• AT&T claims that only 3% of current households in California still use copper landlines
• The communications giant estimates the maintenance cost of such a service at approximately $1 billion
• California is one of 21 states currently opposed to AT&T's retirement of copper landlines, setting up a potential future state-versus-federal legal battle over authority

AT&T has filed a lawsuit against the state of California, petitioning the FCC to end state-sanctioned regulations that require it to offer services as a Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

The lawsuit names both the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the state attorney general as defendants, even as it asks the FCC for permission to discontinue traditional phone service in areas where better service options are available.

The telecoms provider also seeks relief from state regulations, which it contends are superseded by federal regulations.

A complex issue, driven by profitability, reliability, and ecological concerns

AT&T has pointed out that not only does the copper-based infrastructure in its current shape cost over $1 billion to maintain, while serving only 3% of its user base, but it is also prone to pilferage, especially due to rising copper prices globally, making it a relatively easy target for thieves.

It also noted that California is now the only state with regulatory roadblocks that prevent AT&T from fully phasing out its copper-based service, even as it claims that as many as 80% of adults nationwide use wireless phone service as their sole medium for calls, with most of those that do not leveraging IP-based phone services instead.

AT&T's multi-pronged assault on California also highlighted the ecological benefits of such a move, stating that a shift away from copper could save an estimated 300 million kilowatt-hours annually by 2030, equivalent to eliminating emissions from 17 million gallons of gasoline.

No fiber-for-all plans just yet as AT&T eyes wireless to bridge a chunk of the gap

AT&T, for its part, does not want to replace all of its copper installations with fiber just yet. It aims to push a "wireless first" approach in certain areas where it deems wireless connectivity sufficient to replace existing copper-based infrastructure.

It stated in its lawsuit: "AT&T cannot invest its full resources to modernize its network while continuing to devote huge sums of money to keeping POTS alive. Because it makes no sense to maintain a ubiquitous, costly legacy network that consumers have largely abandoned, AT&T has sought to transition customers to IP-based services across its nationwide footprint."

The CPUC's stance on this is also clear: It states that it does not have specific rules regarding the retirement of copper facilities, but rather is willing to consider upgrades to fiber or 'other facilities' with a focus on reliability.

With 40,000 Lifeline subscribers left in California, thanks to a process that AT&T states the FFC calls 'grandfathering', which allowed it to stop accepting new customers for the service, there is still a sizeable amount of other affected customers; AT&T's petitions to the FCC point to it requesting permission to discontinue service to 184,000 residential and 15,000 business customers in the state.

With landlines often remaining functional even during wildfires, power outages, and cell tower failures, the state of California could make the argument that its approach is technology-neutral and AT&T is required to offer reliable coverage across the state, especially to rural or marginalized communities, which are expected to bear the brunt of any such move.

• AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are working together to offer standardized satellite connectivity
• It would benefit customers not covered by cell towers, like in national parks
• Operators globally are looking to use satellite for more than emergencies, now

In a rare turn of events, three of the biggest mobile carriers in the US have announced they will be working together to tackle 'dead zones' across the country using satellites.

The joint venture, formed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, should help to improve connectivity in areas where traditional towers can fail, such as national parks and highways.

Satellites could also provide continuity in disaster-struck regions, where land-based infrastructure damages can cause widespread outages.

Satellite technology to eliminate dead zones

Because the joint venture's plan revolves around direct-to-device satellite tech, it would mean that regular smartphone could access signal in rural areas without consumers needing to buy specific satellite phones. While many phones now offer limited services via satellite, it's hoped that the scheme would make roaming between cellular and satellite networks more seamless.

"Having launched the first nationwide, satellite-powered direct-to-device network for text and data, we’ve seen firsthand how critical reliable connectivity can be when America needs it most," T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan commented.

T-Mobile already partners with SpaceX, which has been expanding its footprint across voice and data services on top of earlier emergency texting functionalities. AT&T and Verizon also have partnerships with AST SpaceMobile for their satellite services.

The announcement comes amid a broader global shift, whereby satellite networks are becoming more tightly integrated with regular 5G and 6G cell connections, instead of being a separate emergency-only tool.

