July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

T-Mobile just unleashed a flurry of news at CES: The company’s popular Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data plan is going contract free tomorrow, it’s launching a new program to bring 4G wireless to laptops and tablets, and it’s also the first U.S. carrier to launch HD Voice for clear calls.

Oh, and it has also partnered with Major League Baseball to power a new on-field communication system. Whew.

First launched last September, T-Mobile says its Unlimited Nationwide 4G data plan has been a smashing success, attracting nearly 46 percent of new subscribers last month. Starting tomorrow, T-Mobile is going to make the plan even more appealing by offering it for $70 a month with no contract.

Such a move could help T-Mobile stand apart from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which have both moved away from unlimited plans. But it’s hard to say if it will be enough to stem T-Mobile’s subscriber bleed. T-Mobile remains the only U.S. carrier without the iPhone, which has led to some dismal earnings for the last several quarters.

T-Mobile is also launching “4G Connect,” an effort to equip more laptops and tablets with 4G access. The program will kick off on a few Windows 8 laptops and Ultrabooks, including the Dell Inspiron 14z and HP Pavilion dm1. The amount of free data on every device will vary, but T-Mobile says you’ll be able ot get up to 200 megabytes of free monthly 4G service when you pick up on of the 4G Connect computers. For additional data, you can choose from any of the carrier’s monthly plans.

HD Voice, which offers a significant improvement on call quality, has been flipped on for T-Mobile’s network today, the carrier announced. You’ll need a compatible 4G smartphone to take advantage of HD Voice, and it’ll only work with other HD Voice capable T-Mobile subscribers for now. But it’s still a major get for T-Mobile. For all of its competitors LTE network advancements, call quality hasn’t improved much.

T-Mobile also said that it has launched support for 1900 megahertz spectrum in Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Virginia Beach, which will allow unlocked iPhone owners to utilize the full speed of its network. The carrier now supports the iPhone-ready spectrum in 46 metro areas.

When it comes to its own LTE network, T-Mobile plans to kick off its coverage with Las Vegas in the next few weeks, the Verge reports. The carrier plans to cover more than 100 million people with its LTE network by the middle of the year.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Attention data-hungry commitment-phobes: Sprint’s new “pay as you go” service may interest you.

The carrier today announced a new “Sprint as you go” service that offers customers an unlimited voice and data plan for a flat monthly rate, without the burdens of a contract. This may be a great deal for people who don’t want to pay full price for their smartphone or get locked into a particular carrier for two years.

Initially, the new service will be available on four phones, including the Samsung M400 ($50.), Samsung Array ($80), LG’s Optimus Elite ($150), and Samsung Victory ($250). According to Android Police, Sprint will offer two versions of the pay as you go plan: a $50 per month plan for feature phones (M400 & Array) and a $70 per month non-LTE plan for smartphones (Optimus Elite & Victory).

The new Sprint “pay as you go” unlimited service will be available Jan. 25. Do you plan on using Sprints new unlimited, contract-free phones instead of signing another contract? Let us know in the comment section below.

Photo via thedarkthing/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Struggling U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile has unveiled a new unlimited data plan that promises not to throttle when you start using more data than it would like, the company announced today.

Unlimited data plans offered by wireless carriers almost always have limitations, including slowing down your speeds after you use a certain amount of data. T-Mobile is skirting this trend by promising to not slow down anyone on the “Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data” plan. T-Mobile is clearly feeling the hurt from being the only major carrier that doesn’t carry the iPhone, so it continues offer the best overall value in plan prices of the big four wireless carriers.

It’s important to note that T-Mobile’s “4G” data isn’t the same as what Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint are offering with their 4G data. T-Mobile’s 4G is HSPA+ rather than LTE and isn’t next-generation technology. HSPA+ from T-Mobile claims speeds up to 42 Mbps in some U.S. markets, and can be quite speedy if your phone is compatible. Still, T-Mobile plans to start offering 4G LTE in 2013.

The Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data plan runs $20 per month on top of a Value voice and text plan or $30 a month on top of a Classic voice and text plan. For example, a single-line Classic plan with unlimited talk, text and data will cost $89.99.

The new plan will be available on Sept. 5.

Screenshot: T-Mobile/YouTube

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Regrets? We’ve all had a few. But AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said his big whoopsie was offering an unlimited data package for AT&T customers.

“My only regret was how we introduced pricing … Thirty dollars, and you get all you can eat,” he said at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference. “Every additional megabyte you use in this network, I have to invest capital.”

The additional megabytes started to pinch AT&T a bit more as iPhone users grew in number and in data usage. Also, those customers’ iMessage capabilities undercut the carrier’s text messaging business, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by the CEO.

AT&T’s subsequent tap-dancing around the unlimited data issue was nothing short of a media-fueled consumer firestorm.

It all started about two years ago, when the company killed unlimited data plans for new customers. The carrier started offering tiered data plans: DataPlus, a $15-per-month plan that offers 200MB of data; and DataPro, a $25-per-month plan that provides 2GB of data. DataPlus users who went over their monthly data allotment had to pay $15 for another 200MB of data, and DataPro users had to pay $10 for another 1GB of data. Simple, right?

