How to Monitor Mobile Data Usage


Carriers are increasingly asking consumers to monitor their own data usage and imposing data caps and additional fees on their customers who use too much.  However, wireless operators are not providing sufficient tools like this one above from Deutsche Telekom.  This new ‘self-care’ customer app from Deutsche Telekom comes with a WiFi finder, Facebook integration and funding option if you run out of data.  As you can see it provides the user with the capability to manage tiers of speed on 2G, 3G and LTE.  It controls data caps, WiFi access, and varying levels of added-on bundled services.  AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile Metro PCS and Leap and all of the carriers imposing data caps must provide tools like this for consumers to easily monitor their usage.

We will try and list available mobile apps as they become available in the marketplace.  Please submit any suggestions below in the comment field for us to review.

How Many Cell Phone Calls Are Made a Day?

crowd of people holding their cell phone at a convert
13.5 Billion Cell Phone Calls Per Day Worldwide

According to a report by Statista, in 2021 there were an estimated 13.5 billion mobile phone calls made per day worldwide. This figure includes both voice calls and video calls made using mobile devices. It is important to note that this is just an estimate and the actual number of phone calls made per day may be higher or lower than this figure.

The average person makes or receives 8 mobile phone calls per day.  That is roughly 2.4 billion phone calls across the 300 million cell phone user in the U.S.  The average mobile phone user in the U.S makes 250 phone calls per month or 3,000 phone calls per year.  There are 300 million cell phone users in the United States so if you do the math that is 900 billion cell phone calls made per year.

Do you know what percent of calls are dropped?  Our surveys say that the average cell phone customer drops 12 percent of their phone calls which is probably a conservative estimate.  100,000,000,000 billion phone calls are dropped each year and consumers have very few solutions accept cell phone boosters and femtocells which the FCC is trying to ban. These numbers are calculated by with a Verizon customers who claim to drop 5 percent of their calls and AT&T iPhone user who claim they drop 1 in 6 calls or between 15 to 20 percent.   We have read the ChangeWave surveys and that claim AT&T and Verizon customers drop 4.5 to 1.5 percent of the calls and we all know these are not true.

The average mobile phone user pays $59 per month for service and this factors out to approximately .24 cents per phone call for 250 minutes.  So if the average person drops 12 percent of their calls per month you are paying $7.08 for calls that should be if your carrier refunded the dropped call.  Carriers should be refunding $85 per year to customers on average if dropped calls were refunded as credits.  Thats a total $25 billion dollars that carriers are stealing from their customers.

Related Stories: 
How Many Text Messages Are Sent a Day?
How Much Does AT&T Charge for Text Message Overage?

How Much Does AT&T Charge for Text Message Overage?

$10 Billion Per Year Spent on Texting

Going over your 1000 text message limit will cost you .10 cents extra per message.  Text messaging costs the average AT&T customer $10 per month for 1000 text messages whether you use them or not. $20 per month will get you the unlimited Domestic text plan. It doesn't sound like a lot until you go over your text messaging limit which can add up or if you send International text messages.  Domestic text rates do not apply for International text messages. Charges for international messages sent from the U.S. are $0.25 for Text Messages and $0.50 for Picture/Video Messages. Charges for usage while roaming internationally: $0.50 for each text message sent, $1.30 for each picture/video message sent, and $0.0195 for each kilobyte used. Standard rates apply to all incoming messages as well.

We estimate that each wireless custom free generates .33 cents in revenue per day for text messages which is roughly a $10 billion dollar per year business for AT&T or $30 million dollars per day.  Its also pretty ironic that AT&T (NYSE: T) pays $10 billion dollars per year in dividends
.  Coincidence or a house of cards that is wait to fall?  Here are 10 other reasons why charging for text messaging is a scam.

What if you could save $60 - $240 per year in text messages with free text messaging services?  The average AT&T customer sends out 621 text messages per month which are approximately 20 messages per day.  The cost of text messaging is .33 cents per day which do not sound like a lot.  Free text messaging is growing with companies like Facebook, Google Voice and Apple getting into the game.  Our thesis is that the handset and software manufacturers Apple, Google & Microsoft will soon be getting into the data delivery business and will be subsiding messaging with mobile advertisements.  

How Many Text Messages Are Sent a Day?


Text messaging continues to grow in the US but is showing signs of deceleration. The average customer for AT&T sends 621 messages per month. That is an average of 20 text messages per day per person. So is it conservative enough to assume that the average customer across all carriers sends 15 text messages per day?

AT&T handles 180 billion text messages per year which are roughly 500 million per day. It was estimated in 2009 that 2.5 billion text messages are sent per day in the US. If we assume that AT&T has a 30% market share of 300 million total US wireless customers. We can assume that 5 billion text messages are sent per day if we estimate that the usage is 16 messages per day across all of the carriers.  50% growth in 2 years isn't bad but is that going to change with new free text messaging services coming out?