As well as improving coverage and performance for customers, the joint venture also anticipates industry benefits, such as industry-wide device compatibility and an easier way for mobile network operators (MNOs) to integrate satellite connectivity for their customers.

The agreement in principle is yet to be confirmed, pending regulatory approval and confirmation of the finer details.

The best smartphone deals come from mobile network carriers, but there’s a big catch you should know about if you’re considering getting an iPhone 16 Pro ‘On Us’ or if you want to score a massive discount on a Galaxy Z Fold 7. If you’re planning on switching phones before the payment plan has ended, there’s a major catch, and the warning was hard to find in the contract agreements I signed.

Here’s my situation: when I wanted a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in early 2023, AT&T offered it for a very low monthly price on two conditions. First, I needed to trade in any Galaxy phone in any condition. No sweat! I had one hanging around. Second, I needed to sign up for a new line of service on a plan with unlimited monthly data. Also, no problem for me; I needed a new line and I use a ton of GBs.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra with 512GB of storage was almost $1,400 when I bought it. That equals $38.34 per month for 36 months, and AT&T was offering to pay more than 70% of that monthly payment as long as I was a customer. I pay $10.56 monthly, and in the end, I’ll have paid only $380 for the best phone I could buy back then.

Yeah, I don't keep any phone for 3 whole years, but this time...

Of course, I wasn’t planning on keeping the Ultra for longer than a year. I signed a three-year agreement, but I planned on trading the Galaxy S23 Ultra for an S24 Ultra a year later. I wouldn’t sign up for a new contract; instead, I would just trade in my phone. Samsung would give me $1,000 for the trade (Samsung’s norm), and I would pay the remaining $400 in cash. Instead, I got hosed.

Before I traded in my Galaxy S23 Ultra, I looked into selling it on Swappa. When I entered my phone’s IMEI number – the unique identifier assigned to all smartphones – Swappa rejected my sale. I was told my phone is ineligible for sale because there is a lien on the phone from AT&T.

I honestly did not know a phone lien was a thing. I knew that information could be attached to an IMEI number. For instance, if you report a phone stolen, the IMEI number can identify the stolen device later if the thief tries to sell it. I had no clue the IMEI could be used by my carrier to claim ownership over a phone I purchased.

Here's how AT&T will stop you from selling your phone before you pay it off

I have spent time poring over every document I signed. I cannot find the word ‘lien’ anywhere. I reached out to AT&T, and they explained what was happening… kind of.

My new smartphone does not technically have a ‘lien,’ but the contract works the same way. AT&T claims a purchase money security interest (PMSI) on my device until it is paid in full. That means they have the right to claim any proceeds if I sell the device.

That sounds awfully like a lien, huh? It’s close, but a lien is more legally enforceable. The real purpose of a purchase money security interest clause is to make sure AT&T gets paid if I go into bankruptcy and I’m forced to sell my smartphone. In practice, it keeps me from selling the phone early, the same way a lien on my car title would prevent me from selling my car.

It's not just an AT&T problem, but carriers still offer a good deal

This isn’t just an AT&T issue. A Verizon rep told me, “We do not place liens on devices. If a customer does not continually meet eligibility requirements to get the device on us, they are responsible for payment of the device.” That sounds definitive, but Verizon’s contract language contains a purchase money security interest clause similar to the language AT&T uses.

T-Mobile did not respond with comment, and I could not find any PMSI clause in T-Mobile contracts. However, if you are planning on ditching your phone early, you may want to read the current contract closely, as terms can change.

I still think carrier deals for free phones are good deals. Even if you only get a discount, it’s a huge discount. If you want a Galaxy Z Fold 7, for instance, that phone costs $1,999.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,899. If you sign up with AT&T, they will pay up to $1,100 of that total if you stick with them for three years.

For most people, that will be the only way to afford today’s most expensive phones, and three years is the right amount of time to own today’s best phones. The required service plan will be a pricier option, but if you use a lot of data like me, a Wi-Fi hotspot amount, you’re probably getting a top plan anyway. You might as well get the best deal on the top phone to go with it.

