subsidy

The calls for Verizon Wireless to drop the contract are getting louder.

The petition posted on Change.org calling for Verizon to kill off its contract model has garnered nearly 120,000 signatures, with 25,000 signatures added over the weekend alone.

The petition was created by Verizon customer Mike Beauchamp on April 7 after Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam told CNET on the sidelines of an event held earlier this month that he would consider moving to a no-contract model if consumers demanded it, and said the process to shift to no-contracts wouldn't be difficult.

The comments came shortly … 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

T-Mobile shook up the wireless industry this week with the introduction of its new no-contract service plans. But is the service really a good value for consumers compared to what the other big guys are offering?

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I answer that very question. A reader wants to know if he should ditch Verizon's wireless service for T-Mobile. While some people seem to balk at the notion that wireless consumers will have to "pay"for their smartphones under these new T-Mobile plans, I do the math to explain why even buying a device at … Read more

T-Mobile's seismic shift in how it sells phones and service may be too much for some consumers to process.

In moving away from the old -- and arguably more comfortable -- business model of subsidized phones and two-year contracts, T-Mobile is hoping to shake up the industry and grab a bit of the limelight in the process.

But oftentimes, different is scary. T-Mobile faces the daunting challenge of explaining to consumers how its newly unveiled no-contract plans offer a benefit over the old model, and why it's actually beneficial for them to pay the full price for a … Read more

T-Mobile USA is expected to spill the details on how it will shake up the wireless industry, and you can get all the live updates right here.

The carrier is slated to hold a press conference at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET today in New York. CNET's Brian Bennett, Sarah Tew, and I will be bringing you all the all the latest news, commentary, and photos starting about 15 minutes before the event.

You can tune into the live blog here:

T-Mobile will move to a no-contract model on March 24, with an announcement as early as Monday -- that is, if a story on blog TmoNews pans out.

In reporting the shift, Tmo cites an unnamed source -- "while we're confident the details are accurate today, they could easily change tomorrow," it says -- and it adds that T-Mobile will also ditch early termination fees ("which makes complete sense when announced with the removal of contracts"). It also reports that the carrier will offer a monthly installment plan on handset purchases that will be in … Read more

A hefty chunk of taxpayer dollars spent by the government on mobile phone service for low-income Americans may have been wasted.

A federal program called Lifeline provides hefty discounts on mobile phone service to qualifying low-income households. The goal is to ensure that they can connect with families, employers, and emergency services.

How many of those households should actually have been receiving the discount?

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission started forcing mobile carriers to confirm the eligibility of their Lifelife subscribers. The agency figured that around 15 percent of users would be determined ineligible, but the tighter rules discovered … Read more

AT&T has looked at the idea of making consumers pay for their own smartphones in monthly installments, according to CEO Randall Stephenson.

The idea of handset financing runs counter to the current model of subsidizing phones at a lower initial price in exchange for a higher monthly bill. Under handset financing, consumers would pay an upfront fee for the phone, and then steadily pay off the phone's cost over the next few months.

In exchange, the consumer would presumably get a lower rate on their phone bill, and could conceivably leave whenever they want after paying off … Read more