New Vodafone CEO Has Tough Calls Ahead

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration is looking into the country’s top telecom companies, including AT&T and Verizon, to determine whether they’ve abused their market power with anti-competitive actions, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. The Justice Department is concerned that, among other things, the big players are locking out competitors through exclusive agreements with phone producers, as in AT&T’s iPhone deal. More»

Pipeline for intercepted data raises red flags

(NEWSER) - Congressional Democrats are questioning the cozy relationship between the FBI and telecom companies, the Washington Post reports. Thanks to a 1994 law, all telecom firms have “Quantico circuits”—little-known electronic lines straight to the FBI technology office in Virginia. Telecom technicians can instantly send data over those lines, telling investigators who’s calling whom and from where. More»

In for a tough battle with better positioned telcos, cable companies

(NEWSER) - Closing Liberty Media’s $12 billion deal for a 41% share of DirecTV took more than a year, but positioning the satellite-TV service to rival telcos and cable companies offering triple-play packages of TV, phone, and broadband could be a bigger test, reports the Wall Street Journal today. The deal with News Corp was finalized yesterday after the FCC OK’d it. More»

New plan follows hard on news of wireless price war

(NEWSER) - T-Mobile is giving an extra push to the millions contemplating ditching their landlines. The low-cost wireless carrier is launching a new dirt-cheap VoIP service, which lets T-Mobile customers hook up traditional phones to an Internet router and make unlimited local and long distance calls for $10 a month, the Wall Street Journal reports. Vonage, the most prominent VoIP provider, charges $25 per month. More»

Wireless giant says claims made in commercial are untrue

(NEWSER) - Verizon Wireless is suing rival Alltel for false advertising over a television commercial featuring a vicious guinea pig, the Register reports. In the ad, a caged rodent named Alice is compared to Verizon customers who lack the freedom to change calling plans without extending their contracts. Released from her cage, Alice goes for the jugular of a Verizon rep. Verizon says that it no longer requires customers to extend contracts. More»