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• Wireless Account Lock is now available for AT&T consumer and business users alike
• Free feature that can be toggled in the myAT&T app
• The feature prevents SIM-swapping and similar attacks

AT&T has introduced a new feature to protect consumer and business accounts from SIM-swapping attacks.

Wireless Account Lock will be able to disable several key account changes, a key part of SIM-swapping, which can give attackers control of a victim’s phone number and lets them intercept SMS-based two-factor authentication app codes.

“The lock forces an extra step before important account changes can be made,” AT&T said of the new tool. “It prevents anyone from buying a device on the account, for example, or conducting a SIM swap – moving a phone number to a SIM in a different device.”

Malicious insiders and tricked employees

The feature is now available in the myAT&T app for postpaid consumer wireless accounts. There, users can toggle it on or off, adding an extra step before they can upgrade a device, change a SIM or an eSIM card, initiate a phone number transfer, add a new line, change billing information, change authorized users, or change phone numbers.

For business users, there is the Business Account Lock and an AT&T Prepaid wireless account lock with similar functions. For businesses, account admins can find the lock switch wherever they access the account online.

Adversaries typically pull off SIM swapping attacks by tricking or bribing mobile carrier employees, or using stolen personal data to impersonate the victim and convince the carrier to transfer the number to a SIM card they control.

Once successful, the attacker can reset passwords and take over sensitive accounts like email, banking, or crypto wallets.

Although it might sound far-fetched, these types of attacks happen all the time - most recently, Bitdefender reported a student interning at the Société Générale bank was arrested under suspicion of helping SIM-swapping scammers defraud 50 clients.

Via MacRumors

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• Trump says this was the second time AT&T was responsible for a disruption
• AT&T says it was the video conferencing platform that was at fault
• We don't know which platform Trump was using - is he a Zoom or Teams man?

US President Donald Trump has criticized AT&T on Truth Social, claiming its network failed during a major conference call with faith leaders.

"I’m doing a major Conference Call with Faith Leaders from all over the Country, and AT&T is totally unable to make their equipment work properly," the leader wrote in an online post.

Trump added this was the second time AT&T had caused disruptions to a video conference, calling for improvements to be made to the network's stability.

Trump blames AT&T for video call disruption

"If the Boss of AT&T, whoever that may be, could get involved – it would be good," the President added, while mentioning that "tens of thousands" of participants were also on the line.

Responding to US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X, AT&T wrote: "We've reached out to the White House and are working to quickly understand and assess the situation."

However, in a follow-up reply to the thread, AT&T disclosed the issue was "caused by an issue with the conference call platform, not [the AT&T] network."

Neither AT&T nor the White House have disclosed who the video conferencing provider was in this instance, and Trump is yet to publicly acknowledge AT&T's response. There are no details on the earlier disruption Trump associated with AT&T, either.

In a follow-up post, Trump "apologize[d] for the long wait on the Faith Leaders Conference Call," adding he may have to reschedule the call using a different provider.

TechRadar Pro has asked AT&T for more details on the incident and the results of its investigation, but the company did not immediately respond.

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• AT&T is investigating new claims of a data breach
• The data was posted on a breach forum, and includes plaintexts SSNs
• It could be new, or could be a re-release of older data

AT&T is investigating a leak of data on a cybercrime forum, but with some skepticism, as some have suggested it may just be a re-release of an earlier data breach.

The trove of data includes 88 million customer records, but 86 million of these are unique, including personal information such as dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses.

What makes this breach potentially dangerous is that the data is highly organized, and includes 44 million plaintext social security numbers that could be used to commit fraud and identity theft.

Just a re-release or something more sinister?

The HackRead research team first spotted the files on May 15, with the same collection of data appearing again on June 3 and spreading to multiple other leak sites and forums since then.

There is some debate over the origin of the data, with HackRead finding similarities between encrypted and plaintext values from the collection that could tie it to the April 2024 AT&T breach that utilized the Snowflake vulnerability.