The total cost of managing a text messaging network is hardly anything and the profit margins are enormous for carriers. If a mobile phone customer is paying $10 per month for text messaging that is roughly 33 cents per day. If there are 300 million US wireless phone users we can assume that text messaging is a $100 million dollar per day market which equals $36 billion dollars per year for the carriers.  Pretty scary if we assume that Instant Messaging, Facebook, Google Voice, Skype, Twitter, and Email are all free and provide a much better service.  You have to ask yourself is this fair competition or is a text messaging a scam?

Most carriers don't tell you how to send free text messages using services like Google Voice for obvious reasons but that will change in the future.  Apple, Google and Microsoft may start to get into the data network business soon which we be great for competition and consumers.

Related Stories:
How Many Cell Phone Calls Are Made a Day?

How China is Beating the U.S. in Wireless

The FCC in the US is a joke and when the US Government touts their success about making progress in the wireless race and staying ahead of the rest of the World they are delusional because consumers are getting screwed.  Is embarrassing to see large U.S. companies like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) protecting their turf and holding us back from wireless innovation in the U.S.  It is even more embarrassing to see that the U.S. Government subsidizing oil companies when they could be subsiding entrepreneurs to build out wireless broadband.  Free ad-supported wireless will create millions of jobs if the white spaces spectrum and WiFi are open.  Here are 4 reasons why China is kicking our ass.  

1)  China understands that the high end of the market is saturated and that their most important growth customers are those who can't afford phones subsidizing iPhones for $10 for the masses.  The US total cost of ownership for an iPhone in the US is over $1,000 if you factor in all of the costs.  

2)  China has 900 million mobile phone users and it's been growing at a rate of 20%+ per year for the last decade.   The US has 303 million mobile phone users growing at a rate of below 5%.  See CTIA numbers.


3)  China Mobile services 606 million customers on their network and China Unicom services 324 million customers at faster data speeds. The networks handle 3 to 6 times as many customers like AT&T and Verizon who can't seem to fix their network congestion.

4)  China 1 Million Free WiFi hotspots and building an infrastructure for free ad-supported networks in the future of wireless.  The US would rather pretend that we can stuff all of the data through old cell towers and not distribute the computing power.  When will content providers like Google step up and subsidize wireless connections with mobile ads?  

China gets it and understands that wireless should be free like water someday.  Albeit state-controlled access and blocking site but at least they are offering services that will reach the masses.  I don't agree with is their censorship and state-controlled media but that is another topic for discussion.  

Why China Has $10 Per Month iPhone Service Plans?

China Has Fair Competition & U.S. Has Corruption
China Unicom is trying to grab additional customers before its exclusivity with the iPhone ends. The wireless carrier is starting a new promotion that drops the price on its lowest iPhone plan to 66 yuan (US$10) a month.  That's $120 per year and very cheap.  This comes two years later after China Unicom (CHU) was offering free iPhones to customers who had the most expensive data plans. China Unicom is the only carrier in China to offer the iPhone with a service contract and it added 1.82 million 3G subscribers for a total of 20.4 million in April of 2011. China Unicom lagged behind the 29.4 million 3G users for China Mobile, whose total customer base of 606 million is almost double Unicom’s 324 million. China Telecom is the country’s biggest fixed-line carrier and is in talks with Apple to offer a CDMA version of the iPhone. Read more on Business Week.

It makes you wonder about the crooks AT&T and Verizon who charge $200 for GSM or CDMA iPhone and still charge $100 per month for data plans.  This has to make you question if the US has fair competition if Verizon & AT&T are paying shareholders $5-$10 billion dollars per year in dividends?  We think ad-supported wireless is coming in a big way to the world and that the used $100 iPhones market will start feeding the rest of the world.  Handset manufacturers and carriers will be giving phone and wireless services away soon.  China Mobile plans to add 1 Million Free WiFi Hotspots.


Can Marissa Mayer Help Improve Mobile Phone User Experiences?

Google VP of Search User Experience is Now VP of Location Services

According to Google, 20% of their searches are local and Marissa Mayer is the VP of Location and Local Services now at Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) responsible for this success. Google receives hundreds of millions of queries per day and controls 97% of mobile paid search which will be a $1 billion business for Google by the end of 2011.

Marissa Mayer's previous was VP of Search and User Experience and did a fantastic job keeping the Google experience simple. I am now very excited that Marissa is now responsible for the location and local services at Google for many reasons. But Marissa has the potential to bring some disruptive change to the telecom industry that needs to upgrade their user experiences for customers. As local search and wireless data services start to overlap more, I can see only one reason why Google Mobile location-based advertising could fail or grow too slowly . . . poor phone reception = failed mobile ads.

Location-based advertising is the future of Google advertising and Google is betting hundreds of millions of dollars on it.  Android will be the smartphone platform for the distribution of content and local ads on smartphones and tablets. We believe Android will ultimately be a huge success but Google needs to enforced stricter standards for wireless reception and coverage.  In order for consumers to have a great experience consuming content on their phones in local places, they must have quality WiFi, 3G, or 4G data connections.  Apple and Google have the power to enforced more quality controls and provide solutions to fixing coverage problems that the carriers fail to provide.  Marissa must be an evangelist for Google promoting the need for open solutions to fix coverage problems such as open spectrum, WiFi, and white space solutions.  There are still hundreds of millions of dead zones in the US and carriers will only fix those which are profitable.

