Tag Archives: verizon wireless

Verizon, Verizon Wireless

Verizon Smart Rewards Program Ending Soon

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Verizon Wireless

According to the new buzz going on in the world of telecommunication, Verizon is ending its age-old Smart Rewards program, replacing it with a new one!

Customers that have been using the local phone service provided by Verizon must be well aware of its Smart Rewards program which is going to end soon. In place of this program, the telecom giant has introduced a new program called “Verizon Up”.

The Change of Reward Programs by Verizon

The plan has been utilized by Verizon customers for a long time now and it’s finally time to say goodbye to the reward plan.

As per the plan, customers could collect rewards and use them up through daily deals on vacations, merchandise, and more!

However, with a new rewards program, the cheap phone service provider is putting an end to the Smart Rewards program, and the process has started from 1st August.

From the said date, customers now cannot earn more points under the plan and the accumulated points or rewards can be used up till October 31st.

In this regard, Verizon – the leading local phone service provider in the US – seems to have a plan.

The telecom behemoth says that until the time when the Smart Rewards program is bound to end, that is until 31st October, it is going to introduce some sweepstakes and offers so that the points can be utilized well.

Though it has been seen that the Smart Rewards program by Verizon has never been much liked by customers of its local phone service. The reason behind this is that the offers, sweepstakes, and discounts offered under the program weren’t very beneficial for customers.

Even after collecting a good amount of points, they still had to pay for the merchandise, offers, etc. So, as per most Verizon customers, the Smart Rewards didn’t bring much to them by the cheap phone service provider.

Starting from November 1st, Verizon is introducing the all new rewards program called Verizon Up. The plan is targeted towards offers including concerts, movie tickets, brand new phones, game tickets, and much more!

As per the announcement of the new reward program made by the giant local phone service provider, the program features stores and sellers like Uber, Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, Nike, JetBlue, and more!

It is to be seen whether the new plan is going to take over the old one by Verizon and we’ll get to know more about this on November 1st.

In A Nutshell

The buzz about the new reward program by Verizon has been in telecom markets for a long time now. However, as the ending date of the old Smart Rewards program is inching closer, things are getting more hyped.

Customers with accumulated points are looking for ways to spend their points and earn their benefits from them and Verizon seems to be a helping hand in this matter.

However, we still have to see if the customers get a genuine chance and opportunity to spend their points and get genuine benefits or not.

T-Mobile, Verizon, Verizon Wireless

T-Mobile’s New Attack on Verizon: Will Things Actually Work?

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T-Mobile

The third largest mobile and non-residential home telephone service provider in the US, T-Mobile, is staying relevant in the news headlines through its new strategies and challenges for its competitors. And yet again, the company has proved its point that it’s not going to stop!

T-Mobile’s New Assault on Verizon

With a recent announcement, T-Mobile has put its new limited-time promotion to the forefront. This promotion targets the customers of Verizon Wireless.

According to T-Mobile, if Verizon customers switch to its affordable telephone service, the carrier will pay the complete balance owed for their mobile devices including iPhone and Google Pixel. The amount to be paid can even be as much as $1000.

“Switch and keep your eligible iPhone or Pixel. We’ll pay for it. That’s right, starting May 31st we’ll pay off what you owe on your phone via a prepaid card when you leave Verizon, join T-Mobile ONE™, and get PDP Plus” T-Mobile’s website says about the offer.

The offer is valid for iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, iPhone SE, Google Pixel, and Google Pixel XL.

The phones should be in a good working condition and must not be damaged. Also, Verizon customers must have their Verizon account details handy when they go to take advantage of the offer.

The offer can easily be redeemed through any nearby T-Mobile store.

The company will also provide early termination fee to the converting customers. However, the offer is valid only for Verizon customers that are have been using the network for more than 60 days. Along with the offer, the carrier needs the customers to commit to the $15 monthly plan for device protection, which can later be canceled.

With this, the entire offer creates a great margin for T-Mobile, making it sound quite profitable to the company.