On the other hand, it could be a re-release of a previous breach, or a combination of one of the many AT&T breaches.

For example, in 2024 AT&T confirmed that the data of 51 million customers had been stolen after previously denying that the data was stolen from AT&T systems.

The data was initially stolen in 2021. The famous Snowflake vulnerability debacle of 2024 also saw customer data stolen from AT&T, with the company then negotiating and paying $300,000 in Bitcoin to one of the hackers to delete the data.

The bottom line is that the data includes almost everything a cyber criminal would need to commit fraud or steal an identity, making identity theft protection and credit monitoring a good choice for those potentially affected by the breach.

Via The Register

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• Verizon and AT&T are taking the hassle out of personal storage
• Upgrades for group storage are a game changer
• Perks like AI photo editing tools could come in handy

Taken one photograph too many and run out of cloud storage? It’s happened to us all at some point, and there’s nothing more frustrating.

Faced with the prospect of upgrading your plan and forking out for more capacity, it’s worth exploring all of the available options.

Luckily, there are a broad variety out there, but millions of Americans are still missing out regardless.

Verizon cloud storage deals

Verizon, for example, has little-known perks for customers in this regard, offering unlimited cloud storage at a relatively low monthly cost.

Verizon Cloud gives customers access to unlimited cloud storage for $13.99 per month. Better still, if you’re willing to pay $19.99 per month, this can be expanded to a group plan for up to five users, bringing friends or family into the fold.

Both the individual and group unlimited plans come with some handy perks, including automatic backup capabilities. This allows you to keep copies of photographs, documents, or videos and access them via your smartphone or computer.

The service also boasts a range of security features, including a PIN-protected private folder to safeguard sensitive content such as driver’s licenses, passports, or just your personal photos and videos.

One very handy aspect of the Verizon Cloud service is that your saved contacts, photographs, and videos can be easily transferred to your new mobile device when you upgrade.

AT&T's competitor service has added perks

Verizon isn’t alone on this front, either, as AT&T also offers unlimited cloud storage services for customers.

Similar to Verizon Cloud, the AT&T Personal Cloud service comes in at a slightly higher cost, but with additional benefits and features.

Users of this service can access unlimited storage for $19.99 per month, but this is for one individual.

AT&T Personal Cloud offers virtually the same services as the aforementioned Verizon Cloud, including automatic backup capabilities and PIN-protected private folders for sensitive materials.

Some features do differ, though, including in-built AI photo editing tools, which could come in handy for those looking to edit on the go.

The service can also be accessed anywhere, including via your phone, tablet, or desktop computer - and it works on iOS, Android, MacOS, and Windows.

There are other options available out there for consumers, but it’s worth noting that a significant portion of these are capped, albeit with most offering several terabytes’ worth of capacity.

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• A US Army soldier is facing charges linked to the Snowflake hack
• The accused faces $500,000 in fines and 20 years behind bars
• The soldier intends to plead guilty to all charges

A US army soldier accused of two counts of unlawfully transferring confidential phone records has said he intends to plead guilty.

The soldier attempted to “knowingly and intentionally sell and transfer, and attempt to sell and transfer, confidential phone records,” US prosecutors said [PDF].

Cameron John Wagenius, the accused, informed a federal court in Seattle of his plea on Wednesday following his arrest in January 2025. Prosecutors have also found links between Wagenius’ attacks against AT&T and Verizon, with the 2024 Snowflake hack that saw upwards of 150 accounts compromised.

Up to 10 years in prison

Wagenius faces a fine of up to $250,000 and a maximum prison sentence of 10 years for each of the two counts, according to documents filed by his lawyer. Wagenius’ involvement in the Snowflake hacks, alongside Connor Moucka and John Binns, was confirmed by prosecutors in January, who linked methods used the AT&T and Verizon attacks to the Snowflake account breaches.

U.S. attorney Tessa Gorman said the breaches “arise from the same computer intrusion and extortion and include some of the same stolen victim information.” The attack against Snowflake was among the worst cyberattacks of 2024, with corporate accounts linked to AT&T, Santander, and Ticketmaster compromised, with Moucka and Binns reportedly making upwards of $2 million through extortion.