The prices got bumped up at the beginning of this year, and the company also made new allowances for hotspots and tethering.

But even after the price hike, heavy users were seeing slowdowns. The carrier was throttling data service for the top 5 percent of heavy data users in a given geographical area for each month. Due to widespread public outcry, AT&T slightly changed its position.

Now, you can use up to 3 gigabytes during your billing cycle before you get throttled — 5GB if you’re a 4G LTE user. The company doesn’t currently offer an unlimited data plan for smartphones.

“You lie awake at night worrying about what is that which will disrupt your business model,” the CEO told the conference audience. Apparently, mobile data disrupted AT&T more than anyone could have guessed.

via The New York Times’ Bits blog; pop top image via hyku/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

After confirming that its unlimited data plan would continue for LTE Android smartphones, Sprint said today it will also offer unlimited data on the next iPhone — even if it runs on LTE.

“I’m not anticipating the unlimited plan would change by that point,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told CNet’s Roger Cheng in an interview today. “That’s our distinctive differentiator.”

Hesse said the unlimited data plan has made customers jump ship from other carriers, and he called it “a match made in heaven” for Sprint. Of course, the third-place carrier may be singing a different tune after it actually launches its 4G network (expected over the Summer) and gets overloaded with consumers streaming Netflix over LTE.

Obviously, we still don’t know for a fact if the iPhone 5 will support LTE 4G, but given the new iPad’s use of the technology, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet. And after testing out plenty of LTE smartphones, it’s getting difficult for me to live with the slower 3G speeds of my iPhone 4S. Apple can’t afford to fall behind when it comes to network speeds.

Sprint reported an $863 million net loss for the first quarter this morning, but at the same time it saw a healthy gain of 263,000 contracted subscribers.

iPhone 5 mockup via BENM.AT

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Don’t listen to those Sprint ads that tout a “truly unlimited data” plan — they may not be entirely true.

The carrier actually slows down data speeds for the top 1 percent of its smartphone customers, CEO Dan Hesse admitted Thursday. “For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off,” Hesse said at an investor conference, according to Dow Jones Newswire.

The practice may not fall in line with what the company preaches in its advertisements (like the one seen above), but it is consistent with an October 2011 decision to stop offering unlimited 4G data plans for tablets and broadband cards.

Throttling or not, Sprint remains the only U.S. carrier to offer an unlimited data plan for the Apple iPhone. That fact alone should keep the company in the good graces of mobile users and help it continue on its long road to recovery.

Another part of that recovery plan, at least according to a leaked ad obtained by The Verge, seems to include the Sprint Galaxy Nexus, the carrier’s first 4G LTE phone. And because Hesse also revealed Thursday that the company will launch LTE in Atlanta, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston market by mid-2012, we know the device is coming soon.

Update: New reports suggest that Hesse was misquoted and that the throttling statement was made in regard to customers roaming on partner networks.

Update #2: Sprint posted a statement to its community site (members-only link). “Sprint does not throttle any postpaid phone data users for on-network or off-network usage,” the statement reads. “Sprint does have terms and conditions which prohibit certain types of data use that may impair other customers’ usage or harm or interfere with the network. At yesterday’s investor conference, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was referring to Sprint’s right to terminate service of data abusers who violate Sprint’s terms and conditions.”

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Ericsson, a company providing technology to the world’s mobile operators, predicts mobile data subscriptions will hit five billion in 2016, 10 times larger than the current figure.

When you sign up for a smartphone, you are usually required to sign up for a data plan. The application you downloaded, the email you sent, the social app you updated, they all use the mobile web and whittle at the allotted amount of data allowed by your subscription. These plans can be expensive, and unlimited data plans are now being phased out by top US mobile providers Verizon, AT&T, and now Sprint, which recently killed off unlimited data for tablets.

Ericsson predicts data usage will continue to rise, with 900 million subscriptions increasing to 5 billion in only five years. The reasoning? People are watching videos on their mobile devices much more often. Tablets are prime for watching video on the go, and smartphone screens have only increased in quality, including some crazy new innovations from companies such as Samsung, which plans to release flexible screens in its 2012 mobile line-up.

Perhaps even more fascinating is the fact that 60 percent of our data usage in 2016 will come from users occupying only 1 percent of the Earth’s landmass, according to the report. Ericsson predicts that in 2016, 30 percent of the world’s population will exist in high-density metropolitan areas, with around 1,000 people per square kilometer.

Given the small land-share for so many people, it’s worrisome that Ericsson also reports that in 2011, 69 percent of people have used their devices for activities other than voice while commuting. Thankfully, however, the majority of that usage in the US comes from listening to music, about 30 percent of commuters, and GPS, about 28 percent. Gaming comes in at around 14 percent as the third most performed activity.

The increase in data subscriptions may mean more pressure on operators to provide better plans and download speeds, or even reinstate unlimited data plans.

See some of Ericsson’s charts below:

[Cell towers via Shutterstock]

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Sprint is no longer offering unlimited 4G data consumption for most mobile devices on its network, the company announced Thursday.