The offer, by the growing mobile and non-residential home telephone service provider, is seen as one of the best promotional offers by a telecommunication carrier and it has created quite a buzz in the market.

The Catch

The promotional offer is a great win for both the customer and the company. For T-Mobile, it can turn out to be a goldmine as it is targeting the high-value customers that are already using the high-priced mobile phones – iPhone and Google Pixel.

This clearly shows that T-Mobile is expanding its customer base of affordable telephone service to the customers who can afford its expensive mobile plans.

These customers are said to be the ones with a high Average Revenue per User (ARPU).

In a Nutshell

T-Mobile has been creating waves for Verizon for a long time now. We have seen in previous scenarios that the growing mobile and non-residential home telephone service provider has brought Verizon a lot of loss.

With yet another breaking offer, T-Mobile probably has woken up Verizon officials who are bound to put their thinking caps on now and come with a better offer. If Verizon doesn’t snap into action soon, it might lose a number of its high-value customers.

However, we’re yet to see how the offer works for T-Mobile. So, let’s just wait and see!

Verizon Wireless, Verzion

Verizon: Losing Wireless Subscribers for the Very First Time

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Verizon Wireless

The telecommunication giant that was once the US’s number one mobile and cheap residential phone service provider, is facing trouble in its paradise. For the very first time, the top US wireless carrier has faced a terrible fall in its profits and has lost a significant amount of its wireless customers.

Let’s have a closer look at the matter.

Verizon Loses Wireless Customers in the First Quarter of 2017

The loss of the subscribers being faced by Verizon in the first quarter of 2017 has been posted by the wireless carrier, showing how its rivals have impacted its growth.

The mobile and wireless landline telephone service provider had been facing this swell of competition from the telecommunication rivals like T-Mobile and Sprint. And amidst the competition and price wars, Verizon reintroduced its Unlimited Data Plan in the month of February.

Previously, the unlimited data plan by Verizon was stopped in the 2011 but, seeing a rapid fall in their mobile and wireless subscribers, the company chose to bring it back.

Apparently, that wasn’t enough, leading Verizon to lose a total of around 307,000 postpaid subscribers for its retail wireless services. All of this, just in the first three months of the year.

The turn of events for the biggest mobile and cheap residential phone service provider is proving to be a setback. And the statement is backed by the fact that the Verizon stock was 1.5% lower on Thursday.

For Verizon, losing subscribers on a quarterly basis is not a new scenario as the telecom industry leader has always been known to report finacial growth, regardless of the loss of subscribers. But the number of lost wireless subscribers this time is quite big!

The Impact of Competitors

Such a huge loss of customers is being faced by the leading wireless landline telephone service provider because of the shift of its subscribers to its rivals.

As per the latest earnings report, the Verizon subscribers have been fleeing to its competing companies – T-Mobile and Sprint.

The demand for new wireless service is already quite low in the market as most people have mobile phones now. Thus, there is less opportunity for the cheap residential phone service providers to make profit on bringing new subscribers into the market.

Also, with the previously raging ‘Unlimited Data Plan’ war among the competing telecommunication companies, the service providers had to give unlimited wireless services, including data.

With the unlimited plans, the wireless landline telephone service providers cannot generate any fees for overages of data as was the case with the non-unlimited plans. Thus, there is less revenue generated through these plans.

To top it, the small competitors of the telecom behemoths like Verizon often offer cheaper plans to subscribers which usually lures them to switch.

All these events took a great toll on Verizon’s profits and subscribers.

Final Thoughts

Verizon, a leqading mobile and landline telephone service provider is going through a rough patch! But the company is surely not going to sit back and will come up with new plans, offers, and pricing to bring their subscribers back!

Stating to the matter, Matt Ellis, the Chief Financial Officer of Verizon said, “We’re confident in executing our strategy organically, but if there’s the right opportunity out there to accelerate the strategy inorganically in a way that adds shareholder value, we’re always looking at those opportunities”

So, let’s hope for the best from Verizon!