For the last decade, we have been asking ourselves when will wireless reception and network congestion improve throughout major cities.  Dead zones have improved slowly but data congestion is now a huge problem on cellular networks trying to stuff too much data through voice networks that don't scale.  Therefore, we think free or ad-supported WiFi will be as ubiquitous as water in a few years as soon as the incumbent carriers and FCC gets out of the way of innovation.  Entrepreneurs and companies like Google have the power to improve wireless experiences for millions of people but don't have the legal or licensing authority to do it with an unlicensed spectrum.

Google is one of the only companies that have the financial scale to bring disruptive change that is needed by the telecom industry.  Quality consumer experiences require fast data connectivity on 3G, 4G, or WiFi.  However, most businesses do not provide quality WiFi connections or free WiFi to their customers because they are not incentivized to do so.  Google, Apple, and Microsoft are some of the only companies that could provide free WiFi hotspots or ad-supported white spaces.  Location-based advertising is highly dependent on quality 4G coverage that is lacking inside buildings, homes, malls, and restaurants.

So what is the solution to fixing coverage for millions of wireless customers who cannot get heard by their carriers?  Is it femtocellswhite spaces or super WiFi?   Can businesses be empowered to fix coverage in remote areas and inside of buildings?  Time will tell and unfortunately, the FCC is talking about a decade to provide businesses with the white space frequencies in local markets to make this happen.  Soon, we will have a database of what frequencies are available and entrepreneurs can go to work creating new businesses, jobs, and revolutionize and industry. 

T-Mobile Customers Can Keep Their Unlimited Data Plans

You must read between the hidden agenda lines of Fierce Wireless' report that T-Mobile USA is quietly eliminated its $30 per month unlimited data plan for smartphones and adding four new tiered data plans.  However, Fierce Wireless did not provide the important details in their report that should say existing customers can keep their unlimited data plans.  I called customer service today to confirm that existing customers who have the $30 unlimited data plans can keep them.  The service rep told me I can keep the plan.  However, if you make changes to your plan please read the fine print or ask customer service if you will lose the unlimited data plan.  If you are like me and tether your iPad to your G2 phone this is great news. This is just another reason you Don't Buy T-Mobile's Even More Plus Data Plan because you will lose your grandfathered unlimited data plans.

T-Mobile told Fierce Wireless that if customers go over their allotted data caps they will not incur overage charges but instead will have their data speeds throttled down to an EDGE, or 2G, experience of around 100 Kbps or less. T-Mobile customers with smartphones can now select from the following new options:
  • $10 for 200 MB per month
  • $20 for 2 GB
  • $30 for 5 GB
  • or $60 for 10 GB
According to a T-Mobile spokeswoman, customers will be notified via a free text message when they exceed their monthly data threshold. At that time, they will have the option to change their data plan to one with more data or continue to use their existing plan with the reduced speeds for the remainder of the month.  This is great customer service compared to AT&T and Verizon who charge you extra for going over your data plans without notice.  Read more: T-Mobile kills unlimited data, unveils new tiered data plans for smartphones - FierceWireless 

Why is Verizon Wireless Providing Temporary Cell Towers in Joplin, Missouri?

Verizon Wireless "Theoretical Cell Service Maps" in Joplin, Missouri
Why is Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) providing temporary cell towers in Joplin, Missouri.  Verizon's press release is very confusing and lacks any context of why they are doing this?  There is not mention in the press release that their existing cell tower or network in the area was damaged.  If you look at Verizon's coverage maps in Joplin, Missouri it shows perfect coverage throughout the City and State.  This is a perfect example of why cell towers are not reliable in emergencies.  Cell towers provide to few points of failure in a natural disaster like a tornado.  The only solution is for more options for communication like broadband data across hundreds of nodes and not just a few cell phone towers that might go down in a tornado.
Joplin, Missouri DeadCellZones.com Coverage Complaints
I am suspicious of this press release because Verizon is notorious for claiming they have coverage in an area that is blatantly not true.  We want to hear from you in you live or work in the area prior to the tornado.  We want to know how Verizon Wireless performed in the surrounding area of Joplin, Missouri before the disaster.  Please submit your comments below.   You can also submit your Verizon Wireless coverage complaints directly on our map.  We don't have many comments in the area but we do for AT&T and T-Mobile.  Click on the map above. 

Who Will Buy a Data Carrier First: Apple Google or Microsoft?


Who is going to buy a data carrier first?  The Next Web wrote a great article over the weekend about what Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) should be doing with $65 billion dollars of cash reserves.  Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is sitting on about $37 billion in cash and has been rumored to be interested in buying Sprint and also Verizon FiOS.  I also would not be surprised to see Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) become interested in buying an ISP as well with the interest in location based advertising and their recent purchase of Skype.

