Major Cell Phone Manufacturers Pledge to Support Anti-Theft Technology

In April 2014, AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Sprint joined forces with a host of well-known platform vendors and smartphone manufacturers in order to endorse anti-theft measures.

This year, major mobile manufacturers and wireless carriers announced a voluntary agreement to strengthen anti-theft technology for their devices after July 2015 and that is free of cost to the consumers. As reported by Re/code, Apple, HTC, Assurant, Asurion, Google, Microsoft, Blackberry, Samsung, LG, and ZTE have ensured that users can render their devices inoperable following loss or theft, with an option of restoring the functionality when the device is recovered. The largest U.S. carrier signatories have agreed and pledged to facilitate these efforts.

This agreement came across as several local and state governments of the U.S. considered a legislative approach in dealing with cell phone theft. California State Senator Mark Leno previously proposed a mandatory kill switch requirement for his state that has been as acknowledged as an “incremental, yet adequate step” by him.

Senator Leno also explained why the majority should have access to the kill-switch feature so as to reduce crime linked with mobile thefts. This voluntary agreement to support such a feature is just one piece and not the whole solution of the problem.

On the contrary, the President of CTIA,Steve Largent, praised the agreement by stating ”We appreciate the commitment made by these companies to protect wireless users in the event their smartphones are lost or stolen. This flexibility provides consumers with access to the best features and apps that fit their unique needs while protecting their smartphones and the valuable information they contain. At the same time, it’s important that different technologies are available so that a ‘trap door’ isn’t created that could be exploited by hackers and criminals.”

Although worldwide, support for cell phone anti-theft procedures is currently lacking. Few organizations have already begun to practice robust anti-theft measures.

C Spire Averts Surplus Data Charges for its Customers

With its new customer-friendly initiative, C Spire Wireless is helping its customers avoid surplus data charges.

The program seems to be based on a strong working model. A text message alert is typically sent to the customer when 20% of the monthly data plan remains and once the monthly limit is reached, C Spire gives them a chance to purchase “Top Up” data and those charges are then deducted from their balance. Subscribers also have the option to choose from 500 MB data for $10, 1 GB data for $15 and 3GB for $45. Moreover, if there is any unused data, it can be added to the next month’s plan. 

Suzy Hays, senior vice president for customer marketing noted “Our approach is simple: if you reach your monthly data limit, we’ll let you decide if you want more”.  She also said, “We won’t use it as an opportunity to charge you huge fees without ever asking.”

C Spire found out that smartphone users in the U.S use up to 2.98 GB of data in a month on an average, but 30% of the users consume about 500 MB. This report fits with Chetan Sharma, an industry analyst who shared that U.S subscribers consume around 2.5 GB of data every month during the first quarter. 

Hays said, “It’s a real dilemma because most users struggle to gauge accurately how much data they really need”. He also said “If you purchase too much data, you’re wasting money. If you buy too little, you get hit with surprise overage fees or your data speeds get throttled or slowed down.”

On the overage alert program, it is doubtful if C Spire is working with some other vendor. But on its video passes, the carrier had worked with monetization and network analytics vendor Openwave Mobility in the past. C spire spokesman did not comment immediately on the same.

John Legere, T-Mobile CEO, is constantly pressuring Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T Mobility to reduce surplus charges on their data plans, as T-Mobile did a year back. Legere announced that if the petition started by him reaches 250,000 signatures, a message will be sent to them that can’t be ignored. Change.org/AbolishOverages online petition has nearly 218,000 signatures.

Sprint’s Claure Calls out T-Mobile’s Legere on Twitter

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and T-Mobile US CEO John Legere have gotten into a petty quarrel on the social networking site Twitter before. But Claure took it up a notch this time with his rather irate tweet yesterday. He openly lashed out at John Legere to express his frustration and vexation with T-Mobile’s new “Jump On Demand” phone leasing program. 

The program has recently been launched by T-Mobile in which customers can upgrade their cell phones up to three times per year if they trade in their existing phones. The program is expected to strike the right chords with users, from which T-Mobile will benefit in numbers. However, this hasn’t gone over well with the Sprint CEO who chose to write back to Legere on Twitter himself.

In response, Claure ripped into T-Mobile’s “uncarrier” strategy and their all new and fresh ‘Jump’ program. He came out in the open to express his views in a chain of tweets directed at Legere (most of which have since been deleted). Here is what Claure had to say:

“I am so tired of your Uncarrier bulls--t when you are worse than the other two carriers together. Your cheap misleading lease imitation is a joke. You trick people to believe that they have a 15 dollar iPhone lease payment when it's not true. You tell them they can upgrade up to 3x but you don't tell them the price goes up to 27 dollars when they do. You say one thing but behave completely different. It's all a fake show. So it’s really #Tmobilelikehell”

So far, this has been one of the most direct comments made by the Sprint CEO on a social networking website to another competitor. While the program is expected to yield benefits for T-Mobile, Sprint has tried to spill the tricks of the game against Legere.