The Telecom Digest
Wednesday, 24 Aug 2022

Copyright © 2022 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.
Volume 41Table of ContentsIssue 176
T-Mobile's Metro to increase bill payment fee
Re: Verizon wants to give me a free phone, or maybe not
What's up with Singtel, Samsung, T-Mobile US
2,000 Frontier Communications Workers 'Fed Up,' On Strike in California
Re: Verizon has 'few palatable options,' analyst says in downgrade
Message-ID: <20220823135000.GA150341@telecomdigest.us> Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2022 13:50:00 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malQRMassimilation@gmail.com> Subject: [telecom] T-Mobile's Metro to increase bill payment fee T-Mobile's prepaid brand, Metro by T-Mobile, is increasing the fee it charges customers that pay their bills via telephone or in-person at retail stores from $4 to $5 beginning September 1. A T-Mobile spokesman confirmed the fee hike that was first reported by The Desk. The spokesman told FierceWireless that Metro by T-Mobile customers do have other payment options that are free including using autopay, which saves $5 per month per line, or by using the MyMetro application on iOS or Android devices. In addition, he said that cus- tomers that pay their bills via the Metro by T-Mobile website won't be charged a bill payment fee. https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobiles-metro-increase-bill-payment-fee -- (Please remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
Message-ID: <te1l99$2tjvh$1@dont-email.me> Date: 23 Aug 2022 06:32:38 +0200 From: "Marco Moock" <mo01@remove-this.posteo.de> Subject: Re: [telecom] Verizon wants to give me a free phone, or maybe not Am Sat, 20 Aug 2022 15:14:29 +0000 schrieb Bill Horne <malassimQRMilation@gmail.com>: > My wife hasn't thrown her device away. Although I didn't buy it myself > - it was a gift from one of my relaties - I think that if it says "4G > LTE" on it, it should continue to work until the "4G LTE" network is > turned off. It must also support VoLTE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_LTE to be able to do calls in the 4G LTE network. if it does not support that, it is useless after the shutdown of 2G/3G. This is sad because a huge amount of devices is useless and will be wasted, but the amount of users relying on that technology is very low.
Message-ID: <20220823135444.GA150374@telecomdigest.us> Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2022 13:54:44 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malQRMassimilation@gmail.com> Subject: [telecom] What's up with Singtel, Samsung, T-Mobile US By TelecomTV Staff - Aug 22, 2022 In today's industry news roundup: Singtel looks set to offload its cybersecurity problem child; Samsung is ploughing more funds into chip production R&D; hedge funds have jumped on T-Mobile US's stock, with good reason; and more! https://www.telecomtv.com/content/security/what-s-up-with-singtel-samsung-t-mobile-us-45217/
Message-ID: <20220823143101.GA150840@telecomdigest.us> Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:31:01 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malassimQRMilation@gmail.com> Subject: [telecom] 2,000 Frontier Communications Workers 'Fed Up,' On Strike in California By Edward Gately - August 19, 2022 The workers say Frontier is violating subcontracting limitations in their contract. Frontier Communications workers in California are on strike to protest the company's reported continued subcontracting of work. The Frontier workers on strike are members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). They say the subcontracting is in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between CWA and Frontier. https://www.channelfutures.com/fiber-ethernet/2000-frontier-communications-workers-fed-up-on-strike-in-california -- (Please remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
Message-ID: <3520fb3f-6a9f-0c56-2e68-23fda44a80b1@ionary.com> Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2022 09:20:09 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein <see-sig@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: [telecom] Verizon has 'few palatable options,' analyst says in downgrade On 8/21/2022 9:45 AM, Bill Horne wrote: > By Emily Bary > > The phone company paid a 'stupendous sum' for 5G spectrum but has yet > to realize extensive new revenue streams, according to > MoffettNathanson. > > Verizon Communications Inc. is in a "particularly difficult position" > given current wireless-industry trends, and that dynamic has one > analyst taking a more downbeat view on the shares. > > https://www.marketwatch.com/story/verizon-has-few-palatable-options-analyst-says-in-downgrade-11660845612 Those of us who have been observing the industry consider this to be a "well, duh" type of report. The financial side of 5G has always been bad for carriers. Look at it this way: By the mid-2010s, mobile phone penetration in the US was nearly total. Everybody has one. And the carriers had been moving towards a flat-rate model, again based on customer demand. So everybody pays a fixed monthly rate, resulting in a steady revenue stream. Now throw in 5G. Major license-auction costs, major buildout costs. New revenue? Well, no, since everybody pays a fixed monthly rate and not a lot of people want to spring extra for "5G"... So who wins? It's the network equipment vendors, starting with Ericsson and Nokia, who are behind it. Their sales had been falling off once the 3G to 4G upgrades were mostly done. 4G LTE works really well. So they had to do something to hypo sales of expensive equipment to the carriers. Thus a new "generation" was needed to give them something to sell. And for the carriers, it was fear: If their competitor bought into 5G and they didn't, they would be "behind", and the competitors would advertise the difference. So rock, meet hard place. Sorry, mobile carriers, the European manufacturers got you beat. (In other countries Chinese manufacturers got a piece of the action but a protectionist fear campaign here kept them out.) Fred Goldstein fred at interisle dot net
End of telecom Digest Wed, 24 Aug 2022
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