Previously, Sprint only put a 5 gigabyte limit on data consumed over its 3G wireless network, while 4G data consumption was unlimited. But as of November, the company will treat all data consumption the same.

The devices affected by Sprint’s data rate change include tablets, netbooks, notebooks, USB cards and Mobile Hotspot devices. And while smartphones will continue to have unlimited 4G data allowances, it doesn’t apply to their Wi-Fi hotspot features — meaning whenever you use your phone to connect to your laptop, the meter is running.

Devices that go over their 5GB allotment of data will get charged $0.05 per megabyte on Sprint’s network and $0.25 per MB for off-network roaming.

Eliminating the unlimited 4G data for most devices except smartphones is probably a strategic move by Sprint to keep its wireless network from lagging due to the increased activity from the iPhone. Also, Sprint’s network has the smallest coverage area and the weakest performance compared to other U.S. carriers, as VentureBeat previously reported.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

In a bid to differentiate itself from AT&T and Verizon, Sprint may offer the iPhone 5 at launch with an unlimited data plan, Bloomberg reports.

Truly unlimited plans are a rare thing these days — both Verizon and AT&T have already nixed them — so Sprint may be able to tempt customers by bundling the iPhone 5 with unlimited data for a flat fee. The carrier is expected to start selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October — yet another sign that Apple will launch the phone during that period — sources in the know say.

Verizon stopped offering unlimited data in July, while AT&T gave up on the practice last year. Both carriers now offer tiered data plans that vary in price. Most customers now opt for 2-gigabyte plans, which cost $30 at both AT&T and Verizon, and which most closely resemble previous unlimited data pricing.

For consumers who don’t want the headache of dealing with a data limit, or overage fees for going over their allotment, the iPhone 5 on Sprint may be very tempting. Neither Sprint or Apple are acknowledging that the carrier will be getting the iPhone yet, and Sprint is remaining mum on its unlimited data plans.

iPhone 5 mockup via MacRumors

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

While iPhone users seem to spend a lot more money in general, they still have the last laugh when it comes to wireless bills — on average, Windows Mobile users pay the most for their wireless services and iPhone users pay the least, according to a recent study by Pageonce.

The study found that Windows Mobile users typically spend around $205 every month on their wireless bills, followed by Android users paying $197 and BlackBerry users paying $194. iPhone users came in at the end of the pack, paying only $165 each month for their wireless service.

Meanwhile, iPhone users are on a much bigger spending spree. The study found iPhone users spend 35 percent more than the rest of smartphone users, based on how big their credit card bills were. iPhone users racked up around $6,900 in monthly credit card bills, while the next highest smartphone batch (BlackBerry users) only paid $5,700 in monthly credit card bills.

Most iPhone users are older. more wealthy, and have a little more free cash, which could explain the larger credit card bill, according to a report by Nielson. It’s no surprise that BlackBerry comes in at least second place, as a large portion of its customers are enterprise users. A large chunk of that could easily be chalked up to corporate expenses.

The monthly bill could be attributed to AT&T’s payment plans, which recently dropped a touch with the introduction of its tiered data plans. The new plans only charge $15 every month for 200MB of data usage and $25 per month for 2GB of data usage, compared to the old $30-per-month all-you-can-eat plan. The new plan makes users pay an extra $10 for each additional gig of data they consume. AT&T claimed that nearly 98 percent of its smartphone users used less than 2 gigabytes of data each month.

The study looked at 275,000 random smartphone accounts between the beginning of October and November. It’s highly likely that those numbers will grow over time, as the number of people buying smartphones grew from 16 percent to 23 percent of all phone carriers between 2009 and 2010, according to a report by Nielson. Another thing to consider is the introduction of the mythical Verizon iPhone, supposedly arriving early next year — and Verizon’s commitment to an unlimited data plan.

It’s also worth noting that the study focused on older Windows Mobile phones. The wireless service numbers for new Windows Phone 7 users could potentially look very different.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

The fear mongering about the death of unlimited data plans can finally come to a close — Verizon today announced that it is going to keep its unlimited data plan option at $30 per month, but is introducing a smaller capped plan for $15 a month.

Verizon’s new plan is a jab at rival AT&T, the sole carrier for Apple’s iPhone that killed off its unlimited data plan for new customers in favor of a 2 gigabyte-per-month plan. Verizon’s bite-sized plan caps data usage at 150MB per month.

Rumors suggest Verizon is finally getting the iPhone early next year. It isn’t clear whether Verizon can handle the large number of users consuming lots of data, as its network is currently optimized for either voice or data transmission — not both simultaneously, like other networks. Verizon recently began offering a limited data plan for iPad users on its MiFi wireless hotspot network.

AT&T unceremoniously killed its unlimited data plan earlier this year after a number of complaints about its wireless network’s performance in large cities like New York and San Francisco. AT&T’s iPhone woes led to some speculation that Verizon would close the curtain on its all-you-can-eat data plan whenever it began selling the iPhone. This is either a direct challenge to AT&T, or Verizon thinking its network will not be strained by the wave of additional iPhone users.

Does this put a bullet in the head of the Verizon iPhone rumors?

via Engadget