A data carrier is an Internet Service Provide that specializes in providing high speed broadband via wireless or wireline.  Examples of this would be Clearwire or Verizon FiOS.   Why would Apple or Google want to do this?  The vast majority of Apple and Google's headaches are dealing with the carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint who are managing both voice and data networks.  Sophisticated technical smartphone users know that they don't really need 2G and 3G voice services with free VoIP services.  Carriers are also offloading the majority of their data transition to WiFi because their networks cannot handle the traffic and won't scale.  WiFi networks are growing 25X faster than cell phone towers and quickly becoming the means to download and access the internet for free.  Now that VoIP or voice over Internet services like Skype, Google Voice & Facetime are taking off, wireless consumers don't need to use traditional voice networks anymore.  These wireless carriers have a massive infrastructure of wireless networks that provide 2G, 3G, 4G services that may soon be extinct in the next decade if pure data networks become the standard for Voice and Data.  It would simplify the World into a a single homogeneous protocol that would bring massive acceleration to the wireless industry.

How is Verizon's Network Handling the iPhone?


We have started to receive a lot more dropped call and dead zone complaints from Verizon Wireless customers this year now that Verizon has iPhone running on its network.  The Verizon wireless coverage problems seem to be occurring more on the East Coast vs the West Coast. See our Verizon Dead Zones Map.

It also seems a little hypocritical of AT&T and Verizon  to be offloading data on the iPhone to WiFi when you are paying for expensive and overpriced 3G data plans.   WiFi is free and smart consumers are going to need to learn how to live without 3G and 4G in the future because the networks will never be able to handle the traffic.  Wireless armageddon is coming in 2012 and the only solution is more open WiFi networks distributing the traffic.

Verizon's CDMA iPhone only works on 3G is has been reported to be much slower than the AT&T network.   Verizon's iPhone is at a disadvantage because it accesses Verizon’s EV-DO  network, which tops out at 3.1 mbps down, while the AT&T iPhone is capable of hitting 7.2 down on AT&T’s HSDPA network.  I

Wireless Competition Before the iPhone

Wireless Before the AT&T iPhone in 2006
The US wireless market was far more competitive before AT&T got the iPhone exclusive and this is how the market looked with AT&T / Cingular having 27% of the market with only 60 million customers.  Verizon Wireless had 26% of the market with 59M, Sprint / Nextel 23% 52M, T-Mobile 11% 25M, Alltel 5% 11M and US Cellular 2.5% with 6M.   How is wireless competition today and how have mergers consolidated the wireless industry?

The iPhone was the start of the smartphone revolution and AT&T took a year and half to negotiate with Apple to get an exclusive on it.   Its important to look back at the history of innovation before the iPhone came on to he market.  Verizon turned down the iPhone and the rest of the telecom industry greeted Apple with skepticism over whether they could make a phone that consumers would want since they were largely a PC company.  AT&T had to respond to competitive pressure 5 years ago and was forced to negotiate with Apple not knowing how successful the iPhone was going to be.

Here is a great example of how the telecom industry would have held us back from innovation if Steve Jobs had not required YouTube and other features be added to the iPhone.  Apple had to fight with AT&T in order to get the YouTube feature added on the deck and it took a year and half to get it.  Keep in mind we also had fewer dropped calls and better network service in 2006 as well.  So when a carrier like AT&T raises the argument that they will bring innovation in a duopoly competitive market they are lying.  The only thing carriers can do is protect their turf and try and keep up with the competition of WiFi that will soon surpass the capabilities of controlled and non-scalable 4G and LTE.  They will forever be dump pipes that transmit data and we should make sure that they have zero power to raise margins and prices for the sake of technology innovation and growth.

Apple iPhone had the vision which paved the way for Google to roll out Android with T-Mobile.   I think T-Mobile was the most brilliant of the carriers taking the risk and having the vision to launch Android.  The telecom industry was skeptical of course as well but look where we are now.  Its great to see the corrupt carriers losing control over data access while at the same time seeing the growth of unlicensed wireless data access WiFi and soon to be White Spaces.  The future is not longer about charge for data but about free wireless through location based advertising to get the rest of the World using smartphones who cannot afford it.  

T-Mobile Wi-Fi Phone Calling is Now Free

T-Mobile WiFi Calling App Works Great
Did our blog post in November of 2010 Why is T-Mobile WiFi Calling is Not Free have anything influence on T-Mobile finally allowing their customer to make WiFi calls for free?  Or was this decision influenced by the Microsoft acquisition of Skype?  Making calls on using T-Mobile's WiFi calling app on Android phones is now free and does not count against your minutes.  This fabulous mobile app is provided by Kineto Wireless.  Here is a list of T-Mobile UMA WiFi phones and keep in mind they are Android phones.  AT&T does not have WiFi calling features on their Android phones and because they have stuck with their profit making Microcell strategy of charging $200 to use your broadband data.  

