verizon

Despite its rather dull design, the LG Lucid 2 from Verizon is a reliable 4G LTE device that performs consistently well and is available for free with a contract. Aimed at first-time smartphone users, this handset includes a number of features that may just spoil any Android neophyte from here on in.

Sporting Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, wireless charging capabilities (if you buy a separate $30 battery door and a charging pad), and a dual-core processor, the Lucid 2 offers a bit more than the original LG Lucid. Namely, a bump in battery power (from 1,700mAh to … Read more

In the latest twist on the Sprint-Clearwire saga, Verizon Wireless apparently has entered the picture as a suitor for Clearwire's spectrum.

Verizon Wireless has offered to pay as much as $1.5 billion to acquire spectrum leases from networking company Clearwire, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites people said to be familiar with the matter. The move would give the carrier "right to use airwaves currently controlled by Clearwire in big markets in the U.S.," the Journal said.

Word of the Verizon offer came hard on the heels of the announcement this morning that … Read more

Verizon has kicked off a new prepaid plan to lure in feature phone buyers.

Launched yesterday, the new no-contract plan costs $35 a month and offers 500 anytime minutes of talk as well as unlimited text and Internet. Tipping over the 500 monthly minutes will ring up an extra 25 cents per minute.

The deal is geared strictly toward feature phones, so smartphone owners need not apply.

Verizon offers four feature phones along with the plan -- the LG Cosmos 2, the Samsung Gusto 2, the Samsung Intensity 3, and the LG Extravert. All four phones are heavily discounted when … Read more

One of the most important aspects of a handset's overall user experience is which carrier it's operating on.

Now that T-Mobile is offering the device, the iPhone 5 is finally available on all four major U.S. carriers. (Regional networks like U.S. Cellular, Cricket Wireless, and C Spire sell the handset as well.)

Each of these four networks -- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile -- have different plans, prices, and bundles. In addition, T-Mobile's iPhone in particular comes with a number of differences compared to the others. However, with all the little nuanced phone … Read more

Two weeks ago, when T-Mobile announced that its 4G LTE had launched, CNET's own Brian Bennett gave the network a test run in New York across three handsets: the iPhone 5, the HTC One, and the BlackBerry Z10.

But as most of us know, the carrier's 4G LTE isn't actually live now in New York; it was turned on temporarily just for the press conference. Currently, if you want to experience T-Mobile's fledgling 4G LTE, you'll need to be in Baltimore; Houston; Kansas City, Mo.; Las Vegas; Phoenix; San Jose, Calif.; or Washington, D.C.… Read more

Six more AT&T markets have access to its 4G LTE network, bringing its total to 182, the carrier said today.

Meanwhile, seven existing AT&T markets have snagged expanded LTE coverage. The company also unveiled plans to bring the super-fast wireless connection to 77 additional markets by the end of summer.

AT&T is racing to catch up to market leader Verizon Wireless, which offers LTE in nearly 500 markets and plans to wrap up its deployment by the middle of the year. With the increasing consumer awareness over 4G LTE and the need for a … Read more

Las Vegas -- Wireless giant Verizon is on a collision course with TV broadcasters as they each see big opportunities in broadcasting live events to mobile devices.

During a question-and-answer session at the broadcast industry's annual trade show here Tuesday Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam said his company's new broadcast video service is not meant to compete with traditional broadcast TV. In January, Verizon said it planned to offer a broadcast TV service over its LTE wireless network. And the company has said that it plans to broadcast live events such as the 2014 Super Bowl over this … Read more

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam cracked open the door to a full no-contract wireless world.

McAdam said it was "pretty easy" to change up the model to eliminate contracts, and added that he would watch the consumer response that T-Mobile gets from its recent decision to drop contracts and phone subsidies altogether. He indicated a willingness to follow suit if consumers start asking for it.

"I'm happy when I see something different tried," McAdam told reporters on the sidelines of an event to raise awareness for Verizon's "Powerful Answers" initiative today. "We … Read more

Late last month, the FCC issued its 16th Mobile Competition Report, a 400-page document that analyzes in detail the competitive landscape for mobile carriers and the ecosystem that surrounds them.

Congress charged the FCC with answering one simple question in the annual report: Is there "effective competition" in the mobile ecosystem?

But since the 2009 confirmation of Genachowski as the chairman, the FCC has refused to answer the question one way or the other. Here, as in its previous two reports, the commission comes tantalizingly close to the right conclusion, but then backs away from it in the … Read more