Home Phone

Verizon to Begin 5G User Trials in 11 US Markets

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Verizon 5G

The nation’s largest wireless and home telephone service provider, Verizon Communications Inc. has made another noteworthy move to stay in the lead!

With this move, the telephone service provider aims to front-run the 5G race going on among all the wireless telecommunication leaders.

The company has made a recent announcement of delivering its fifth-generation, pre-commercial 5G services to select markets in the USA.

Verizon’s Growing Network

The largest prepaid home phone service provider – Verizon, has proven out to be the world’s largest phone and internet services network with thousands of customer locations.

Along with its best and cheapest home phone service, the telecommunications giant has been serving in the mobile communications space, broadband services, home television, IoT, and even in drone management.

Thus, with an increasing customer base, Verizon has been growing at a tremendous pace.

Picked from this vast network of Verizon, the 11 US cities tapped for the 5G user trials are listed as – Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Bernardsville (NJ), Brockton (MA), Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Sacramento, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

What’s to expect

The vast home telephone service provider is planning on delivering 5G broadband services to the mentioned 11 US cities, via a wireless connection. The service is to be provided to the homes and offices using Verizon’s broadband connection.

Verizon has described it as another step to commercialize their gigabit broadband service to homes and offices through their new 5G network.

The 5G home service provided by Verizon is expected to feature an outdoor antenna that provides a Wi-Fi connection and helps connect devices present within the house.

According to a research, Verizon has a total of 112.1 million subscribers including the customer base of its home telephone service, long distance services, broadband connection and mobile network.

The company is making the best use of such a huge user base to introduce its fifth-generation (5G) services.

“5G technology innovation is rapidly evolving,” said Adam Koeppe, the Vice President of Network Planning at Verizon.

“Network density is increasing to meet the demands of customers, and following the FCC’s aggressive action on 5G spectrum, the time is right to deliver the next generation of broadband services with 5G”, he added.

Collaborations

The latest 5G technology by Verizon is to be implemented with a close collaboration of Verizon’s 5G Technology Forum Partners.

“Ericsson’s partnership with Verizon in rolling out 5G customer trials is accelerating the global 5G ecosystem,” mentioned Rima Qureshi, the Head of Region North America at Ericsson.

“These end-to-end solutions are a key step for preparing Verizon’s network for commercial deployment with different 5G scenarios and use cases”, she added.

As the 5G network requires some modern modems for building connections, the companies like Qualcomm and Samsung have announced the delivery of some high-tech and more useful modem devices.

Final Thoughts

With an increasing spectrum of services, Verizon has been growing much beyond its basic home telephone service.

Though the 5G network is supposed to be commercialized by the year 2019 or 2020, the user trial is to be carried on by Verizon by mid-2017.

This 5G user trial might prove out to be greatly profitable for Verizon. With these services, the company will be able to deliver a faster internet speed to the consumer, making it competitive with their cable-TV service.

Through a partnership with companies like Ericsson and Qualcomm, Verizon is planning on hitting it big in the domain of 5G technology, before its leading competitors.

Verizon Wireless

Reports Say Verizon Is Interested In a Merger with Charter Communications

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verizon communication

There is a buzz going on in the world of telecommunications and we’re yet to see if it’s true or not! According to a report given out by the Wall Street Journal, the telecom giant Verizon is looking forward to a merger with Charter Communications.  While there is a great speculation made in this regard, another report from Reuters stated that nothing of that sort has been mentioned by both the companies.

No official announcements have been made, by the way and so, the benefit that both the companies can attain with this merger can only be assumed!

Let’s Have a Peek at the History

Over many years, Verizon and its subsidiary, Verizon Wireless have expanded their services by way of a number of mergers and their exclusive services. Verizon is known to be one of the best local phone service providers in the US. With its lifeline and cheap home phone service, this telecom behemoth has gained a huge customer base and is still expanding!

While on the other hand, Charter Communications is a cable telecommunications company that has been serving over 25 million household and business consumers. The huge company is known to be the second-largest cable operator and fifth-largest telephone and local phone service provider.