If you are traveling overseas this is a tremendous benefit as WiFi has become ubiquitous throughout the World.  Its a great feature if your home or office is located in a cell reception dead zone.  This is a great alternative to AT&T's Microcell or Verizon's femtocell which don't work very well and have interference issues in many cases.  

T-Mobile subscribes with the Even More, Even More Plus and 4G Do More plans will be able to take advantage of this new feature to save on minutes.  T-Mobile customers with these data plans will be notified via SMS for the new feature.  You may also call the Customer Care service on details of how to download the app or obtain a phone with the WiFi calling feature embedded.  See also how to boost your WiFi signal

How to Get a Broken iPad Replaced for Free

Apple Stores Have Great Customer Service!
Will Apple retail stores replace broken iPads?  I heard two examples on Twit.tv today that loyal Apple customers have had successful experiences taking their broken iPads into Apple stores and getting them replaced.  It was clear if they got them replaced for free but it sounded like it.  Is this too good to be true?  We would appreciate your feedback below in the Disqus comments section.

Shattered or broken iPads screens are not covered under Apple Care.  Twit.TV cited two examples of situations where iPad customers were able to get their iPads replaced.  This is great customer service by Apple and we commend them for not charging customers.  I wish this was true for iPhone customers who frequently crack their screens and batteries need to be replaced.  Apple has charged $79 charges to iPhone batteries and we wonder how long customer service will be giving free replacements for customers who damage their screens. 

History of US Wireless Telecom Consolidation

US Mergers and Acquisitions of Wireless Telecom in the US
List of companies consolidated by Sprint (NYSE: S), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), T-Mobile (DTEGY.PK) & AT&T (NYSE: T).  Here is a chart explaining the acquisitions and the year it took place.  This slide was contributed on the Rural Wireless Telecom webcast to help the industry understand why the AT&T and T-Mobile merger is too big!

Sprint: Nextel (2005).
Verizon:  Nynex (1995), PrimeCo (1999), Airtouch (1999), Vodafone Airtouch (1999), GTE (2000), Unicel (2007), Alltel (2009), Western Wireless (2005).
AT&T:  Bell South Mobility (2000), SBC (2000), Cingular (2004), Dobson Cellular Systems (2008), Centennial Wireless (2009).
T-Mobile: Founded as Voice Stream (1994), Omnipoint (2000), Aerial Communications (2000), Powertel (2001),  Changed the name to T-Mobile USA (2002), SunCom (2007).  

10 Ways You Can Help Stop the AT&T Takeover of T-Mobile


Here are 10 ways you can help stop the AT&T Takeover of T-Mobile?  The merger can be blocked if Government officials simply evaluate the AT&T & T-Mobile merger facts. The US Justice Department blocked the Nasdaq OMX Group (Nasdaq: NDAQ) proposed takeover of NYSE Euronext recently so the AT&T and T-Mobile merger can be blocked as well.   Here are two different ways you can help influence the decision-makers the Department of Justice and the FCC are just puppets.   FCC petitions to deny are due Tuesday, May 31st and opposition are due Friday, June 10th and replies to the oppositions are due by Monday, June 20th.  

1)  Visit Notakeover.org to share your opinion about AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile with Congress and FCC.

2) Email the US Department of Justice at askDOJ@usdoj.gov.

3)  Write a letter to President Obama who is tight with Unions and show them AT&T's CWA Union Corruption

4)  Fill out a form at the FCC and express your opinion on the merger.  This method will likely go into a black hole of nothingness because the FCC is a joke.

5)   Send out Twitter tweets @ your congressmen and FCC "@FCC Stop the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile. Protect wireless competition! Stop the spectrum lie!  #attmobile"

6) Attend public hearings on Capital Hill that AT&T is trying to block from public view.  Visit local town hall meetings and express your opinion to your local congressmen.  Charles Grassley the Senator of Iowa received strong opposition at this last town hall meeting from Iowa residents to block the merger.  You can do it to by expressing your opinion to representatives.

7)  Support and become a customer of rural wireless carriers like Cellular South, Iowa Wireless, Cellular One, US Cellular, Leap, Cincinnati Bell who may benefit from the FCC roaming agreement mandates.

8)  Support and send information to TV personalities like Jon StewartAl Franken & Jim Cramer and local news networks with facts and relevant merger information they can use to influence public opinion.

9)  Disseminate positive information about how T-Mobile can compete and survive on its own with the $3B breakup fee and spectrum.  Encourage the financial press and financial industry that  T-Mobile could be a great IPO candidate.

10)  Expose the fact AT&T is the largest donor to Congress, corruption and conflicts of interest that lobbyist and the d>army of investment bankers have.

10)  Write a blog post and send us your article that we can publish on Dead Zones,  Public Knowledge or Huffington Post

Free Ad Supported Skype Windows Phone

Microsoft made a great purchase of Skype to further their advertising footprint.  I think it won't be long before Apple iChat, Facebook, Microsoft and Google Voice start testing their ability to provide customers with free ad-supported phones. If you are a sophisticated smartphone or tablet user, you probably already know how to make WiFi phone calls on Skype, Google Voice or iChat. Ad-supported phones are only possible if you have the scale and reach to lots of people and can sell advertising against this inventory.