In the underground world, Wagenius used the pseudonym ‘Kiberphant0m’, the same alias that threatened to leak sensitive US government call logs when one of his co-conspirators in the Snowflake attack was arrested.

Kiberphant0m demanded comms with AT&T, writing on a dark web forum that, “In the event you do not reach out to us, [AT&T], all presidential government call logs will be leaked. You don’t think we don’t have plans in the event of an arrest? Think again.”

Moucka, who was arrested in Canada, and Binns, who was arrested in Turkey, are both awaiting extradition to the US, where they face 20 counts of various crimes, including conspiracy, computer fraud and abuse, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

Via TheRegister

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• More victims of Salt Typhoon attack unveiled by WSJ
• The extent of the damage caused by the attack is still unknown
• Some telecoms providers have removed the attackers from their systems

The recent Salt Typhoon cyberattacks may have breached more telecommunications providers than previously thought, with Charter Communications, Consolidated Communications, and Windstream all now believed to also have been affected.

The fresh list of victims comes from a new report by the Wall Street Journal, who cited people familiar with the matter.

The attack also exploited Fortinet network devices that did not have up-to-date security software installed, as well as vulnerable Cisco large network routers.

Attack may have started in 2023

The attack against US telecoms providers was first publicized in a joint statement by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on October 25, 2024 - however, the WSJ report states the attack is believed to have started as far back as fall of 2023 - around the same time US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was briefing telecom and tech executives on the depth and breadth of Chinese penetration into US critical infrastructure.

Salt Typhoon is now known to have successfully breached the networks of AT&T and Verizon in the attack, but little is known about what data the China-affiliated group was able to access.

Both Lumen and T-Mobile were also targeted during the attack, but both companies have said that they successfully stopped attackers from accessing sensitive customer information. Verizon confirmed that the data of a limited number of high-profile individuals involved in politics was targeted in attacks.

Salt Typhoon also gained access to a ‘lawful interception’ channel used by law enforcement agencies to perform court-ordered wiretaps for national security purposes, with China repeatedly denying any involvement in the attacks and accusing the US of spreading misinformation. China even went so far as to label Volt Typhoon - a similar group believed to be associated with Beijing - as a CIA asset set up to discredit the US’ rivals across the Pacific.

Both Fortinet and Cisco did not comment on the WSJ report, but both organizations have been in the cross hairs of cyber attacks from a range of cyber criminal groups.

Network routers with outdated firmware have been a favorite target as an initial access point for attackers and botnets for several years. Fortinet has also experienced a spate of attacks on its Windows VPN service and Fortigate VPN systems.

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• Connor Moucka and John Binns accused of attacking 10 companies, including AT&T
• The US Government claims they extorted 36 bitcoin from their victims
• Both were known to law enforcement in the past

The US government has accused two individuals of breaching 10 major companies, stealing their sensitive data, and then either extorting the firms for money, or selling the stolen data on the dark web. Among the victims is, most likely, AT&T, the American telecommunications powerhouse.

In the indictment, which TechCrunch published, the two individuals are named as Connor Moucka and John Binns. Both are already known, to both the media and law enforcement, as Alexander ‘Connor’ Moucka (aka Waifu and Judische) was taken into custody on October 30, in Canada, following a request by US law enforcement.

Binns, on the other hand, was already mentioned in relation to the AT&T hack, as one of the hackers with access to the stolen database, who tried to sell it back to the company. He was arrested in Turkey, for alleged crimes he committed in 2021 and, apparently, was to blame for the data breach that happened at T-Mobile, as well.

Hints of AT&T

The US government claim Moucka and Binns “devised and executed international computer hacking and wire fraud schemes to hack into at least 10 victim organizations’ protected computer networks, steal sensitive information, threaten to leak the stolen data unless the victims paid ransoms, and offer to sell online, and sell, the stolen data.”

“Through this scheme, the co-conspirators gained unlawful access to billions of sensitive customer records, including individuals’ non-content call and text history records, banking and other financial information, payroll records, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) registration numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, Social Security Numbers, and other personally identifiable information,” it says in the indictment.

