AT&T

What AT&T’s Data Throttling Means to its Customers

You probably remember how AT&T last year began throttling the top 5% of its data users with the aim of offering a more stable data connection to the rest of its users, but what does that actually mean in the real world?

While AT&T no-longer offers an unlimited plan there are plenty of iPhone users who have been allowed to keep their old unlimited plan as part of their upgrades only to receive an SMS saying they have been throttled. The question is, what does that throttling actually mean?

AppAdvice decided to put that to the test, and they've compiled a video showing the affects a throttled AT&T 3G connection can have on the most basic of iPhone tasks...

iPhone 4S Still Top-Seller for Sprint, Verizon and AT&T During December

December was another great month for iPhone sales, according to research by Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley and his crack team of number crunchers, with all three major US carriers seeing the new iPhone 4S top their sales charts.

Two months after its initial release on Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon, the iPhone 4S is still the best-seller for all three of the carriers that offer the handset in the United States, with two Android phones helping make up the top three, the Samsung Galaxy S II and the newer Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Less surprisingly, the top-selling tablet device in the United States was the iPad 2, with the cheaper Amazon Kindle Fire being its nearest competitor. We expect the tablet landscape to alter during 2012 however, with more Android and Windows 8 machines offering more competition for Apple's device...

AT&T Brings LTE to 11 New Cities

After rolling out its LTE network in 15 markets last year, AT&T takes one more step forward by adding 11 new cities to the grid:

AT&T took a big step toward expanding its high-speed LTE network, announcing on Thursday that it has added 11 more areas, including Los Angeles, the New York Metro Area and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Also getting the service are Austin; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Orlando; Phoenix; Raleigh, N.C.; and San Diego, Calif.

Where's my iPhone LTE, Apple?

iPhone Made Up 66% of AT&T’s December Smartphone Sales

The iPhone has without a doubt been one of the (if not the) year's most popular handsets. The iPhone 4 led smartphone sales at Verizon for the better part of 2011, and both the 3GS and 4 have done the same at AT&T. But is the device still on top?

According to a recent report from The Mac Observer, it is. At least with AT&T anyway. The site claims that it has spoken to a source within the company that says that Apple's smartphone dominated its handset sales during the month of December...

FCC Approves AT&T’s 4G Spectrum Purchase

Both AT&T and the FCC continue to make headlines today, as reports are surfacing that the Federal Communications Commission has just approved the carrier's purchase of 700MHz wireless spectrum from Qualcomm.

You may recall that the FCC recently announced its disapproval of AT&T's T-Mobile buyout, eventually forcing the carrier to pull out of the deal. But it seems like the two organizations are on the same page this time around...

What Does the Failed AT&T Merger Mean for T-Mobile?

After the FCC joined the Department of Justice in announcing its public disapproval of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger last month, we figured the deal was as good as dead. And after a few weeks of trying to find a workaround, AT&T has finally figured it out as well.

As we reported yesterday, the carrier has just announced that it has decided to completely withdraw its offer to purchase the Deutsche Telekom-owned operator. This is obviously great news for Sprint and other small carriers, but what does it mean for T-Mobile?

AT&T Pulls Out of T-Mobile Buyout

And there we have it, folks. The love affair between AT&T and T-Mobile is finally over, with the former confirming today that it has pulled out of a proposed deal to buy the latter from its parent company, Deutsche Telekom.

The news comes as both the FCC and DOJ voiced concerns over the potential buyout, with many industry insiders believing there was no way AT&T was going to be able to force a deal through with so much opposition.

Today AT&T finally gave up on the deal that would have given it a considerable leg-up with regards to increased spectrum. The real kicker? AT&T will have to pay T-Mobile $4 billion as part of the breakup, though questions will still remain as to whether T-Mobile will be able to continue in the long term.

AT&T Set to Smash Quarterly Sales Record This Holiday Thanks to iPhone 4S

US wireless provider AT&T is set to smash its own quarterly sales record after announcing that it has sold roughly 6 million smartphones in the first two months of the fourth quarter.

That mammoth result means that the carrier needs to sell just 100,000 smartphones during the last month of this quarter in order to match its current record, which was set during the third quarter of last year.

The reason for AT&T having such a great quarter? The iPhone 4S, of course...

Consumer Reports Rates AT&T as Worst US Carrier, Again

Prior to this year, AT&T was in a pretty sweet spot. As the only carrier in the United States with Apple's coveted handset, generating new smartphone customers wasn't very difficult.

But now that Verizon and Sprint are in the mix, AT&T might want to think about stepping up its game. Consumer Reports just named the carrier the worst in the US in customer satisfaction, again.

AT&T Withdraws T-Mobile Merger Application from FCC

Big news coming out of the Lone Star state today as Dallas-based wireless carrier AT&T has announced that it has withdrawn its T-Mobile merger application from the FCC. The operator was looking to buy the Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier for close to $40 billion dollars.

The merger deal has hit some major roadblocks over the last few months. In August, the Department of Justice filed a court complaint to block the buyout. Then yesterday, the FCC sided with the DOJ, requesting a formal administrative hearing into AT&T's proposal...

The AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Ain’t Looking Good

Besides Verizon, it looks like no one is in favor of the $39 billion AT&T/T-Mobile merger. According to AllThingsD's Ina Fried:

You can add the chairman and staff of the Federal Communications Commission to the list of those who believe AT&T’s deal to acquire T-Mobile USA would hurt competition. [...] FCC officials said on Tuesday that the agency found in its review not only that the deal would hurt competition, but also that it represents an unprecedented reduction in competition. In every market except Omaha (where T-Mobile does not offer service), the agency found that the merger would reduce competition to a meaningful degree.

Obviously AT&T is not giving up and they'll use every possible mean to have the deal go through. Some lawyer firms are about to make a lot of money!

AT&T iPhone 3GS Price Bump is Meant to Prevent Fraud

Since AT&T increased the price of the iPhone 3GS from a bargainous FREE to the perplexing $0.99, we've all been asking the same question: Why? When Apple announced the iPhone 4S, they made a point of repricing the iPhone 3GS as a free option.

Why would AT&T take the unusual step or increasing the price of a handset that Apple itself had declared would be free, and increase it by just a dollar? Strange indeed.

The move was perhaps not as strange as we originally thought. One forum member claiming to work for AT&T believes they may have the answer, and it's all about stopping fraudsters from stealing handsets...