FCC to investigate AT&T, Verizon for anti-competitive behavior

[mnjparks]

Wow I am so amazed at the positive feedback Sprint is getting. Sprint is turning a corner and gaining traction! Sprint is not the same company it was even a year ago and after all of the hard work they have been putting into bettering their customer service, changing their policies to be more consumer friendly, paying off debt and so on and so on. I feel they are in position to really start making their brand known. I feel you are going to see some major nukes coming from that direction very soon!! on top of First to 4G!! Exclusive deals!!(Palm Pre) Customer service expected to pass AT&T this year!!(which is not improving, Sprint customer service is moving positively at a rapid pace.) All you who jumped ship recently don't think I don't understand, I do. The grass is not always greener on the other side. The grass does however grow greener after a fire. Sprint has something to prove and WE want our customers back!!

[warstoke]

i hope they do change the way contracts on phones are handled as far as att and Verizon you can get some strange bills
thats one reason i went with sprint because even with less coverage my bill is only 117 a month and i can talk and text and watch tv on my phone all day long for the whole month
ive got a friend on tmobile his bills about the same as mine and has about the same coverage
now i got a woman who works with me on att we were talking the other day about bills and what have you and her bill for unlimited talk text navigation data and mobile tv cost her almost 200 a month and that with a discount she gets for her husband (who uses sprint) is in the marine corp

[tangerine0469]

it is interesting to hear how far they have come recently. i wonder who or what lit a fire under there butts to command that sort of change.

[srk468]

I'm with Sprint too and have been for almost 2 years, I have to say as far as customer service goes I have NEVER dealt with a better company. I mean my coverage is a little spotty here and there but it's a damn cell phone and I'm out in the stix alot so I have reasonable expectations and they meet and exceed them. I hear all the horror stories and I'm sure happy they turned things around, if they keep treating me the way they have been they have a customer for life. Just my $.02

[manofhonor24]

Originally Posted by dbord_n

dude i was one of the un happy people who had alltel and now have verizon!! there plans cost 50-60 bucks more then the similar plan i had with alltel!! i can now, never upgrade mine or my wifes phone for when we do we will lose our alltel plan and have to get a new one with verizon!! dude if that isn't shady and not right i don't know what is!! i'm glad this is bringing attition to this but i fear it will just be another one of those headlines that dosen't really mean anything and when its all said and done the only thing that will happen is the big 2 will have to pay a fine to the fcc and continue the same way.

Dude you have options. Excuse me if I seem a bit harsh, but every where I go I keep running into the same question.

You do NOT, I repeat NOT have to go with a verizon plan or a verizon phone for that matter. Not every single market was bought. So if you find yourself an alltel store, you can port your telephone number over to that company. You can also upgrade your phones as well.

NOW KEEP IN MIND ALLTEL DOES NOT EXIST. Alltel sold the majority of its markets to Verizon, but there were about 100 markets that were not included scattered all over the US to prevent monopolization. Now in those markets, alltel was bought out by local and regional wireless carriers. So if you go to them you can port your number and do business with them. They are still operating under the Alltel brand.

Keep in mind once againg that ALLTEL DOES NOT EXIST. So this means that whatever plan you have Verizon or Local/Regional Carrier is not under any obligation to uphold what you currently have through a company that no longer exists. So you will have to find out what plans/services are right for you based on what they provide to their customers. Same thing with Verizon, if you chose to do business with Verizon you will have to chose a plan that the other 77 million customers had before the Alltel buyout.

I am not trying to be mean or condescending, but Verizon bought Alltel. If Alltel had bought Verizon you could keep the plan and the services that you had practically forever or until Alltel decided to change it. I understand that it is frustrating, and there are a significant amount of changes happening and it is hard to make heads or tails. But you definitely have options, you will have to do some research to find Legacy Alltel locations but they are out there if you want to still do business under your existing plan.

[buck95]

Originally Posted by verizonguy

That's only partially true. If you want to get a new device from vzw at a discount that's true, but you can buy the device elsewhere like on ebay, then you can swap your device using *228 without having to change your plan to activate the device, effectively circumventing the requirement to change plans.

I did this when I bought my Touch Pro on ebay.

Interesting, I was lookig at getting a Touch Pro used, but saw the release date was just after the November 14 2008, required data plan date. Think it might be possible to get a newer release phone from ebay and have it activated on my (no data) xv6800 plan?

[dakidobf]

I'm with Sprint and their plans cannot be beat. They just reworked the plans again and they're pretty much all under the "everything" platform. I have the 450 data plan since i'm at work all day and never makes cell calls. it includes unlimited texts, data, navi, sprint tv for 70 bucks. and with my discount for work i pay $50. And like people have said, their customer service has improved by leaps and bounds. I emailed on an issue the other day and withing 4 hours someone from Sprint was calling me to talk about it. imagine that.

[TRUELIGHT]

FCC ANNOUNCES WIRELESS INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT
NOTICE OF INQUIRY
("It is essential that the Commission develop policies that encourage a new generation of innovators,
working with new tools, on new platforms, and having an extraordinary impact on our economy and society,"
said Julius Genachowski, who took over as FCC chairman at the end of June.)

The FCC will specifically be looking at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless.
Industry, its business practices, and how the large wireless network operators affect consumer choice.


http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=4749
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/f...s-competition/
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...C-293118A1.pdf

FCC inquiries could spawn new wireless regulations
http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...ulations_N.htm

[TRUELIGHT]

Question? could it be all this FCC Investigation, and Congress Inquiry, over the Wireless industry, is a result of people wanting there I-Phone on there Verizon Network?

Is AT&T losing its grip on the iPhone? http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10...=2547-1_3-0-20