The result of the attacks, the Government concludes, is profit of “at least 36 bitcoin ($2.5m at time of payment)” extorted from at least three victims.

While the document does not mention the names of victim companies, it does list Victim-2 as a major telecommunications company located in the United States, whose Cloud Computing Instance was hosted at computer servers located in Virginia. It was also said that this victim was breached in mid-April. All these things align it with AT&T.

Both the company, and the Department of Justice (DoJ), are currently silent on the matter.

Via TechCrunch

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• US federal agency issues warning against cellphone usage for work calls
• Warning comes in the aftermath of the breach of several US telecoms providers
• Attack has been attributed to Salt Typhoon, who also breached a number of ISPs

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a warning to its workers that personal mobile devices should not be used for sensitive work calls due to the recent Chinese probing of US telecommunications networks.

The email sent by the CFPB acknowledges that “While there is no evidence that CFPB has been targeted by this unauthorized access, I ask for your compliance with these directives so we reduce the risk that we will be compromised.”

The warning also extends to contractors working for the CFB, and highlights the scale of the attack against US telecoms by the China-related group tracked as Salt Typhoon.

Telecoms attack worries federal agencies

There is no indication on exactly what data may have been exfiltrated from the telecoms providers, but initial reports suggest that call logs, unencrypted texts and some phone audio was exfiltrated by the attackers, including audio from a number of high-profile individuals related to the Harris and Trump campaigns alongside potentially hundreds of thousands of US citizens.

US officials are also cutting down on their phone use in response to the hack, with a former US official who spoke to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) stating, “There is a general reticence to use their cellphones.”

Salt Typhoon also managed to breach several internet service providers (ISP) in early October, including Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen, with the attackers also gaining access to a lawful wiretap used for surveillance by US authorities.

As the WSJ notes, a federal agency issuing a specific warning against the use of personal mobile phones indicates the depth and breadth of the attacks.

“Do NOT conduct CFPB work using mobile voice calls or text messages,” the CFPB email recommended. The email also stated that staff should only use authorized online collaboration platforms such as Cisco WebEx and Microsoft Teams to make calls and send messages that contain non-public data.

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• Canadian man arrested in connection with Snowflake data breach
• The breach affected hundreds of millions of customers
• This was likely a 'credential stuffing' attack

Canadian authorities have confirmed that an arrest has been made in connection to the significant breach of Snowflake earlier in 2024.

Alexander ‘Connor’ Moucka (aka Waifu and Judische) was taken into custody on October 30 following a request by US law enforcement, and is now due to appear in court. The exact nature of the charges are unknown, as extradition requests are considered confidential state-to-state communications, so both nations declined to comment.

Security firm Mandiant recently confirmed it was still monitoring ‘Judische’, who was still actively targeting software-as-a-service (Saas) organizations up until very recently. The group behind the original attack is said to be primarily from North America, with one member also in Turkey.

Extortion and data theft

Around 165 organizations had their sensitive data stolen in the attack, which used brute force tactics on the cloud storage provider to breach a series of organizations and extort as much as $3 million from them in total.

Snowflake claimed the breach was a result of a credential stuffing attack and did not originate inside its infrastructure. This suggests the attackers purchased login combinations (usually on the dark web) and essentially just tried countless logins until they found one that worked.

The attacks affected millions of people’s data, and breached companies including the likes of AT&T, Santander, and Live Nation Entertainment (Ticketmaster). Ticketmaster alone reported the loss of 500 million people’s data, making this one of the biggest data breaches in history.

Telecoms giant AT&T reportedly paid $370,000 for a member of the hacking team earlier in 2024 to provide evidence that they had deleted the stolen call records for tens of millions of customers.

Via Bloomberg

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AT&T has accused VMware of proposing a staggering 1,050% price increase under its new Broadcom ownership, leading to a legal dispute between the two companies.

The claim was shared in a legal document filed by AT&T, which alleges Broadcom has not honored a previous contract allowing the telecoms giant to extend its support for VMware software by a further two years.

