Verizon

Opensignal is out with its latest report and it’s an interesting one. All of the major carriers tout their fastest flavor of 5G with a different marketing name. For T-Mobile its UC (Ultra Capacity), Verizon uses UWB (Ultra Wideband), and AT&T calls it 5G+. Now Opensignal has quantified how often these enhanced 5G connections are available, how fast they are, and more.

Two of Apple’s biggest carrier partners in the United States, Verizon and AT&T, reported their quarterly earnings this week. The earnings releases come amid economic concerns and ahead of the iPhone 14 launch in two months. For the second quarter, Verizon reported a loss of 215,00 postpaid subscribers and AT&T reported a gain of 813,000 net postpaid subscribers.

Verizon has increased its C-band spectrum to 100 MHz in “many markets across the US”. This is a notable increase from the 60 MHz it has been using in 5G markets to date.

Ookla is out with its latest report for mobile and fixed broadband Internet speeds in the US. Continuing a string of wins, T-Mobile came in first for best mobile performance with download speeds almost 2x faster than AT&T and Verizon along with having the strongest consistency and 5G availability. For fixed broadband, COX beat out XFINITY for the fastest download speeds.

J.D. Power is out with its latest report on quality performance for wireless networks in the US. For the second study this year, Verizon took top honors for the best quality network performance. Read on for how each carrier ranked in the six US regions.

Opensignal is out today with its latest in-depth report on 5G. T-Mobile continues to lead the pack when it comes to 5G download/upload speeds, availability, and reach. Meanwhile, Verizon did repeat its wins for the 5G Voice app and Games experiences in the latest report.

After upgrading its $35 5G plan last month with a 5GB hotspot, Verizon is back today with an all-new plan that offers its most affordable price to get unlimited data, including 5G coverage. Verizon Welcome Unlimited is the new entry-level plan priced as low as $30 per line per month with four phones.

Every year, PCMag does a pretty impressive and in-depth test to crown the Best Mobile Network for consumers. This year, testers drove 10,000 miles across the country to get a full picture of the current state of T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T networks. The results show that T-Mobile is continuing to out-perform AT&T and Verizon thanks to its combination of download and upload speeds as well as reliability.

Earlier this year Verizon started offering its 5G Home Internet at half price to customers with an eligible mobile unlimited plan bringing the price from $50 to $25/month. Now the company is offering the same low $25 pricing for its Fios fiber and LTE Home internet options.

A Verizon employee database was recently compromised with the hacker holding it for a $250,000 ransom. Verizon says it doesn’t believe it contains “any sensitive information” and stopped communication with the hacker. However, the list of details including employee email addresses, phone numbers, and more could present a risk for future attacks.

An apparent iPhone eSIM bug is randomly deactivating iMessage and FaceTime. In some cases, the only resolution appears to be to install a physical SIM.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman experienced the issue with T-Mobile, but others report they’ve experienced the same issue with other carriers …

Two weeks ago, AT&T announced that it would be increasing prices for many of its legacy subscribers starting in June. Now, Verizon is following suit with its own round of price increases for consumer and business accounts. This marks the first time that Verizon has raised prices in two years.

Ookla is out with its latest report for mobile and fixed broadband Internet speeds in the US. Continuing a trend, T-Mobile won for best mobile performance across the board with speeds roughly 2x faster than AT&T and Verizon along with having the highest consistency and availability. Meanwhile, for fixed broadband, Verizon edged out XFINITY for the fastest service.

After deploying its C-band 5G coverage at the beginning of the year – including some controversy with the FAA – Verizon and AT&T are looking to catch up to T-Mobile. Now a new report from Opensignal shows how much of a difference the new mid-band 5G coverage has made for performance so far.

Update: Verizon spokesperson Richard Young commented on the situation in an email to The Verge: “Verizon is aware that bad actors are sending spam text messages to some customers which appear to come from the customers’ own number. Our team is actively working to block these messages, and we have engaged with US law enforcement to identify and stop the source of this fraudulent activity. Verizon continues to work on behalf of the customer to prevent spam texts and related activity.”

Recently, a slew of people have been receiving spam text messages about their carrier bill – myself included. The message, which says your bill has been paid, includes a link to “a little gift for you.” Most users have also reported the text message has been coming from their own personal phone number. 

Verizon is bringing its 5G Ultra Wideband network to users in more US cities this year. The telecommunications giant is in agreements with satellite providers to gain early access to the additional C-band spectrum it acquired in 2021.

Verizon has announced today that it’s participating in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) which helps low-income families get home and mobile internet service. With its Fios Forward ACP offering, Verizon is making discounted and free fiber optic internet available and discounting its 5G home and mobile plans too.

Verizon last year announced that its customers with unlimited plans would have access to free Apple Arcade for 6–12 months, depending on the plan. Now the company has revealed that customers on the “5G Play More” and “5G Get More” plans will now have permanent access to Apple’s gaming platform.