telecoms - CybAI news

23 Oct

AT&T and T-Mobile Claim Locked Phones Are Good, Actually

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelsars technica, at&t, fcc, T-Mobile, telecoms, Wireless

T-Mobile and AT&T say US regulators should drop a plan to require unlocking of phones within 60 days of activation, claiming that locking phones to a carrier's network makes it possible to provide cheaper handsets to consumers. "If the Commission mandates a uniform unlocking policy, it is consumers—not providers—who stand to lose the most," T-Mobile wrote in an October 17 filing with the Federal Communications Commission.The proposed rule has support from consumer advocacy groups who say it will give users more choice and lower their costs. T-Mobile has been criticized for locking phones for up to a year, which makes…

17 Oct

SpaceX Has a Plan for Starlink to Hit Gigabit Speeds

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelsars technica, elon musk, fcc, satellites, spacex, telecoms

SpaceX is seeking approval for changes to Starlink that the company says will enable gigabit-per-second broadband service. In an application submitted to the US Federal Communications Commission on October 11, SpaceX claims the requested "modification and its companion amendment will enable the Gen2 system to deliver gigabit-speed, truly low-latency broadband and ubiquitous mobile connectivity to all Americans and the billions of people globally who still lack access to adequate broadband."SpaceX said it is seeking "several small-but-meaningful updates to the orbital configuration and operational parameters for its Gen2 space station authorization to improve space sustainability, better respond to evolving demand, and…

26 Sep

Amid Air Strikes and Rockets, an SMS From the Enemy

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelshacking, privacy, security, telecoms

At the start of September, Nour was having an ordinary evening at home in Beirut—eating pumpkin seeds and watching Netflix—when the SMS hit her device like the smartphone version of a brick through her window. The sender name appeared as eight question marks, “????? ???”, and in the message preview she could read, in clunky, hard-to-understand Arabic, a threat: “We have enough bullets for everyone who needs them.”To Nour, whose name has been changed to protect her anonymity, it was obvious who had sent this message. “Israel,” she says, “that’s their tone.” The Israeli military did not reply to WIRED’s…

30 Jul

The Affordable Connectivity Program Died—and Thousands of Households Have Already Lost Their Internet

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelsars technica, Broadband, fcc, internet, tech policy and law, telecoms

The death of the US government's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is starting to result in disconnection of internet service for Americans with low incomes. On Friday, Charter Communications reported a net loss of 154,000 internet subscribers that it said was mostly driven by customers canceling after losing the federal discount. About 100,000 of those subscribers were reportedly getting the discount, which in some cases made internet service free to the consumer.The $30 monthly broadband discounts provided by the ACP ended in May after Congress failed to allocate more funding. The Biden administration requested $6 billion to fund the ACP through December…

25 Jul

Class Action Lawsuit Alleges T-Mobile Broke Its Lifetime Price Guarantee

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelsars technica, mobile, telecoms, tmobile, Wireless

Angry T-Mobile customers have filed a class action lawsuit over the carrier's decision to raise prices on plans that were advertised as having a lifetime price guarantee."Based upon T-Mobile's representations that the rates offered with respect to certain plans were guaranteed to last for life or as long as the customer wanted to remain with that plan, each Plaintiff and the Class Members agreed to these plans for wireless cellphone service from T-Mobile," said the complaint filed in US District Court for the District of New Jersey. “However, in May 2024, T-Mobile unilaterally did away with these legacy phone plans…