Confirmation of AT&T’s frustration with Broadcom was shared in a letter from AT&T EVP Susan A. Johnson, addressed to Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, shared by The Register.

AT&T faced with 1,050% VMware price hike

In the letter, Johnson called the proposed price hike extreme and unexpected given the companies’ strategic partnership.

AT&T has also raised concerns about the difficulties in migrating away from VMware, despite investigating alternative solutions for nearly a year. Because VMware is deeply integrated into AT&T’s network operations, a migration would prove costly (to the tune of $40-50 million) and time-consuming.

“AT&T has decided to pursue a legal strategy along with a disciplined plan to invest to migrate away, all of which will quickly become public," Johnson added

Despite sharing concerns about being treated unfairly and plans to migrate away from VMware, Johnson said the company would be prepared to “engage in any reasonable offers.”

More broadly, AT&T isn’t the only company to complain about the drastic changes that Broadcom has enacted within its acquired VMware business. Not long after the buyout, VMware perpetual licenses were terminated, and customers became increasingly vocal in the months that followed about their dissatisfaction.

Civo recently confirmed that more than half (52%) of VMware customers were looking to migrate as a result of the turmoil.

Several Broadcom execs, including CEO Hock Tan, have spoken out about the changes in a bid to pacify customers, but these have so far been relatively unsuccessful. A company spokesperson told TechRadar Pro in an email:

"Broadcom strongly disagrees with the allegations and is confident we will prevail in the legal process. VMware has been moving to a subscription model, the standard for the software industry, for several years – beginning before the acquisition by Broadcom. Our focus will continue to be providing our customers choice and flexibility while helping them address their most complex technology challenges.”

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A recently-concluded US government investigation has shed more light on the major AT&T outage that occurred on February 22, 2024 - including revealing a slightly embarassing cause.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) report highlighted the significant impact of the outage, which blocked over 92 million phone calls, including 25,000 attempts to reach 911 emergency services.

The FCC criticized AT&T for not adhering to best practices, such as thoroughly testing, reviewing and approving network changes before implementation.

FCC investigates AT&T’s February 2024 outage

The outage affected 125 million devices across all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Alarmingly, it took more than 12 hours to fully resolve, leaving many without connections during peak hours.

Besides AT&T customers, customers subscribed to providers who use AT&T’s network and those using the network for roaming were also affected. The outage also disrupted public safety communications on the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

AT&T acknowledged the outage stemmed from an update relating to a network expansion. The configuration error occurred three minutes after a network change was implemented, causing the network to enter ‘protect mode’ and disconnect all devices.

However, the FCC has accused AT&T of deeper issues, including inadequate peer reviews, insufficient lab testing and a lack of safeguards to prevent such outages.

AT&T has taken steps to prevent future outages, however the FCC has already referred the matter to its Enforcement Bureau for potential violations of its rules. FCC Chairwoman Jessia Rosenworcel emphasized the importance of network reliability:

“When you sign-up for wireless service, you expect it will be available when you need it – especially for emergencies… We take this incident seriously and are working to provide accountability for this lapse in service and prevent similar outages in the future.”

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A poorly protected Snowflake account has reprotedly cost AT&T more than $300,000 following the recent cyberattack against the telecom giant.

A few months ago, it was reported that a threat actor managed to compromise more than 150 company accounts on Snowflake, thanks to their poor password hygiene, and not securing their accounts with multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Among them was AT&T, after a hacker who was reportedly part of the ShinyHunters threat actor group, accessed the company’s Snowflake account, and stole sensitive customer data.

Bitcoin ransom

The data included call and text messaging metadata (but not the contents of the communications), telephone numbers of “nearly all” AT&T’s cellular customers, numbers of customers of other wireless carriers who communicated with AT&T customers in mid-2022, and landline phone numbers of people communicating with AT&T customers during the same timeframe. 

Apparently, hackers could use the data to identify the owners of individual phone numbers. 

