Verizon Wireless

From the BalthTech blog: Big news for fans of Verizon's wireless network: It'll be getting the Apple iPad starting Oct. 28. You'll be able to buy the iPad at 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores nationwide. (Is this the precursor to Verizon getting the iPhone next year, as recent reports suggest?) Interestingly, consumers won't have access to the iPad 3G. Instead, if you want one from Verizon, you could buy an iPad Wi-Fi version plus a Verizon MiFi mobile hotspot. The hotspot uses Verizon's 3G network and generates a Wi-Fi hotspot that you can then use the iPad with.

The Internet could eventually be as ubiquitous as the air we breathe if the Federal Communications Commission moves forward with a plan to allow free access to an unused portion of the broadcast spectrum. The WiFi networks that would flourish on that bandwidth could powerfully transform our lives and spur massive innovation in the economy - if the idea can get past the multi-billion dollar interests standing in its way. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is spearheading the public WiFi effort on the grounds that it could lead to whole new industries of products and services, but the idea would also serve the agency's mission to reduce the digital divide by expanding the availability of high-speed Internet access and reducing its cost.

Verizon Wireless announced it has activated a new cell site in Harford County to expand wireless voice and 3G data coverage, specifically to bring improved coverage and capacity to Aberdeen Proving Ground and surrounding area. According to a Verizon Wireless news release, the expanded 3G capacity for APG lets more customers using tablets, laptops or smart phones rapidly browse the Web; send and receive emails; open and download attachments; instantly download the latest apps; and more.

About 80 members of the Communications Workers of America protested at Baltimore City Hall Thursday against a deal between Verizon Wireless and cable companies that they said will hurt the city's chances of ever receiving the telecommuncation company's next-generation Internet broadband network, known as FiOS. In a deal with major cable companies across the country, Verizon Wireless plans to expand its fourth-generation wireless services after purchasing unused wireless spectrum from the cable providers.

A new high-speed wireless service for business is to be launched by Verizon Wireless Inc. in Baltimore and 10 other cities Monday, after trial runs during the past year in Washington, San Diego and Las Vegas. The company won't introduce a residential version until next year. Analysts expect it to cost less than the current offering. Verizon's Broadband Access will cost $80 a month for unlimited access plus $100 or more for the computer card needed to use the system. The service, among several offers being introduced or tested by a few of the major telecommunications providers, is the latest sign that wireless computer use is reaching the next stage of infancy, similar to wired broadband in the mid-1990s, when most Internet users relied on dial-up access.

On a recent Thursday afternoon at the headquarters of Verizon Wireless Data and Multimedia Services in Laurel, a dozen people huddled in a third-floor conference room, studying the video clips before them. On the front wall, a video baseball game was put through its paces. On a computer screen off to the left, a pop music video played. Just days after the Feb. 1 rollout of V Cast, a new service that brings televisionlike video to the cellular telephone, the group was searching to add more content - music videos, computer games, news and sports highlights, even abbreviated TV shows Verizon has labeled "mobisodes."

About 80 members of the Communications Workers of America protested at Baltimore City Hall Thursday against a deal between Verizon Wireless and cable companies that they said will hurt the city's chances of ever receiving the telecommuncation company's next-generation Internet broadband network, known as FiOS. In a deal with major cable companies across the country, Verizon Wireless plans to expand its fourth-generation wireless services after purchasing unused wireless spectrum from the cable providers.

Verizon Wireless announced yesterday that it had filed separate civil suits against two telemarketers, alleging they violated federal and state laws by making more than 1.4 million unsolicited calls to its cell-phone subscribers this summer. Citing invasions of privacy and violations of consumer-protection laws, Verizon Wireless sued Intelligent Alternatives LLC of San Diego and Resort Marketing Trends LLC of Coral Springs, Fla. With more than 47 million subscribers, Verizon Wireless is the nation's No. 2 wireless carrier.

Verizon Wireless plans to add 250 jobs to its Hanover call center, the company said yesterday. The center, which opened in November 2005, employs about 1,100. An increased subscriber base and existing customers using new services on their cell phones, such as GPS, are fueling the job growth, the company said. Verizon Wireless has 59 million customers nationwide, with 2.2 million added in the last three months of 2006. "We're growing by leaps and bounds," said John Johnson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman.

Tower Federal Credit Union and Verizon Wireless, in North Laurel, received Innovations in Wellness awards from the Howard County Health Department's "Healthy Howard" program. The award recognized Tower's progressive "Wealth of Wellness" employee wellness program. Verizon Wireless earned the highest, gold level recognition from Healthy Howard, Inc. and was named among Howard County's healthiest workplaces for the third consecutive year. The Healthy Howard Initiative recognizes businesses that are committed to improving employee health and well-being.

