Carriers

ORLANDO, Fla.--Day one at CTIA 2011 is done and despite a certain merger hanging over everyone's head, carriers and manufacturers didn't disappoint the crowd with new devices. A few announcements trickled out yesterday, but today was the day when companies rolled out the big guns. Here's a review of what we've seen so far.

For more day one coverage, check out Maggie Reardon's post on spectrum and this morning's keynote with the CEOs of AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless.

Sprint Like it has done the past few years, Sprint did its best to throw one of CTIA's biggest bashes. It started Monday making news even as much of the wireless nation was flying to Florida. The news that it would offer the first 4G (and first CDMA) Samsung Nexus S will please Android purists while Google Voice fans should welcome Sprint's plans to integrate the service into all of its phones.

Today, Sprint unveiled two additional Android devices, the Evo View and the Evo 3D. The former is a slightly revamped version of the HTC Flyer tablet that debuted last month as Mobile World Congress. Sprint kept almost everything, including HTC's Scribe technology, while adding WiMax support and a black finish. The Evo 3D meanwhile is a Gingerbread-equipped smartphone with the ability to record 3D video and shoots 3D still photos. … Read more

ORLANDO, Fla.--Verizon Wireless has been relatively quiet here at CTIA 2011, but the carrier did announce an additional 59 markets that will be covered by its 4G LTE network by the end of 2011. New markets include Tucson, Ariz., Sacramento, Calif., Springfield, Ill., Louisville, Ky., Portland, Ore., Reno, Nev., El Paso, Texas, and Spokane., Wash. This group joins the 49 markets that were announced at CES 2011 and the 38 cities where 4G LTE is already available. Verizon says by the end of the year at least 147 cities will have access to its 4G network. You can see … Read more

ORLANDA, Fla.--After a slow start, the gloves came off at the CTIA panel of wireless CEOs hosted by CNBC's Jim Cramer here today.

Cramer, who was hosting the panel as part of the morning keynote at the CTIA 2011 trade show, started off the quick-fire discussion with AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la Vega, Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead, and Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse by addressing the "elephant" in the room: AT&T's $39 billion proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA, which was announced Sunday afternoon--two days before the big industry event … Read more

Verizon's 4G network proved the fastest and most consistent among those of the four major U.S. carriers, according to a study (PDF) out today by mobile testing company RootMetrics.

With the four (but soon to be three, what with yesterday's surprise announcement that AT&T plans to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion) major carriers all trumpeting the respective performance of their own high-speed mobile networks, RootMetrics set out to determine which was truly the speediest by testing 4G-capable phones from each one.

Included in the study were the HTC Thunderbolt running on Verizon's LTE network, … Read more

ORLANDO, Fla.--Sprint got an early start at CTIA 2011 today when it announced that it would add the Samsung Nexus S to its lineup. Not only will it be the first CDMA Nexus device--Verizon reneged on its promise to add the HTC Nexus One to its lineup--but also it's the first Nexus handset with support for a 4G network.

From the outside, Sprint's Nexus S is largely the same as its T-Mobile counterpart. It has the same sleek profile and shiny, polished exterior, and a 4-inch "Contour" Super AMOLED display.

Inside you'll see mostly … Read more

In a year from now, the chart that you see below you might be out-of-date. After the news broke that AT&T would be acquiring T-Mobile USA, one of the first concerns was if T-Mobile customers would be able to keep their plans. Thankfully,T-Mobile has released an FAQ that answered just that; T-Mobile will keep things as they are for about 12 months, and any agreement you enter into in the meantime will be honored once the changeover goes through.

But we wanted to see just exactly what T-Mobile customers might be giving up in terms of monthly … Read more

Just when CTIA 2011 was shaping up to be a snoozer, it suddenly got a lot more interesting today when AT&T announced that it was acquiring T-Mobile for $39 billion. A rumored acquisition of T-Mobile has long been percolating for a few months--up until today Sprint was listed as the likely buyer--but the news of AT&T swooping nonetheless is shocking. And as I see it, it's not very good for T-Mobile customers.

Absolutely, AT&T and T-Mobile are a natural fit on the surface. They both are GSM, they have broad international coverage, and … Read more

AT&T and T-Mobile rocked the United States this morning with merger plans that would make T-Mobile USA part of AT&T's empire. (That's assuming the buyout receives regulatory approval; until then, it's business as usual at T-Mobile for now.)

Both T-Mobile and AT&T have a claim to fame in recent smartphone history. AT&T was first to get the Apple iPhone, in an exclusive two-year deal no less, but it was T-Mobile that first got the Android ball rolling with the T-Mobile G1.

CNET will have much more news and analysis … Read more

AT&T announced today it had entered into an agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. The news was unexpected and sent the technology world into a frenzy, and naturally, it has many AT&T and T-Mobile subscribers wondering what's next.

Of course, T-Mobile customers have more to gain or lose in this deal, and to ease some of the early anxiety, the carrier has posted a FAQ on its Web site, outlining how the acquisition will impact their service.

For now, you won't see much of a change. T-Mobile will continue to act as an independent company until the merger goes through, which the company expects will take about 12 months. Until then, your service, data plans, selection of phones (read: no iPhone just yet), and billing will remain the same. In addition, T-Mobile states that any contract plans entered into before the change of ownership will be honored.

The carrier goes on to explain how the acquisition is good news for customers, as it will improve voice and data service and ensure 4G LTE coverage for 95 percent of the population--something T-Mobile says that neither it or AT&T could have done on its own.

We have reached out to T-Mobile for additional information on how the acquisition might impact the product portfolio, data plans, and contracts and will update this story once we have more information, but the carrier says that customers will receive advance notice of any changes to service.

Despite this reassurance, the reaction from T-Mobile customers has been apprehensive to say the least. Let us know what you think in the comments section below. … Read more