Hi there! If you're new to the site, you may want to subscribe to the the feed.

When Verizon first announced their open initiative, I was a bit skeptical. It wasn’t truly open, after all, so to me, the skeptic, it seemed like a publicity ploy. But as we’ve moved along the timeline, it has seemed like a better and better idea. Verizon laid down the guidelines for its new handset developers recently, so the process should get underway shortly. The best part, though, isn’t in the handset development itself. It’s in the small business potential therein.

Posted in Verizon Wireless on March 20th, 2008
No Comments

Okay, so maybe the headline is a bit over the top. Still, Verizon is saying that the recent economic slowdown “has not affected its frontline business units.” This comes a few days after AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that he’s seeing some “softness” in the consumer market, which could lead to it following a similar path to the economy in general. Many investors believed that telecommunications, now an essential industry in America, would move ahead unabated by economic conditions. Verizon, though, is saying that they’ve seen “no impact on its sales to small businesses, enterprise businesses, or on total control access lines.” Verizon says these industries are “in good shape.”

Posted in Verizon Wireless on January 11th, 2008
No Comments

My first instinct was to place this at our postpaid sister site, but since I already covered a false-advertising-related issue earlier today, I figured why not talk about it here. You know those Alltel “MyCircle” commercials? The ones where the Alltel rep is a blonde playboy, and his competitors — the Big Four — are nerdy underlings. Apparently, there’s a commercial where the Verizon nerd says something about having to extend your contract when changing calling plans. As we learned earlier this year, that is no longer the case.

Posted in Alltel, Verizon Wireless on January 3rd, 2008
1 Comment

Verizon was expecting a spike in text message volume from midnight through about 4 a.m. on New Year’s eve/day. Since they had seen 284 million messages exchanged at that time last year, the projection for this year was 300 million. We haven’t seen word of whether texters did in fact send that many, but we were forwarded a radio report that claims that Verizon experienced some issues with its voice network during the first hours of the new year. We found confirmation in the Washington Post.

Posted in Verizon Wireless on January 2nd, 2008
No Comments

One thing we love about the Internet is how simple it is to go anywhere and find an answer to just about anything. However, some sites make it harder than others. Not that Verizon’s help site was poor before, but yesterday they announced that they’ve overhauled it to make it more user friendly. Specifically, it’s starting to integrate information, so that wireless help can be found from the same search as FiOS help. It makes sense, considering the multitude of telecommunications services Verizon offers.

Posted in Verizon Wireless on December 13th, 2007
No Comments

We originally heard about this story in September, but Verizon made the announcement yesterday. They have chosen Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for their 4G network. This isn’t something to worry about immediately, but Jupiter Research estimates that 24 million people will be using that technology by 2012. Testing, though, will begin next year.

Posted in Verizon Wireless on November 30th, 2007
1 Comment

At around 7:30 this morning, we were e-mailed a press release regarding Verizon Wireless. We see these all the time. Sometimes they’re newsworthy, sometimes they’re fluff pieces. We assure you this is not fluff. Verizon has announced that “it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software, and applications not offered by the company.” You mean…third party apps? We’re not sure what kind of fever the execs at Verizon have come down with, but we’re willing, for the moment, to forgive them for past sins.

Posted in Verizon Wireless on November 27th, 2007
4 Comments

Well, hello there, Verizon. So you think the LG Voyager is so good that people will want to turn in their iPhones for your offering? Fat chance, but we appreciate the effort. Yes, the Voyager is a bit more versatile than the iPhone, and runs on a faster network. But we’re not quite sure there is anyone out there who wants to pay an early termination fee and eat at least some of the cost of the phone. Then again, they’re going for over retail price on eBay. Makes you wonder. (Remember, too, that this is an authorized Verizon retailer, so this shouldn’t reflect on the company, but rather the independent retailer.)

[HTLounge]

Posted in Verizon Wireless on November 26th, 2007
1 Comment

The more we read about this issue of a Verizon monopoly in Vermont, the more interested we become. Now, we’ve seen that Verizon is turning on new towers, which is good, and they are trying to divest some of their interests in the area, which is also good — in theory. From what we gather, both through news reports and Vermonter friends, it appears that Verizon isn’t exactly divesting any of its hot commodities. Instead, it’s in the process of selling their DSL service in Vermont to Fairpoint Communications. So while we like divestment in this case, it seems lopsided for them to sell off DSL, a dying technology, while they hold better Internet technology in FiOS, which, given the potential monopoly, will likely become available in Vermont within the next year or so.

Posted in Consumer Issues, Verizon Wireless on November 26th, 2007
5 Comments

As we’ve mentioned, Verizon’s purchase of Unicel isn’t going over too well up in Vermont. Senator Bernie Sanders has been the most vocal, demanding that Verizon provide coverage throughout the state if they’re allowed to be the only carrier. So, in a seeming response, Verizon has announced that they will turn on 12 new cell towers in Bennington County by the end of the year.

Posted in Verizon Wireless on November 20th, 2007
1 Comment