For over years, both these giants have endeavoured to achieve a high point at being one of the best cheap home phone service providers.

What’s To Gain?

“Buying Charter would take Verizon down a different path from rivals Comcast Corp. and AT&T, who have bet big on combining content and distribution — Comcast, through its ownership of NBCUniversal, and AT&T with its pending acquisition of Time Warner Inc.,” says the report from the Wall Street Journal.

With this merger, Verizon is going to double its extensive user base as its powerful network of distribution is going to get much better and stronger.

Through a merger with Verizon, Charter Communications can explore new opportunities of expansion by joining the former company’s superior low income and lifeline phone service.

Also, with this merger, both these telecom titans can share a huge user base!

What they’re up to

As of now, Verizon is in the process of taking over Yahoo’s digital media arm for a worth of $4.83 billion. Although the news has included a little bit of guesswork, but with this deal, Verizon is going to expand its boundaries to a great extent! So, along with being a marvel in the low income phone service, the company will get better in the mobile network.

In May 2016, Charter Communication has expanded its horizons more through the merger with Time Warner Cable and also gave its final touches to acquiring Bright House Networks during the same time.

The Final Stamp

The Verizon-Charter merger is still in the rumor mill as both parties have not made any official announcements in this regard!

If there is any official statement out about this merger, both the companies will first have to seek the approval of the U.S. regulators.

Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless Increases the Upgrade Fee From $20 to $30

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Verizon Wireless

The wind does not seem to be flowing in favor of Verizon Wireless phone service users. Customers hoping to ditch their old phone and switch to a new one at Verizon Wireless must get ready to pay a $30 upgrade fee instead of $20.

According to Fierce Wireless, one of the leading telecom news provider, the phone service provider has confirmed the news on its official website.

The Price of Upgrades is not in favor of Verizon Wireless Customers

This is not a good news for users planning to upgrade to a new device at Verizon Wireless soon. In addition to this, the phone service provider has also decided to scrap the two-year-service-contract as well as subsidies for devices to its existing customers.

Verizon Wireless has a Reason to Do So:

According to Verizon Wireless insiders, the company’s cost for providing phone/device services has increased significantly. Moreover, such fees are a way for phone service providers to cover increased cost related to delivering the largest and fastest 4G LTE services in the United States.  This is further confirmed through the total decreased capital expenditure of Verizon Wireless during the third quarter of 2016.

Verizon Wireless’s Definition of Increased Cost:

When enquired about the meaning of the increased cost, the company insiders defined it as an ongoing cost for the purpose of maintaining and enhancing the network. They did not say anything else in this regard.

Fran Shammo Says…

According to Mr. Fran Shammo, CFO at Verizon Wireless, the company is spending CapEX around wireless for LTE densification.  This is for the purpose of covering the increase in the use of streaming videos. “We see that continuing to increase, so we are really preparing for two years out from where our usage is today so we are densifying the network,” says he. He further added that the company has also launched LTE Advanced service for over 90% of local phone service users in the United States and is also getting ready in advance for 5G technology.

What Actually does this Increase Mean for Customers?   

All Verizon Wireless local phone service users will have to pay this $30 upgrade fee every time they wish to upgrade to a new phone on an existing line of service. This upgrade fee does not have anything to do with the activation fee. It is totally separate from the activation fee charged to customers. This activation fee will specifically be applicable to local phone service users buying phones at retail price or using the device payment program of Verizon Wireless. This upgrade fee will be refunded to local phone service users of Verizon Wireless returning their device within the 14 day period from the actual date of purchase.

At last:

The increase in the upgrade fee and scrapping of the two-year-service-contracts have come at a time when most of the wireless service providers are giving up those plans in favor of EIPs. Now it will be very interesting to see the reaction of Verizon Wireless’s existing/potential customers in this regard.

Keep coming back for further updates in this regard from Verizon Wireless.

