Last week, an outage disconnected wireless customers trying to use international roaming, and now we know why,
Syniverse says the problem was not a cyberattack but a “misconfiguration” that flooded its network with a near-infinite loop of error messages. Things are finally back online, and AT&T says it will credit customers for the days — but we haven’t heard more from T-Mobile or Verizon.
The new bundle comes with Netflix’s ad-free Premium plan and AMC Plus for a price of $25.99 / month (saving you $5.99 if you were to subscribe to both services separately). It’s only available to Verizon customers who combine “select” home internet and select 5G mobile plans now through March 31st.
Verizon started offering a $10 / month Netflix and Max bundle last year, furthering its bet on becoming a streaming middleman.
Its wireless network “remains fully operational,” the company wrote this morning. But its customers could have issues connecting to users of “another carrier” — AKA AT&T, which is suffering a widespread, ongoing outage.
The company recently filed a data breach notification with Maine’s Attorney General’s office saying that the employee doesn’t seem to have shared the data, which included names, physical addresses, and social security numbers.
Verizon told BleepingComputer that it had contacted law enforcement, but that “there is no indication of malicious intent.”
[BleepingComputer]
Years after switching to Messages as the default texting app on its Android phones, Verizon says it is “leveling up” the next-gen text message support with a plan to move from its self-hosted servers to Google’s Jibe RCS platform.
There’s no word on when the shift will happen, but it follows similar announcements from AT&T and T-Mobile last year and should allow for a more reliable experience, which Droid-Life notes should enable read receipts and interoperability with RCS on other networks.
Starting March 1st, it’ll be an extra $4 per month to stay on the carrier’s Get More / Play More / Do More / Start 5G plans. Verizon confirmed rumors of the change to CNET on January 17th. On the plus side, it’s adding 5GB of mobile hotspot data to affected plans.
Verizon did away with those plans last year when it streamlined things with its “myPlan” offerings.
Verizon already offers a Disney Plus package, along with its new Netflix and Max bundle, but the company plans on announcing “more bundles and perks this year,” The Information reports.
That includes bundles with “several services” and not just two. As more people cut cable for streaming, The Information notes Verizon is likely looking to act as a middle-man to help users manage their services — all while getting a cut of those subscriptions.
[The Information]
Verizon customers who were charged an “administrative charge” in recent years might be entitled to a piece of a $100 million class action settlement. A lawsuit alleged that the company added a bogus fee to customers’ bills to squeeze money out of them.
The charge must have occurred between 2016 and last year. The deadline to submit a claim is April 15. Here’s the claim form.
The Visible Plus plan offers access to Ultra Wideband 5G and other perks over its base $25 per month plan (taxes and fees included with both).
It’s usually $45 per month, but with the above promo code, it’s $35 until “Visible provides notice that the discounted rate has been discontinued.” Whatever that turns out to mean — it’s available to both new customers and “qualified” subscribers to the cheaper plan, but only until 6AM ET tomorrow, December 28th.
[www.visible.com]
Networks spent years telling us that 5G would change everything. But the flashiest use cases are nowhere to be found — and the race to deploy the tech was costly in more ways than one.
You know that nature is healing when Verizon issues a press release that doesn’t mention 5G. This one’s about a trial on the company’s fiber network that sent 1.2 terabytes per second of data over a single wavelength. In 2020, a similar trial achieved 800Gbps — in service of an impending “explosion of data” over 5G. How times change!
It’s phone season. New flagship phones are coming imminently. But here’s Verizon trying to fake-FOMO potential upgraders like me into a “deal” on last year’s handset. Repeatedly. This is like the fourth or fifth notification I’ve received.
The Information reports that Disney, seeking a “strategic partner” for ESPN, has had talks with Verizon. This is a bad idea: mobile carriers are historically terrible at distributing content and software, because their only distribution idea is installing bloatware on midrange Android phones. You will recall that the entire thesis of the AT&T / Time Warner merger was distributing bloatware on midrange Android phones, a “vision deal” which produced a grayscale 4:3 Snyder Cut before collapsing into the arms of David Zaslav.
[The Information]
