Posted by Lee/AR on 6/2/10 12:01pm
Msg #339444

Maybe news; maybe not. AT&T increasing wireless fees

for heavy data users. I have no idea what I'm talking about so read the article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37462773/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/

Reply by jba/fl on 6/2/10 12:06pm
Msg #339446

You looking for translation? LOL n/m

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/2/10 1:36pm
Msg #339457

Re: You looking for translation? LOL

Are you speaking of the programming of the switching machines in the telco central offices? That's called translations. :0 Aaah maybe not. O k, just a little humor.

Reply by Lee/AR on 6/2/10 2:20pm
Msg #339462

Nope. Wouldn't understand it anyway--

the article just sounded like it was gonna cost somebody more money. Not me because my cell phone just does phone calls. Anything beyond that is more than I want to know about or do. Yeah... I know... dinosaur talking here.

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/2/10 3:27pm
Msg #339466

Re: Nope. Wouldn't understand it anyway--

Oooh I wouldn't go so far as to say that, I asked my wife why she NEVER answers my text msg and she told me she doesn't and don't want to know how. LOL

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/2/10 12:19pm
Msg #339448

When the new G4's come out they will be hogging all the bandwidth so ATT is getting ready for Apple's release....soon. With what I can do with my IPhone it's worth it( I even listen to the highway patrol when I'm on the highway - scanner) although there is no current increase (ya right) for those having the unlimited data plan.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/2/10 12:40pm
Msg #339449

I would say that AT&T consumers will need to watch

their tethering of computer to phone. Other providers may follow.

I would just like to get my head around how much I can surf per gig. I read the article. 20 min. of streaming video would chew up 2 gigs, I think they said.

It will be interesting.

Reply by jba/fl on 6/2/10 12:56pm
Msg #339452

eventually it will be all of them I'll bet. n/m

Reply by bagger on 6/2/10 1:32pm
Msg #339456

Re: eventually it will be all of them I'll bet.

It will be sooner rather than later. When Ma Bell raises her prices, the entire industry follows.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 6/2/10 7:12pm
Msg #339494

Re: eventually it will be all of them I'll bet.

AT&T hasn't been "Ma Bell" for about 40 years... and the bigger dog on the block right now is Verizon (which was originally part of Ma Bell before the government broke it up back in the 70's).

Plus, if you read about what AT&T is doing, they're actually LOWERING the cost for most users, not raising it...

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/2/10 7:30pm
Msg #339497

Re: eventually it will be all of them I'll bet.

Mike....Verizon was created out of five small bell companies in your area, New England bell I know for sure, can't remember the others.
One of the things I worked on with members from all 13 baby Bells before I retired in 1997 was negotiating spaces on different high-rise building for satellite dish in preparation for content downloads (bandwidth). This has been going on for a very long time. The telephone companies knew it was coming but it didn't know how it was going to be delivered. The horse was put before the card. Everyone thought it was going to be computers (ISDN, etc) because the cell phone hadn't been built yet with it's digital platform. Steve Jobs said it best, the computer age is over.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 6/2/10 8:14pm
Msg #339509

Re: eventually it will be all of them I'll bet.

Hey James -

Yeah, originally that was NYTel, which then became NYNEX (NY, New England, and X for the future). But they starting growing and then made a deal with a Brit telecom for wireless service when wireless was still a new shiny thing, They then bought GTE. All of a sudden, they had a national presence and eventually became Verizon.

I worked for Western Electric (now known as Lucent) in the early 70's before the breakup , and my younger brother was an executive with both NYNEX and Verizon for years. He moved from NY to Dallas because that was where GTE's Yellow Pages division was located.... He's no longer working for them, but we can't get him to come back to NY...

Part of it is my past history with them, but I have an affinity for Verizon - and they do kick butt in this area at least.... Wouldn't use their FIOS service on a bet, but they are #1 here as far as wireless is concerned.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 6/2/10 7:06pm
Msg #339493

What they're doing makes sense, especially in areas like this. I have a lot of friends who have iPhones, and they love them, but they are always complaining about dropped calls. It;s a big issue here in the NYC area, a minor blip in other areas.

What they're trying to do (I guess) is to get the heavy users to either pay more or throttle down. AT&T's network cannot handle the bandwidth requirements in some areas, and it's only going to get worse as new devices are released. It would probably be a lot easier if Apple let other carriers sell the iPhone and iPad (I thought that was going to happen this year), because that would spread the pain around...