Tower Federal Credit Union and Verizon Wireless, in North Laurel, received Innovations in Wellness awards from the Howard County Health Department's "Healthy Howard" program. The award recognized Tower's progressive "Wealth of Wellness" employee wellness program. Verizon Wireless earned the highest, gold level recognition from Healthy Howard, Inc. and was named among Howard County's healthiest workplaces for the third consecutive year. The Healthy Howard Initiative recognizes businesses that are committed to improving employee health and well-being.

Verizon Wireless announced it has activated a new cell site in Harford County to expand wireless voice and 3G data coverage, specifically to bring improved coverage and capacity to Aberdeen Proving Ground and surrounding area. According to a Verizon Wireless news release, the expanded 3G capacity for APG lets more customers using tablets, laptops or smart phones rapidly browse the Web; send and receive emails; open and download attachments; instantly download the latest apps; and more.

How deep is corporate influence on President Barack Obama? Is there no business request so anticompetitive, so anticonsumer that the administration would be forced to say no? Should the Justice Department's antitrust division (more than 800 employees; average salary of more than $150,000) just go out of business? We're about to find out. If Obama approves AT&T's proposal to buy T-Mobile, he'll have reached a new Washington low in preventing the kind of oligopoly disaster that even conservative economists agree is bad for consumers and bad for innovation.

From the BaltTech blog: Big news today: Verizon Wireless will soon start selling the iPhone 4. The Verizon homepage has been updated to include the iPhone 4. Apple's homepage has it, too. Verizon will be selling the 16 GB version for $199 with a two-year plan, starting Feb. 10. I'm checking to see the details on the monthly plans that are offered... the rumor was that Verizon would offer an unlimited data package to differentiate itself from AT&T, which offers tiered/capped plans.

From the BalthTech blog: Big news for fans of Verizon's wireless network: It'll be getting the Apple iPad starting Oct. 28. You'll be able to buy the iPad at 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores nationwide. (Is this the precursor to Verizon getting the iPhone next year, as recent reports suggest?) Interestingly, consumers won't have access to the iPad 3G. Instead, if you want one from Verizon, you could buy an iPad Wi-Fi version plus a Verizon MiFi mobile hotspot. The hotspot uses Verizon's 3G network and generates a Wi-Fi hotspot that you can then use the iPad with.

Apple Inc. shares reached an all-time high Tuesday after a newspaper report said the iPhone could find a new U.S. sales outlet through Verizon Wireless. Since its 2007 launch, the iPhone has been available in the U.S. only to subscribers of AT&T Inc. The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that Apple plans to release an iPhone this year that would work on technology used by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Inc. in the U.S. Apple and Verizon declined to comment on the matter.

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-telephone operator, broke ranks with rival carriers yesterday by dropping its opposition to a rule requiring wireless companies to let customers keep their phone numbers when changing providers. Verizon Wireless will absorb the cost of implementing the new rule, which is effective Nov. 24, Chief Executive Officer Dennis Strigl told a conference in New York. The decision ends what had been a united industry front against number portability. Strigl leaned on other carriers to also stop fighting the rule, which some have argued would cost about $1 billion initially and $500 million a year after that.

NEW YORK -- Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile-phone services company, dropped a user fee for its music service yesterday as it began selling a new music-capable handset. Customers with Verizon Wireless' new Chocolate phone or other handsets capable of downloading music and video can use the company's online store free, paying only for downloads, John Harrobin, vice president of digital media, said yesterday in an e-mailed video. Users previously had paid a $15 monthly access fee. The Chocolate phone, made by LG Electronics Inc., is Verizon Wireless' first handset designed to look and operate like a digital music player, using a dedicated button on the side to access tunes.

Health coverage is said to eat up jobless aid A report issued yesterday by the consumer health group Families USA finds that the average cost for family health insurance coverage eats up almost 84 percent of monthly unemployment benefits. The study looked at Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) coverage, which allows a laid-off worker to retain employer-sponsored insurance but without the business contributions. That makes coverage much more expensive for individuals.

Clutching a freshly purchased Pilates video, Liz Overstreet, who's 56, pauses for a second to think about what she, a vibrant working woman with toned arms and thick hair, is doing at, of all places, an AARP convention. "I'm not old," Overstreet, who is from Lanham, almost scoffs. "If you're 50 or 55 or 60, you're not old. This show is about - what are they calling it? - 'life after 50.' "We're all here looking for stuff to do, places to go, things to buy and information. Our parents were old people.