According to J.D. Powers, smartphone customers are more satisfied with full-service Tier 1 wireless carriers than non-contract carriers. Their recent study concludes that customer satisfaction is much higher among smartphone owners currently subscribing to full-service wireless carriers, compared with those purchasing service through a non-contract carrier.

FCC Activity                                    

The Federal Communications Commission announced that T-Mobile will pay a $48 million settlement, increase transparency, and provide consumer benefits including connecting public school students as part of a settlement resolving an investigation into whether the company adequately disclosed speed and data restrictions for its “unlimited” data plan subscribers. The FCC’s investigation found that company policy allows it to slow down data speeds when T-Mobile or MetroPCS customers on so-called “unlimited” plans exceed a monthly data threshold. Company advertisements and other disclosures may have led unlimited data plan customers to expect that they were buying better and faster service than what they received. The Commission’s 2010 Open Internet transparency rules require broadband Internet providers to give accurate and sufficient information to consumers about their Internet services so consumers can make informed choices. 

In another case, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau announced that Comcast Corporation will pay a $2.3 million fine to resolve an investigation into whether the company wrongfully charged cable TV customers for services and equipment that those customers never authorized. The Communications Act and the FCC's rules prohibit a cable provider from charging its subscribers for services or equipment they did not affirmatively request, a practice known as "negative option billing."  Negative option billing burdens customers with the responsibility of contacting a cable company to dispute the charges and obtain refunds.  The Communications Act and the FCC's rules prohibit a similar practice by telecommunications carriers when unauthorized charges are placed on customers' phone bills, an abuse known as "cramming."  

This month the FCC adopted rules that require broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to protect the privacy of their customers. The rules ensure broadband customers have meaningful choice, greater transparency and strong security protections for their personal information collected by ISPs. The decision was immediately blasted by industry think tank The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) which lambasted the FCC's new rules providing enhanced consumer privacy protection saying the rules are far too restrictive and limit industry innovation. 

Innovation Insights

A number of equipment manufacturers were rolling out new solutions for faster, easier, more reliable network connectivity. Here are a couple of highlights:

Quantenna Communications announced the industry's first 802.11ax product called QSR10G-AX. This product is built on Quantenna's QSR10G Wave 3 Wi-Fi platform and adds support for the draft 1.0 of the IEEE specification 802.11ax standard. As Wi-Fi usage continues to grow, the Wi-Fi 802.11 IEEE standard is evolving to cope with the augmented complexity of Wi-Fi networks. 802.11ax was designed with the goal of increasing Wi-Fi networks efficiency in dense deployments such as multi-dwelling units as well as improving Wi-Fi network capacity and speed.