WiFi is growing much faster than 4G cell towers and data capacity can handle.  The only solution to eventual wireless armageddon in 2012 is unlicensed free wireless access that is in the hands of entrepreneurs and not the carriers.  Carrier networks were built for voice traffic and do not scale for massive amounts of data.

The reality is we talk on our phones about 90% indoors while we are standing still. So it is not inconceivable that consumers might want a WiFi-only phone. Ya but there where is the revenue in for the company? Its my belief that as CPM (Cost Per Thousand) advertising rates increase due to improvements in advertising technology that WiFi and phones will be ad-supported. Companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft will make more money selling against their customers using Windows and Android phones. WiFi can actually be more reliable than 2G, 3G and 4G in the vast majority of cases.  Service level guarantees are way overrated as we all know from our experience with AT&T Wireless 3G iPhone problems. 

Jon Stewart on FCC & Comcast Corruption


We all know the FCC is a joke but this one takes the cake as one of the most ridiculous conflicts of interest I have ever heard. The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart just railed the former FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker for becoming a lobbyist for Comcast. The hilarious segment was complete with booing and hissing from the audience when the commissioner’s actions were revealed.  Criticism of Commissioner Baker has come from almost every media outlet including The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Rolling Stone and now The Daily Show.  Freepress has collected more than 60,000 letters urging Rep. Darrell Issa to investigate Baker’s sudden departure with a goal of 100,000 before delivering them to the congressman.  Send you a letter demanding the resignation and clamping down of the FCC corruption

Why is Verizon Wireless Reception Poor on the East Coast?

Does Verizon Wireless use a different frequency on the East Coast vs the West Coast?  We have also been receiving a great number of complaints for Verizon since the iPhone and iPad 3G CDMA devices have been available on their network.   On our Verizon Dead Zones map which collects anonymous complaints from customers has been receiving a greater number of coverage complaints proportionately in Eastern States like New York, Florida, Georgia & New Jersey.  What is the the explanation for this?  On the West Coast we tend to get more AT&T Wireless dead zone complaints versus Verizon.  Is this because their is a great concentration of iPhone users in the West Coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco? 

FCC: Understanding Wireless Coverage Areas


FCC Article: Understanding Wireless Coverage Areas

Coverage Maps and Other Coverage Research.  Before choosing a wireless service provider or a plan, it is wise to research the various providers to determine the extent of their coverage in the areas that matter most to you. You can research a wireless service providers’ coverage area in a number or ways:
  • Ask neighbors, colleagues, and friends. You can also visit Internet sites (such as www.deadcellzones.com) that list specific dead spots (submitted by individuals). Information on dead spots is organized by wireless service provider and location.
  • Test the wireless service providers’ plan and coverage area on a trial basis, if possible. Some wireless providers offer trial periods, during which you can test a phone before you are committed to a service contract and have to pay a significant fee to terminate that contract. Be aware, however, that if you terminate during a trial period or at any other time, most wireless service providers will not refund any activation or usage fees. During the trial period, you may want to test the phone in the areas where you plan to use it most frequently to determine if the actual coverage suits your needs.
  • Check out the wireless service providers‘ coverage map on its Web site and/or in stores where its products are sold. Often these maps show very general coverage for entire regions. The maps usually carry a disclaimer saying they are provided for informational purposes only and that actual coverage may vary. There may be holes where the service provider does not have cell sites or where the topography causes dead zones. With few exceptions, the maps do not indicate signal strength or dead zones. Additionally, these coverage maps are not intended to show whether coverage is provided in obstructed areas, like buildings, tunnels, and underground garages. While wireless service providers often deploy in-building wireless solutions for these areas, any lack of coverage is usually not disclosed.
There is no guarantee that your phone will work in an area, even if it is included on a wireless service providers’ published coverage map. Just because a wireless service provider generally advertises service to an area, there may be several reasons why the service is not reliably available in all locations. Although wireless service providers attempt to design their networks to eliminate dropped calls, busy signals, and dead zones, no network is perfect, so coverage breaks within the general coverage areas are still possible. Specific and/or updated information may not be available on maps provided by the wireless service provider, because coverage is frequently changing.

Al Franken Rips AT&T's Coverage Map

Ooooh . . . That's a Great Map!
Thanks to the strong support of a strong U.S. Senator Al Franken, AT&T might actually have an opponent in the Government who won't approve the merger. Al is not on AT&T's political payroll. In this short video clip for CSPAN Senator Franken makes fun of AT&T's map directly to the CEO of AT&T Randall Stephenson. He then moves on to other back-haul issues after Randall Stephenson and others on the panel acknowledge that competition is a National issue. Read more and listen to more of the testimony on Al Franken opposing the merger and modification of net neutrality laws. Al Franken argues against the current practices of the Department of Justice and the FCC analyzing competition on a local level. Its wrong and the companies competing in the marketplace and everyone knows it. This quote came 1 hour and 30 minutes into the full Senate hearing.

