditional carriers AT&T and Verizon.

Both carriers may lose customers to T-Mobile as all four domestic carriers offer the new iPhones simultaneously, analysts say. While both AT&T and Verizon provide a subsidy on the iPhone's price in return for a two-year contract, T-Mobile lauds its absence of such a requirement. T-Mobile began selling the iPhone in April of 2013...

Japanese carrier DoCoMo to start carrying the iPhone this fall

After years of negotiations, it looks like Apple and DoCoMo have finally reached an iPhone deal. Reuters is reporting this afternoon that the company will join KDDI Corp and SoftBank Corp this fall as the last major Japanese carrier to offer the popular smartphone.

The news comes just a few weeks after Bloomberg ran a report claiming that DoCoMo was ready to consider carrying the iPhone, as long as Apple was willing to concede to a few demands, such as allowing it to preload custom apps. So the question is, who gave in?

Canadian carrier Telus to discontinue some iPhone 5 Models on September 28

With Apple widely expected to unveil two new iPhones next week, folks have been wondering what's going to happen to the current iPhone 5. Apple typically keeps previous models around to sell at a discount, but it may not have to with a lower-cost '5C' in the lineup.

In fact, some pundits believe that Apple is going to discontinue the iPhone 5 later this month. And today comes purported evidence of that theory, with a leaked carrier inventory screenshot showing multiple current-gen iPhones being discontinued on September 28...

AT&T cuts Next pricing, iPhone 5 now $27 a month

AT&T's new device upgrade program called Next has managed to enrage rival T-Mobile, which thinks the initiative is just plain "sneaky and underhanded." The early upgrade program is indeed a bad deal for consumers so the nation's second-largest telco has tweaked pricing earlier today, making a number of devices more affordable.

This includes Apple's iPhone 5, which can be now had for $27 per month for the entry-level model with sixteen gigabytes of storage. That's $5.50 per month cheaper compared to the previous $32.50 per month iPhone 5 pricing under AT&T's Next.

Sticking it to Verizon, the new $27 per month tier is also a buck per year cheaper versus Verizon's Edge plan...

Cincinnati Bell landing the iPhone 5 on August 16

Another regional United States telco is about to land Apple's iPhone 5 soon.

Cincinnati Bell, the leading wireless carrier in Cincinnati, Ohio, and its nearby suburbs in the U.S. states of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, will start offering the Apple smartphone next Friday, August 16, The Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper has confirmed.

Although the device will be priced a bit higher versus other prepaid carriers, the launch festivities are said to include a nice $100 trade-in promo. I've included the full details after the break...

T-Mobile sold 900K iPhones, 600K Galaxy S4s last quarter

Last night, T-Mobile announced its financials for its second quarter, and the numbers were fantastic. The carrier added more than 1 million new subscribers, and sold over 4 million smartphones during the 3-month period.

In the press release, the company wouldn't say how many of those 4 million phones were iPhones, only that the handset made up about 29% of their sales. During the conference call, though, it was much more forthcoming...

T-Mobile to carry ‘a whole array of Apple products’, CEO promises

I haven't forgotten what T-Mobile said last December about selling Apple products in 2013. “T-Mobile USA has entered into an agreement with Apple to bring products to market together next year,” the carrier's parent Deutsche Telekom wrote in a press statement back then.

Four months later, the nation's fourth-largest telco finally landed the iPhone and is now looking to add additional products to the mix. According to its outspoken CEO John Legere, T-Mobile is looking forward to carrying "a whole array of Apple product."

It's kinda expected that T-Mobile should next start offering iPad and perhaps iPod touch devices as well. The way Legere framed it sounds like the company may be eyeing non-iOS gear, too, such as Mac notebooks and perhaps even Apple's AirPlay wireless appliances...

AT&T expands 4G LTE coverage

Despite falling behind rival Verizon Wireless in terms of the deployment of the fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) cellular radio technology, AT&T's LTE is still the fastest and most reliable.

As for coverage, the nation's second-largest telco a week ago flipped the switch on LTE in ten new markets. This was just a week after the company had added seven new cities to the list of LTE-supported markets.

Looks like those weekly updates are becoming a thing for the telco as it announces expanded LTE coverage is now available in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, with six new markets now LTE-friendly...

Verizon introduces new 500MB shareable data plan

The actions of major US wireless carriers are fairly easy to predict—particularly with AT&T and Verizon. If one does something, you can bet the other is going to follow suit, and vice versa. Just recently it happened with the device upgrade plans, and now this.

Hot on the heels of AT&T announcing its new 300MB share plan, Verizon has introduced a similar option for its customers. Starting this month, Big Red subscribers will be able to snag a new 500MB shared data plan for their smartphone, for $40 per month...

AT&T tops Verizon in customer satisfaction, Santa and Tooth Fairy rejoice

Although AT&T was the first U.S. carrier that sold the iPhone when Apple introduced the smartphone in 2007, Verizon Wireless quickly overshadowed the telecom giant. For the first time, AT&T has stolen the spotlight back, outranking rival Verizon in customer service satisfaction.

No, hell did not freeze over. And, yes, this is the AT&T that late last year was voted having the worst voice and data service, had all the tethering issues and is constantly sniping with about everyone...

AT&T’s 4G LTE coming online in more places

Just a week after adding seven new markets, the nation's second-largest telco today announced its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless service is now available in an additional ten U.S. cities.

With Verizon's LTE now blanketing 500+ markets, AT&T certainly has some catching up to do. Customers in select cities located in the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Massachusets, Georgia, Arkansas and West Virginia should start experiencing increased download speeds using their LTE-enabled gear...