at&t

How carriers get away with 'locking' the iPhone

The software locks that wireless operators put on devices, such as the iPhone, may violate state and federal antitrust laws, but there isn't much consumers can do about it.

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I answer a reader's question about whether consumers could sue their carriers to force them to allow people to take their iPhone 4S to any carrier they want, given that this particular phone uses the exact same hardware on every carrier. And I explain why consumers aren't likely able to sue AT&T over its new policy to restrict the Apple … Read more

AT&T defends FaceTime restrictions amid sharp criticism

In a blog post Wednesday, AT&T defended its new policy of restricting use of Apple's FaceTime app so that only customers on its Mobile Share plans can take advantage of it. But consumer advocates still say AT&T is violating the Federal Communications Commission's Open Internet rules.

Last week, AT&T confirmed that it has plans to make the popular video chat app FaceTime, which is preloaded on all iPhone 4 devices and newer iPhones, available for use on its 3G and 4G networks. Previously, the preloaded app worked only on Wi-Fi networks, but … Read more

T-Mobile cuts the strings on new data plan, goes fully unlimited

With Verizon Wireless and AT&T piling on more restrictions to their data plans, T-Mobile USA is going the opposite route with a new truly unlimited plan.

Starting September 5, T-Mobile will take a page out of Sprint Nextel's playbook and offer a truly unlimited data plan -- one without any caps, throttled connections, or overage charges.

T-Mobile says that customer demand has driven the change, but the move comes after Verizon and AT&T have both moved away from unlimited plans and focused on capped shared data plans that have irked some consumers with their complicated … Read more

Do AT&T's FaceTime limits break FCC rules?

Tuesday's tech news roundup honors our future robot overlords:

AT&T is being accused of data-plan discrimination and breaking FCC rules regarding new iPhone FaceTime options. AT&T recently announced that iPhone customers could use FaceTime video chat service over a cellular network if they have the new shared data plan. (Previously, FaceTime was limited to Wi-Fi.) But several groups have spoken out about the limit and questioned if it follows FCC guidelines. AT&T responded saying it does not believe this breaks any FCC rules, since FaceTime was offered to all customers over Wi-Fi and … Read more

AT&T cuts frequency on cell towers that jammed police radios

AT&T has temporarily disabled a frequency emitted by 16 towers that were found to be interfering with police and firefighter radio communications in Oakland, Calif., the San Francisco Chronicle reported today.

The towers were causing radio failures, particularly when a police car was within a quarter to half a mile of one of them, said David Cruise, Oakland's public safety systems adviser.

After the U.S. Federal Communications Commission confirmed the interference, AT&T shut down the 850MHz frequency for 2G customers on the towers last Friday, but the carrier left the 1,900MHz and 700MHz … Read more

AT&T's FaceTime limits might conflict with FCC rules

Some people have raised red flags regarding AT&T's limits on the use of FaceTime on the upcoming iOS, alleging the restrictions could go against Federal Communications Commission rules.

"Over-the-top communications services like FaceTime are a threat to carriers' revenue, but they should respond by competing with these services and not by engaging in discriminatory behavior," senior staff attorney at Public Knowledge John Bergmayer said in a statement. Public Knowledge is a nonprofit organization that works on Internet law.

The "discriminatory behavior" that Bergmayer is alluding to is AT&T's newly announced … Read more

Game not over yet for OnLive

Any objection to Monday's top tech headlines is overruled:

The Apple vs. Samsung trial is almost at a close. The jury is expected to begin deliberations Tuesday. The two tech giants spent three weeks battling over patents and accusations of copying.

OnLive is facing some rough days ahead. The cloud-based gaming service sold its assets to an investor Friday and laid off employees, but said it will rehire many back as the newly restructured company (which will still be called OnLive). The company says subscribers shouldn't see any problems or interruptions in service during this restructuring.

College students … Read more

AT&T reportedly discontinues sales of subsidized tablets

It appears the days of subsidized pricing for tablets are over at AT&T.

The carrier will no longer offer discounted, on-contract sales of tablets, according to a document published by Engadget. The document, which appears to be a briefing on new in-house sales policies, seems to indicate that today is the last day it will offer subsidized pricing of slates when purchased with a two-year data contract:

Customers purchasing a tablet after August 19, 2012, no longer have a two-year pricing option. The only option available will be the no commitment pricing.

The document also details changes to … Read more

Only AT&T Mobile Share plan users can FaceTime over its cellular network

Amid speculation that AT&T may charge its iPhone users for running the video chat feature, FaceTime, over its cellular network, the carrier sent an official statement to CNET confirming that those who are on its Mobile Share plan will be able to access FaceTime without Wi-Fi, at no extra cost.

AT&T will offer FaceTime over Cellular as an added benefit of our new Mobile Share data plans, which were created to meet customers' growing data needs at a great value. With Mobile Share, the more data you use, the more you save. FaceTime will continue to … Read more