10 Reasons Why The FCC is a Joke


1) FCC evaluates competition locally and not Nationally. Are they stuck in the '90's?
2) FCC is funded by Verizon, AT&T & Comcast, and not taxpayers.
3) No transparency & FCC complaints go into a mysterious black hole
4) FCC thinks rural carriers have a fair competition with National carriers.
5) FCC violated our trademark and tried to replicate our dead zones service.
6) FCC trusts AT&T lies and propaganda.
7) It takes 10 years for FCC to force Verizon & AT&T to roam for regional carriers
8) FCC tried to ban cell phone signal boosters at the request of carriers
9) FCC refuses to acknowledge consumers getting screwed and our data.
10) FCC Staffers leaving to become a lobbyist for telecom companies.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Executive Compensation

Randall Stephenson of AT&T Made $27 Million in 2010
The CEO of AT&T makes $25M+ dollars per year.  Is this because of good business practices as some conservatives might call it or unfair advantages on competition?  Randall made a modest salary of $1,533,333 in 2010 while also taking home an additional $25 million in stock bonuses and "other" compensation according to Forbes.  Not only is this compensation outrageous but AT&T shareholders were paid out $10 billion dollars in dividends in 2010.  Sounds like a huge ponzi scheme to me or a house of cards that needs to be knocked down for the sake of consumers and all Americans. Ralph de la Vega the CEO of AT&T Wireless which is a wholly owned subsidiary made $11 million dollars in 2010.  I am all for big businesses exercising their right to compete in the marketplace but you have to ask yourself is their enough competition?  AT&T is the top donor to Congress is paying just about every influential politician on Capital Hill and has a massively corrupt union.   Here are the full details of Randall Stephenson's CEO compensation.

Salary$1,533,333.00
Bonus$0.00
Restricted stock awards$12,749,977.00
All other compensation$417,410.00
Option awards $$494,731.00
Non-equity incentive plan compensation$5,050,000.00
Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings$7,096,177.00
Total Compensation$27,341,628.00


Senator Al Franken on Net Neutrality & Merger

You have to love an honest politician from the Midwest who fights for the average consumer.  Al Franken rips AT&T's coverage maps.  Contrary to what the misleading video headline says.  Al Franken does support Net Neutrality but not its' current corrupt form.  He wants Net Neutrality without the current loopholes proposed in the revised legislation that has been pushed by the big carriers and telecom companies.  He will block the legislation and hopefully will try and do the same to block the merger.  Al has had some great quotes on CSPAN recently with regards to supporting OPEN Net Neutrality rules without loop holes and blocking the AT&T and T-Mobile merger. Al Franken thinks that having another wireless oligopoly is a bad idea for consumers.  Al Franken grilled Randall Stephenson CEO of AT&T today with some great questions.   If we can get our hands on the YouTube video of him mocking AT&T's huge coverage maps I will post it below.  Fast forward to 1 hr and 30 minutes in this Al Franken CSPAN video.  Al Franken, "Oooh AT&T it's a great map!"


Google $20 Per Month Netbooks for Students

Google Has a Great Solution To Students Getting Ripped Off
Congrats to Google for launching a very cool project of $20 per month netbooks.  I want one and want to know where can I get a Google Chrome Notebook for $20 per month?  I want a Google Chrome Netbook but I am not a student.  If the test is successful for students these notebooks will likely eventually be given to the masses that can't afford 3G or 4G LTE?  Cloud computing is the future and if you are a Google Gmail, Google Voice, Google Docs and Google Chrome browser user there is no need to buy an expensive Apple laptop or PC.

The wireless carriers and Apple and PC developers have been ripping off consumers for years selling $1-$2K laptop hardware to students that only lasts for a few years.   On top of your expensive laptop your local carrier AT&T and Verizon want you to spend another $1000 per year for 4G LTE data plans when WiFi is free on most campuses.  Google recognizes that cheaper hardware is better to get content to the masses of people who can't afford it on top of their tuitions.  Free ad supported wireless is coming in a big way and Google Chrome is an ideal display screen to for video and Location Based Ads. Why charge for service when you can subside content with ads?


Cox Location Based Advertising

Cox has been testing location-based advertising in Arizona and San Diego for their TV and broadband customers.  However, are they going to bring the same location-based advertising to mobile phone or wireless?  Cox has been very secretive about their plans in wireless and I only ask this question to try and get some answers that have not been covered by bloggers or the media.  Will their mobile location based advertising be for WiFi or their own regional wireless network?  Are they working with other carriers to roam on their network?  How many customers do they have and who is using their services?   Do they have enough customers to scale the advertising properly?   Please ad your suggestions and comments are below.  

How does location based advertising work for broadband and TV subscribers?  According to the Cox web site their: location-based advertising helps deliver offers and incentives from national brands and local businesses with content tailored to your area. Location based advertising uses your zip code, including the last four digits, to identify your area and display relevant ads.

