Back in April, Google silently shut down its "Mobile Network Insights" service, which provided carriers with data about network performance in different locations as provided by Android handsets. According to an exclusive report from Reuters, Google killed the service as a result of concerns regarding user data privacy, even though the information that was given to carriers was ostensibly stripped of identifying information.
Read MoreFCC chairman Ajit Pai supports Sprint/T-Mobile merger, brings deal to home stretch
After years of back-and-forth boardroom negotiations, handshakes with government officials, a failure along the way, and many doses of hard bargaining, Sprint and T-Mobile are on track to merge and form a wireless carrier with a total of 137 million subscribers. The Department of Justice recently greenlit the deal, all we're waiting for now is the FCC vote. Today, the countdown has begun as commission chairman Ajit Pai announced his support for the combination.
Read MoreAnti-robocall standards finally rolling out between AT&T and T-Mobile
Automatic call blocking is now the rule of the land thanks to your very own United States federal government — that means you should be getting fewer robocalls and cold dials from spoofed (faked) numbers. It also means the roll-out of a two-part authentication system between the network sending and the network receiving named SHAKEN/STIR. This very system has just been deployed for calls between the AT&T and T-Mobile networks.
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T-Mobile reports record-setting Q2, plans to get Dish started as carrier
Amidst news of the Department of Justice's approval of its merger with Sprint, T-Mobile has announced a record second quarter with big gains in both subscribers and revenues. In its earnings call, the carrier tooted its horn about its rapid pace of capital expenditure related to 600MHz and millimeter wave spectrum and painted a couple of insights to its spectrum and MVNO sale to Dish.
Read MoreDish reportedly agrees to $5 billion deal with Sprint and T-Mobile for wireless spectrum and prepaid businesses [Update: Confirmed]
Dish has been toying with the idea of becoming a proper carrier amid the merger of the century between T-Mobile and Sprint for quite a while. There were even some rumors that Google was on board with the satellite TV-provider, but they have since been denied by the search company. Bloomberg reports that Dish has agreed to buy wireless spectrum and prepaid businesses such as Boost Mobile from T-Mobile and Sprint as the Department of Justice closes in on approving the carrier merger.
Read MoreGoogle Messages RCS spotted going live on Simple Mobile, Visible, and Xfinity Mobile
Google chose RCS as the next holy grail of messaging after it shut down Allo and abandoned Hangouts. However, since the Rich Communication Services depend on the mercy of carriers and their specific device support, rollout has been exorbitantly slow, which even lead Google to take the reins and push out RCS in France and the UK using the Messages app (with more markets to follow). In the US, though, that's not the case so far. But perhaps Google calling the carriers' bluff is working, as Simple Mobile, Visible, and Xfinity Mobile are starting to support the new protocol.
Read MoreVisible is removing its 5Mbps speed cap, still just $40/mo for unlimited data
Verizon's virtual carrier Visible has always had a compelling offer—just $40 per month for unlimited data. However, it caps LTE speeds at 5Mbps, which limits how much of that "unlimited" data you can use. Starting today, Visible will let customers sign up for uncapped LTE service, and it won't cost anything extra. There's a catch, though. This offer is only available for a limited time.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
T-Mobile rolls out new international data pass options
T-Mobile just announced revamped plans last month, and now it has new international data passes to go with them. The old day pass option still exists, but now you can give T-Mobile more money for more data, and those bytes won't expire as quickly.
Read MoreSprint's 5G network is here, covering millions of people AT&T and Verizon can't
Sprint has launched its mobile 5G service in four cities — but unlike the short-range millimeter wave networks AT&T and Verizon have already turned on, this is the nation's first taste of 5G on mid-band spectrum in its coveted 2.5GHz band. All told, it covers more than 1,100 square miles and a population of nearly 3.6 million people.
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