Hasta La Gadget!

By subscriber count, Verizon had vaulted into first place by a pretty comfortable margin following its Alltel acquisition, but AT&T added significantly more customers this last quarter than Big Red did — and just like that, the battle for first place among the US national carriers is starting to get hot again. Verizon added 997,000 customers (excluding acquisitions) in the July through September period versus AT&T’s beefy 2.6 million, meaning AT&T now stands at some 92.8 million — just 400,000 or so fewer that Verizon’s headcount. Nothing like an exclusive iPhone launch to give you a little boost, right? On the plus side, Verizon’s postpaid churn in the quarter was low at 1.07 percent, and Verizon Communications as a whole earned 31 cents per share — lower than its second quarter pre-adjustment EPS of 58 cents, but a heck of a lot higher than the 7 cent loss it actually posted in Q2.

Outside of wireless, the company added 226,000 and 204,000 FiOS internet and television customers, respectively, bringing the totals to 3.9 and 3.3 million; FiOS ARPU is up nearly 11 percent year over year, and the company claims that its FiOS business now represents about half of its consumer revenues — pretty impressive. Follow the break for Verizon’s full press release.

Continue reading Verizon adds fewer customers than AT&T in Q3, race for first place gets tight

Verizon adds fewer customers than AT&T in Q3, race for first place gets tight originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, we finally have a price on this thing! America’s largest carrier has announced plans to sell Samsung’s Galaxy Tab for… $599.99. The 3G, Android 2.2-based unit (which will be loaded with V CAST apps, of course) will hit retail on November 11th, and since it’s being sold at full price, a data plan (which starts at $20 per month for 1GB) is completely optional. It looks like customers will have some fairly strong choices on Big Red, considering that the impossible-to-ignore iPad is being made available in Verizon’s stores as well. Tough decisions are ahead for potential tablet buyers — but we’re sure you’ll do what’s right. Check out the full press release below, and good luck!

Continue reading Verizon to sell Galaxy Tab starting November 11th for $599.99

Verizon to sell Galaxy Tab starting November 11th for $599.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung had signaled Big Red’s intention to replace its old, non-3G Network Extender as early as CES in January this year — something Sprint did a couple months back — but only now are they getting official with the updated model. The aptly-named 3G Network Extender is a warmed-over version of the original, boosting simultaneous connection capability from four to six (Sammy’s specs at CES had it listed for eight, interestingly) and offering EV-DO coverage in the event that your home, office, or other location of interest isn’t blanketed with Verizon spectrum. The company claims it’ll work for up to 40 feet surrounding the device, which seems reasonable considering your average home is rife with RF-hating barriers. There are no monthly fees for the device, but you’ll be shelling out $249.99 upfront; it’s available now. Follow the break for Verizon’s press release.

Continue reading Verizon rolls out 3G Network Extender for $250

Verizon rolls out 3G Network Extender for $250 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d told you back in July that Verizon would migrate away from unlimited data and toward a tiered model very quickly; turns out it wasn’t quite as quickly as we’d thought, but as Ivan Seidenberg said last month, it’s still going down. We’ve now been tipped that the switchover is expected on October 28, and this is how it all shakes out:

• Smartphone owners will choose between $15 for 150MB with $0.10 / MB overage, or $29.99 for unlimited access. This stands in contrast to AT&T, which offers another 50MB (for a total of 200MB) at the $15 price level or 2GB for $25 with no unlimited option.
• As we’ve already seen with the MiFi-equipped iPad, there’ll be $20, $35, and $50 tablet plans for 1GB, 3GB, and 5GB, respectively, all with overage of $10 per gigabyte. There will also be a $80 plan for 10GB with the same overage rate.
• MiFi, FiveSpot, and integrated netbook / notebook modem owners will choose between $50 / 5GB and $80 / 10GB plans. The MiFi and FiveSpot will also have access to the tablet-centric $35 / 3GB plan as part of a 90-day promo. All of these plans have overage priced at 1GB for $10.
• Feature phones will need to choose between $1.99 “pay as you go” (though it’s not clear what that means — could be unlimited at $1.99 per day, but we really don’t know), $15 for 150MB, or $29.99 for unlimited. The old $9.99 / 25MB option will be killed off.
• USB modem pricing remains unchanged at $39.99 for 250MB or $59.99 for 5GB. We’d say this means Big Red is strongly discouraging folks from buying these right now.

Notably, this is just 3G data pricing — the company says it’ll announce 4G plans closer to the launch of its 4G network. Existing customers can stay grandfathered on their existing plans if they so choose, just as AT&T’s been playing it. Thing is, the fact that Verizon is preserving its unlimited smartphone option is a big deal — it’ll be interesting to see if it twists AT&T’s arm hard enough to bring it back. Follow the break for Verizon’s full internal Q&A.

[Thanks, Jay]

Update: We’re being told that the $1.99 pay as you go option on feature phones is simply the current $1.99 / MB option. Thanks, anonymous tipster!

Continue reading Verizon’s tiered data plans hitting October 28, smartphones still getting unlimited option?

Verizon’s tiered data plans hitting October 28, smartphones still getting unlimited option? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve got a little more detail on those four new pre-orderable phones up in Best Buy Mobile’s business this week now that the news has gone from leak status to official, and needless to say, the truth is even stranger than fiction. The Dell Streak will be available for the first time in retail stores for $299.99 on contract come October 24, joined by a white version of Verizon’s Samsung Fascinate for $149.99 on contract; those two will be followed on November 8 by the HTC Surround for $199. Here’s where it gets interesting, though: the white Sony Ericsson X10 for AT&T — also rumored in our original leak — will come pre-loaded with “The Essential Taylor Swift Experience,” which frankly doesn’t paint a picture of the target demographic we’d really expected. But hey, we like surprises! What does her essential experience entail, exactly? Two albums, a new single, ringtone and video content, and access to her new album when it launches on October 25. This bad boy also comes in on October 24 for $99 on contract. Best Buy claims that all four of these are in-store exclusives… which, particularly with the Surround, is pretty insane. Follow the break for the press release.

Continue reading Dell Streak, HTC Surround, white Samsung Fascinate, and Taylor Swift-ified white SE X10 coming to Best Buy exclusively

Dell Streak, HTC Surround, white Samsung Fascinate, and Taylor Swift-ified white SE X10 coming to Best Buy exclusively originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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