Verizon

Earlier this year Verizon started offering its 5G Home Internet at half price to customers with an eligible mobile unlimited plan bringing the price from $50 to $25/month. Now the company is offering the same low $25 pricing for its Fios fiber and LTE Home internet options.

A Verizon employee database was recently compromised with the hacker holding it for a $250,000 ransom. Verizon says it doesn’t believe it contains “any sensitive information” and stopped communication with the hacker. However, the list of details including employee email addresses, phone numbers, and more could present a risk for future attacks.

An apparent iPhone eSIM bug is randomly deactivating iMessage and FaceTime. In some cases, the only resolution appears to be to install a physical SIM.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman experienced the issue with T-Mobile, but others report they’ve experienced the same issue with other carriers …

Two weeks ago, AT&T announced that it would be increasing prices for many of its legacy subscribers starting in June. Now, Verizon is following suit with its own round of price increases for consumer and business accounts. This marks the first time that Verizon has raised prices in two years.

Ookla is out with its latest report for mobile and fixed broadband Internet speeds in the US. Continuing a trend, T-Mobile won for best mobile performance across the board with speeds roughly 2x faster than AT&T and Verizon along with having the highest consistency and availability. Meanwhile, for fixed broadband, Verizon edged out XFINITY for the fastest service.

After deploying its C-band 5G coverage at the beginning of the year – including some controversy with the FAA – Verizon and AT&T are looking to catch up to T-Mobile. Now a new report from Opensignal shows how much of a difference the new mid-band 5G coverage has made for performance so far.

Update: Verizon spokesperson Richard Young commented on the situation in an email to The Verge: “Verizon is aware that bad actors are sending spam text messages to some customers which appear to come from the customers’ own number. Our team is actively working to block these messages, and we have engaged with US law enforcement to identify and stop the source of this fraudulent activity. Verizon continues to work on behalf of the customer to prevent spam texts and related activity.”

Recently, a slew of people have been receiving spam text messages about their carrier bill – myself included. The message, which says your bill has been paid, includes a link to “a little gift for you.” Most users have also reported the text message has been coming from their own personal phone number. 

Verizon is bringing its 5G Ultra Wideband network to users in more US cities this year. The telecommunications giant is in agreements with satellite providers to gain early access to the additional C-band spectrum it acquired in 2021.

Verizon has announced today that it’s participating in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) which helps low-income families get home and mobile internet service. With its Fios Forward ACP offering, Verizon is making discounted and free fiber optic internet available and discounting its 5G home and mobile plans too.

Verizon last year announced that its customers with unlimited plans would have access to free Apple Arcade for 6–12 months, depending on the plan. Now the company has revealed that customers on the “5G Play More” and “5G Get More” plans will now have permanent access to Apple’s gaming platform.

Verizon has made a major announcement about its 5G coverage today. This month, the carrier will offer ultra-fast 5G UWB connectivity to over 1,700 US cities that will cover more than 100 million people. Verizon is also improving its 5G smartphone plans with up to 6 free entertainment subscriptions and offering customers up to 50% off its 5G Home Internet.

Update 1/19: Verizon has shared with 9to5Mac this morning that the major rollout of 5G UWB to 1,700 US cities is now complete.

Ookla, the maker of Speedtest, is out with its latest report on both mobile and fixed broadband Internet speeds in the US. Continuing a trend we’ve seen over the last year, T-Mobile came out on top for mobile performance with speeds ~2x faster than AT&T and Verizon. And for fixed broadband service, Verizon took the top spot.

Verizon and AT&T will begin activating 5G C-Band spectrum on January 19 after weeks-long delays to accommodate the U.S. Department of Transportation. Despite these delays, eleven airline CEOs have penned a critical letter to the DOT and chief executives at both companies to describe an “economic calamity” that will occur on Wednesday.

Update: AT&T and Verizon respond. Statements below.

To boost sales of Apple devices, Verizon and T-Mobile partnered with Apple on a rebate program in which carriers would give a discount for new devices such as the iPad Pro, iPhone 13, and Apple Watch Series 7. Unfortunately, after a lot of users complained about not getting the proper discount, carriers decided to discontinue the program.

The degree to which mobile carriers sell your personal data to third-party companies, allowing targeted ads based on your data, is rather tricky to ascertain from their privacy policies.

If you want to play safe, however, all three of the largest US carriers offer opt-out options…

There’s an awkward debate over 5G happening between U.S. phone carriers and the Federal Aviation Administration. The latest development comes in the form of two new airworthiness directives regarding 5G being adopted by the FAA.

Some people are finding that an Apple Watch $100 rebate program announced by Apple is not being honored by carriers.

Bloomberg Apple correspondent Mark Gurman has gone as far as to say that the deal is “designed to not pay out” …