FCC fines major telcos for selling users’ location data

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined major US telcos for illegally selling their subscribers' location data to third-party data brokers.

According to an FCC statement, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile US – the latter two having merged in 2020 – were ordered to pay $57 million, $47 million, $12 million, and $80 million, respectively, for their involvement in the unauthorised sharing of customers' sensitive location information.

"Our...

30 April 2024 | 5G

T-Mobile ordered to prove it didn’t lie to get Sprint merger approval

T-Mobile has been ordered to prove it didn’t lie to government regulators about its 3G shutdown plans to win approval for its Sprint merger.

In a ruling by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), T-Mobile is ordered “to show cause why it should not be sanctioned by the Commission for violating Rule 1.1 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure for false, misleading, or omitted statements.”

CPUC accuses T-Mobile of making false statements...

17 August 2021 | Legislation & Government

T-Mobile CEO: Sprint’s network shuttering won’t really start until 2022

T-Mobile has begun shuttering Sprint’s network in a few locations following its acquisition but doesn’t expect to really start until 2022.

T-Mobile acquired Sprint for $26 billion earlier this year. Industry observers have been awaiting news on the company’s plans to shutter the old network as the “New T-Mobile” rolls out—which promises 14 times more capacity in six years than standalone T-Mobile has today.

During a UBS investor event, T-Mobile CEO Mike...

9 December 2020 | Networks

Ookla: AT&T beats Verizon in 4G speeds, T-Mobile is the 5G leader

The latest report from Ookla finds AT&T beating Verizon in average 4G speeds and T-Mobile blazing ahead in 5G.

Ookla’s 4G “speed score” for AT&T is 41.23 with T-Mobile quite far behind in second place with a score of 33.69. The other two major operators, Sprint and Verizon, are clumped close to T-Mobile with scores of 31.53 and 30.77 respectively.

All the providers now have high 4G availability scores. Sprint and Verizon lead with a joint 99% 4G...

10 July 2020 | LTE

T-Mobile switches off Sprint’s 5G network following $26.5 billion merger

T-Mobile is switching off Sprint’s legacy 5G network following the merger of the companies which finally closed on April 1st.

Sprint’s 5G, which uses 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum, has been taken offline while T-Mobile works to re-deploy it across its own network.

Most existing Sprint customers won’t be able to use their current devices going forward to access 5G, with Galaxy S20 users being the exception. T-Mobile is offering credits for affected customers to lease a...

3 July 2020 | Networks

T-Mobile wants to adjust Sprint merger terms like jobs promises, 5G speeds

T-Mobile is seeking to adjust some of the agreements it made in return for the authorisation of its Sprint merger.

The "uncarrier" has asked California’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to ease three conditions in particular. 

One of the key arguments made by T-Mobile in favour of its merger was that it would create jobs. Former CEO John Legere even said in a blog post last year that a combined T-Mobile/Sprint would employ 11,000 more workers by 2024 than what the...

24 June 2020 | Legislation & Government