Verizon, Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless Resumes FiOS Expansion After 2010 in Boston City

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Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless has always been dedicated to seeking meaningful growth in the wireless sector. The competition has always been tough for the company. And many thanks to industrial competitors like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, because the company has started offering FiOS to its local phone service users in Boston, Massachusetts.

The company aims to provide this services to over 25,000 families and businesses in the city by the end of 2016.

How This Happened

The company had largely stopped expanding FiOS fiber for home phone service subscribers in the year 2010 and immediately shifted its focus on completing existing builds.

Verizon Wireless Announced:

Now the company changed its decision during the month of April 2016.  The company clearly announced that they are focusing on fiber buildout throughout Boston on a large scale with the objective of replacing the copper lines used for delivering Internet, TV and Local phone services to customers.

According to the Sources….

“We are also in talks with other cities regarding the possibility of fiber rollouts. Moreover, the company is all set to schedule the Installation of FiOS on an immediate basis”, says Verizon Wireless.

The Possibility of Installation at This Point of Time:

According to Verizon, the service can currently be installed in the three areas mentioned below:

  • Dorchester
  • Roslindale
  • West Roxbury

The service will reach Dudley’s Square Innovation District of Roxbury by the end of December 2016. The service will be expanded on a street by street basis in Dorchester, Roslindale, Roxbury and West Roxbury in the year 2017, says Verizon.

The Biggest Question:

In accordance with the joint announcement by Verizon and Boston city Officials, the estimated cost of this project is somewhere around $300 million. It will take almost six years for the replacement of Verizon Wireless’s infrastructure based on copper with state-of-the-art fiber optic network platform throughout the city.

How many of the local phone service subscribers in Boston will get a chance to buy FiOS service? This is a big and a very important question. The company has a license from the city. This license allows Verizon to avoid installation of service in Boston if it is “commercially Impracticable”.

It is possibly an Exception:

This is not applicable to public housing for low income residents. Most importantly, Verizon Wireless has not said anything about expanding after the company finishes wiring up the currently planned neighbourhoods. Now it will be very interesting to see the number of Boston houses getting fiber. The Boston city officials have asked Verizon Wireless to provide them with an estimate in this regard.

Final Words:

This decision of Verizon Wireless has sparked anger among government officials of various other cities. They have criticised Verizon for not servicing all home phone Service users. Customers in low income areas have particularly not been served by the company so far. A city-wide build-out in New York City is the best example of that. The build-out in New York City did not reach all of the home phone service subscribers.

Verizon, Verizon Wireless

Verizon Introduces Two New Prepaid Plans with a Lot of Data for Its Customers

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verizone wireless prepaid phone service

 

It is a Very Good News for Verizon Wireless Customers:

Instalment plans and bolstered prepaid phone services are turning out to be two major trends in the United States. Typically, the United States has always been the contract centred in terms of phone plans or services. However, the winds of change have started to blow. GSM network carriers could be credited for such a change.

Verizon Wireless is Following the Footprint of AT&T:

AT&T has been trying hard to promote its prepaid plans for the period of more than two long years. This seriously turned out to be fantastic news for someone who is always on the go or spends a few months in the United States and a few in another country.

Seeing AT&T’s considerable success, Verizon Wireless has decided to do something very similar for its customers.

Verizon Wireless Adds Two New Prepaid Plans:

Currently, the company is offering 3GB of data at the cost of $45 and 6 GB data at the cost of $60. Unlimited talk and text are its vital features. The company has decided to launch two new prepaid plans for its customers beginning the 13th of November.

What is the Deal?

The announcement of the two plans seems to be a strategic move by the company for seeking some growth in the wireless sector. According to the plans, all of the Verizon Wireless customers opting for $50 plan will get 5 GB of data. As for customers opting for $70 plan, they are likely to get almost 10GB data.

For Your Information:

It is important to note that, on these plans, your unused data does get roll over. Any customer who opts for the $70 prepaid phone service will get unlimited calling to Mexico and Canada.