Cellular South Opposes the Merger

Dan Hesse of Sprint opposes the merger and now Victor H. "Hu" Meena CEO of Cellular South @CellularSouth also opposes the AT&T & T-Mobile merger.  Both were testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capital Hill today. Other rural carriers Leap Wireless, Cellular South, Cellular One, Cellular South, Cincinnati Bell also appose the merger.

Does AT&T Have Enough Wireless Spectrum?

AT&T already has a sufficient spectrum and the only reason for the merger is to maximize shareholder value and grow the company. Phillip Humm T-Mobile CEO and Randall Stephenson CEO of AT&T says the 800 Mhz spectrum will improve in-building coverage and this is wrong. This is a white lie and this spectrum will never improve the penetration of coverage through walls, trees, metal, and hills. The argument that AT&T needs T-Mobile's spectrum and T-Mobile doesn't have enough spectrum is purely a phony lie that does not make any sense at all. The issue is the backhaul and fragmentation of wireless nodes. AT&T and T-Mobile only warehousing spectrum and not using it in areas that don't have sufficient coverage.  AT&T is not using spectrum 1/3 of its' Spectrum in over 20 markets throughout the US says Gigi Sohn founder of Public Knowledge. 

Why Microsoft (MSFT) Bought Skype for $8.5B

The Future Is: Free Voice Calls Free Text Messaging, Free Wireless
Why did Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) buy Skype for $8.5B? The future of mobile computing will give consumers: Free TextingFree Video Voice ChatFree Wireless.  "Content is now king" and data delivery is quickly getting subsidized buy the content owners and advertisers. Microsoft as well as Google both see the future of ad supported wireless and voice over internet phone calls.

Ad supported wireless will be a tremendous innovation for consumers if the carriers will get out of our way and stop protecting their turf.  Video voice and data services can ultimately be free and both Microsoft and Google have the technology and advertising infrastructure to support and sell the location based ads.  AT&T & Verizon would rather continue to act as dumb pipes and sell you the data without getting into the content game.  The carriers don't understand location based advertising and never will try because it cannibalizes their huge dividend payment ponzi scheme.  Google and Microsoft both recognize that 55% of WiFi hotspots are free in the US and growing very quickly.  3G and 4G networks are not reliable for delivering content and the carriers will soon be dis-intermediated by free open WiFi access.

Google has Google Voice which is frankly a better service but not as many users.    Expensive 3G & 4G data plans are preventing the masses from consuming content on mobile phones while consumers are using their phones less to talk on them.  

Why Carriers Started Blocking Tethering Apps

One Data Plan Is Enough!
Mobile phone carriers AT&T and Verizon are not signing up enough customers on new data plans.  They are are falling way short on forecasts of tablet and laptop owners signing up for additional data plans.  Most informed mobile phone consumers are NOT signing up for additional data plans on their new iPads and tablets because they can simply tether their existing smartphone data plans to save money.  Carriers decided to combat consumers circumventing egregious fees by taking existing tethering app services away that were entitled in the Android operating system.  We think it is about time for a new class action law suit against the carriers for taking away applications and services that we pay for already in our data plans.

Tethering apps and features on 3G and 4G phones have become very popular recently for sophisticated smart phone consumers who already to pay $100 per month for data.  Android Froyo 2.2 customers have been tethering their phones with the embedded tethering feature right on their phone.  Froyo users connect iPads and laptops without paying for a 2nd data plan to save a few hundred dollars per year.  Its a very convenient way to use the iPad WiFi only tablet that costs a few hundred dollars less than the ridiculous 3G iPad.  Most tethering users realize that they only need to tether a few times a month and thus the expensive data plan and 3G iPad is not worth it.

This is very disappointing news for customers of AT&T and Verizon that seem to be forcing Google's hand to remove tethering applications from the marketplace.  Its a huge setback in the marketplace of technology progress simply because these money-grubbing carriers want to rape you some more without adding any value.  Why is AT&T and Verizon doing this and not T-Mobile?  Google G2 phone users on T-Mobile have tethering embedded in the Android 2.2 operating system and it concerns me that the carrier might take it away with future operating system updates.  Does anyone know if future Android updates for the G2 will block this because I will refuse the upgrade.

Why are carriers doing this?  Because the carriers want you to pay for multiple data plans and take more of your money that they don't deserve.  They expect their customer to simply bend over and take it without any service level agreements or guarantees.  Not only do they want more of your money but they wants to charge you $20 per month to tether in order to use data that you already pay for.  This issue needs to be studied at the Government Department of Justice level because these are the anti-competitive practices that everyone is concerned about.  Carriers are colluding to prevent consumers from doing something that they have the right to.

Related Stories:
AT&T iPhone $20 Per Month Tethering Fee is Ridiculous
Why iPhone & Android Tethering Stopped Working on AT&T & Verizon?
T-Mobile Allows Tethering Still
How to Tether an iPad to any 3G Phone
How to Get Free AT&T WiFi Tethering With MyWi

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