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Wednesday 23 December 2015

FCC Entice AT&T, T-Mobile on Mobile Data Policies



The FCC recently questioned AT&T and T-Mobile regarding their data policies. FCC chairman Tom Wheeler reported that the commission decided to send letters to both the mobile carriers and also to Comcast. According to The Wall Street Journal, these two carriers are among a handful of broadband providers that have drawn scrutiny for mobile data offerings. T-Mobile zero-rates content from specific cellphone providers for its Binge On video streaming service and AT&T is experimenting with sponsored data in which it pays the data charges rather than the user.

Last week Verizon has planned to launch sponsored data service next year. Comcast’s Stream TV doesn’t count against usage caps for Comcast users. Most people believe such models enable telecom companies to boost favored content that is bound to run afoul on FCC’s net neutrality guidelines. These models favor reputed media organizations, but net neutrality backers argued that this makes it even more difficult for smaller players to compete. The cellphone service provider might get affected due to this case. 

The FCC didn’t react to the situation that might appear to skirt net neutrality principles, but the commission is focused on keeping tabs on mobile and cable industries to make changes in the data policies of cellphone service providers. 

TIA once again took issue with the FCC's stance following Wheeler's remarks. "Consumers benefit when mobile operators provide new services and offerings. U.S. mobile consumers are in the driver's seat, free to pick the service that's right for them, thanks to the robust competitive marketplace," said CTIA EVP Brad Gillen. "We need to promote and facilitate new offerings and innovations for consumers if we are to lead the world in mobile services going forward."

Finally, the U.S. appeals court heard the complete argument earlier this month over the issue of the FCC’s net neutrality rules which may eventually decide the issue.

Thursday 10 December 2015

AOL Confirms Layoffs as Verizon Looks to Cut Overlap

                      

AOL has laid off 100 employees while it integrates with the new corporate parent, Verizon. However, the latest round of layoffs was not an unexpected one. Verizon earlier purchased AOL for $4.4 billion and most of the AOL units also overlap with the Verizon divisions. Nearly two-thirds of the cuts are in AOL’s membership division that specifically handles dial-up service, AOL Mail, and AIM. A report stated that some marketing staffers and social media roles have been drastically affected, but the major focus is on the operation layer. The layoffs are under 2% of AOL’s 6000 workers. 

Initially, Verizon had bought AOL solely for advertising and video operations and not for the dial-up business. However, it manages to generate a substantial amount of revenue due to the fact that 2.1 million people still use AOL dial-up, paying a $20 per month charge, on an average. Previously, AOL reportedly earned $186 million in a single quarter as an independent company. Moreover, Verizon has its own Internet subscription products and consumer service departments so the overlap should be reduced as much as possible. 

“The market changes and we at AOL change ahead of the market. As we have continued to do over the last six years, we have re-aligned a handful of key customer functions to put our consumers and customers more squarely at the center. We have done 3 years of deals in the last 6 months,” an AOL spokesperson said in a statement provided to TechCrunch.

AOL has previously held a round of layoffs before Verizon purchased it, cropping 150 employees, especially in the sales department, although most of AOL’s underperforming web publications were also shuttered.

Wednesday 2 December 2015

T-Mobile Heats up Price War With $200 for Sprint Customers Who Switch



In the rapidly escalating cell phone price war, T-Mobile US has come up with a new strategic plan which offers a $200 credit to Sprint users that switch to T-Mobile. 

The volley follows half the price of Sprint’s offer that has been extended to include all the T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T customers this holiday season. Surprisingly, it is the half-off deal a year ago which targeted only Verizon and AT&T subscribers. After T-Mobile unveiled its “Binge On” feature, Sprint launched the ‘half-off’ pitch that allowed users to stream video from different services without running down T-Mobile’s data allowance plan for one month.

T-Mobile chief executive John Legere pitched the targeted $200 offer with Sprint’s performance. I cannot think of any wireless customers in more desperate need of some holiday cheer than those Sprint customers still hanging on over there,” he said in a company release. “Those poor people have put up with the nation’s slowest and smallest LTE network, and their career throwing out a deal-of-the-month for everyone except them.”

Despite trailing its four major competitors, Sprint has made convincing gains last year declaring that it topped Verizon and AT&T in ratings by Nielsen. Such deviated bidding for holiday shoppers is the major reason many wireless customers have started to shop for new smartphones and carriers during the past few months.

In addition, this new T-Mobile $200 offer applies to any Virgin Mobile, Sprint, or Boost customer that qualifies for a Simple Choice postpaid plan. Postpaid wireless users are permitted to pass a credit check and yield higher revenues than prepaid wireless users who pay for the service before using it. 

An announcement from T-Mobile has stated that the $200 offer requires all the three carriers’ customers to surrender a phone. However, the subscribers need to pay an early termination fee to entice rivals’ customers to switch.