Know Verizon Wireless’s Purpose:

In addition to the growth in the wireless sector, Verizon Wireless is adding these two new plans to its prepaid arsenal with the purpose mentioned below:

  1. Verizon Wireless intends to remind you that these prepaid plans are fully compatible with the latest smartphones like the Google Pixel as well as Lenovo Moto Z. Both of these smartphones are offered by the carrier.
  2. Prepaid phone service might just be the best way to go for anyone who travels a lot and also wants to save money.

Summary of the Story:

This is certainly great news for Verizon Wireless customers. They can save some money very easily. This could also be their way to get rid of those terribly high bills. Taking Verizon Wireless’s growth in the wireless sector into consideration, it is clearly a strategic move to seek new growth by the company. As AT&T, another major carrier in US, has announced the availability of such prepaid phone services just a few days ago, Verizon Wireless has got some serious competition to deal with. Therefore, it is not going to be easy for the company to seek new growth in the wireless sector. The competition is getting fierce. It will be very interesting to see whether Verizon Wireless can get some profit and new customers with this new offering or not.

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Verizon, Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless Lands in Legal Tussle with Consumers over Connectivity Issues in South Jersey

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Verizon Wireless

The wind does not seem to be blowing in favor of Verizon Wireless. The company is already facing strong competition from its rivals in the field of wireless residential phone service, and it’s not turning out to be easy for the company to seek enough room for new growth in said stream.  Now the company seems to be in legal trouble with landline phone service users in South Jersey because of connectivity problems with the company’s cooper-line service.

Consumer Advocates Have Called on BPU:

Because of the reasons mentioned above, many consumers may convince the state to investigate the company’s residential phone service provided to the users in South Jersey. Considering the appearance of over 200 people in the court for a hearing conducted last month on the issue, consumer advocates are once again forced to call on state regulators with the objective of conducting in-depth investigation into the company’s landline phone service provided to consumers of more than a dozen municipalities falling in the region.

Similar kinds of letters had been written to the BPU (The Board of Public Utilities) in this regard. Therefore, SDRC (The State Division of Rate Counsel) and AARP renewed calls to help the agency investigate the way the telecommunication giant takes care of its residential phone service infrastructure in South Jersey.

Stefanie Brand, State Division Rate Counsel, declared the issues as persuasive and can’t be resolved through piecemeal attempts for the purpose of repairing individual copper service lines a case-by-case basis in her letter written to the BPU on 7th September 2016.

Her arguments were supported by AARP officials. They have repeated their call for a full-blown investigation into the quality of service provided in the region, first made in the year 2013.

The Dispute Has Been Going on for Several Years:

All of the landline phone service users hailing from 16 communities and Cumberland County have been experiencing this problem for a number of years. On problem suggests that services on the line contain static and are of very poor quality, especially during bad weather. Most importantly, students are not able to study or complete their homework because of the lack of superfast internet at home.

This does not seem to be the end of the problem. This issue of poor quality residential phone service has also drawn critical attention from state lawmakers.

This Is What the Company Has to Say in Reply:

The company does not provide its superfast connectivity services in the communities. However, the company claims to have invested over $100 billion in order to ameliorate its dial-up connectivity and residential home telephone services for the last two years. Most importantly, the company professionals have been working hard in order to solve specific issues identified by the customers at the hearing conducted during the month of August 2016 in tiny Estelle Manor. The company also claimed that they are working on developing additional initiatives for dealing successfully with the concerns of its valuable customers.

Now the company is hoping that there will not be any requirement of legal proceedings in this case. Since most of the issues are being taken care of by the company, the actions taken in this regard will confirm it.

Summary;

As for users, they don’t seem satisfied with the company’s residential phone services and its promises. They have approached professional legal consumer advocates who requested BPU to look into the matter. In addition to that, this problem has also been raised to SDRC and AARP officials. They have echoed the voice of users facing connectivity problems. On the other hand, the company does not seem to be getting on the back-foot at all. Instead, the company has clarified that they are looking into the problem deeply to improve the consumer experience with their services. In simple words, this legal battle between the users and the company seems to be getting bigger. As for the result, only time will tell.