At the same time, a different hacker also accessed the same database - John Erin Binns - who later reached out to a security researcher with the alias Reddington, to help facilitate a buyback of the data. These two individuals were apparently asking for $1 million in cryptocurrency, in exchange for permanently deleting the data. AT&T took it down to roughly $300,000, but before the transaction could be made, Binns was arrested in Turkey, for an entirely different cybercrime, allegedly committed in 2021. 

In the end, Reddington facilitated the transaction to the ShinyHunters hacker, in the amount of 5.72 bitcoin (around $359,000 at press time). Multiple researchers confirmed that the transaction had taken place, and that the hackers provided video proof that the entire database was wiped. 

Via Wired

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AT&T has admitted 'tens of millions' of customers were involved in a huge data breach that rocked the telecom titan back in 2022. Although the breach impacted AT&T cellphone customers, the company has since revealed the exposed data did not contain the contents of personal calls and messages, and shouldn't be accesible to the public.

The customer data was downloaded from an AT&T workspace via a third-party cloud platform - all without authorization, of course. The data was made up of "nearly all" AT&T customers' call and text records from May 1, 2022, to October 31, 2022, making it a textbook target for cybercriminals hoping to turn personally identifiable information into a profit via the dark web.

Unfortunately, the records also list the numbers that the affected AT&T customers called and texted, as well as the number of interactions and their durations.

AT&T breach

In a statement AT&T added records from the January 2, 2023 data breach impacted a small number of customers.

As mentioned, the contents of the leaked calls and texts aren't included in the breached data, and also does not include call or text timestamps, sensitive information like Social Security numbers, or personal details like dates of birth.

On July 16, 2024, additional details surfaced citing that the company paid the hackers (who are responsible for the breach) to erase the records. The incident is now also the center of a class-action lawsuit that seeks compensation for affected users. AT&T itself hasn't commented on the lawsuit. However, Bloomberg uncovered the initial complaint and its list of demands – including that the telecommunications company pay damages to victims of the breach. 

WIRED has also revealed that AT&T paid hackers to erase the stolen data. Reportedly, in May this year, AT&T contacted ShinyHunters, a notorious hacking group, and the perpetrators behind the data theft and breach. AT&T asked ShinyHunters to delete the data and record a video of the process as evidence – and then paid the group $370,000 in Bitcoin for doing so.

Unfortunately, a video cannot confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that all traces of the leaked AT&T data have been expunged from the web. Copies may still exist, after all, and valuable datasets like these are ShinyHunters' bread and butter.

The group initially pilfered the records via a Snowflake cloud storage account – primarily because it wasn't secured properly and lacked multi-factor authentication. AT&T isn't the only company that has been targeted by ShinyHunters, however, as Ticketmaster and Santander have also seen Snowflake accounts infiltrated.

What's at stake?

Despite the fact that the leaked AT&T records didn't contain details like names, addresses, and other overt personal information, the company itself has admitted that savvy hackers can still link an individual to their cellphone number without it.

Stolen data and personally identifiable information (PII) is a big business for cybercriminals – they can sell it for a massive profit or use it themselves to commit fraud. So, given the value of this information, cybercriminals are willing to take vague details (like those involved in the AT&T breach) and put them under the microscope to learn more about their potential victims, all so they'll reap a bigger reward in the end.

If a hacker has access to someone's call records, they can sift through them to piece together a startlingly clear picture of that person's digital social life. Who are they talking to and for how long? How many texts are they sending?

Next, cybercriminals often take to social media to round out their victims' profiles, checking out family members, friends, work contacts, and more. They'll try to figure out who the major players in that person's life are. 

Why? Well, ultimately, it's so they can impersonate them or use their details as leverage in their next round of scams. I see a lot of stories about scammers pretending to be friends stuck on the way home from a trip, asking for money to buy gas or a ticket home, for example. 

So, given the scope of the breach and the potential for rebound fraud, it's unsurprising that AT&T customers want to take legal action. 

What happens next?

AT&T has reassured customers that the affected access point has been secured – which is good news. 

The company has also teamed up with law enforcement to sniff out the cybercriminals behind the attack. In fact, one individual has already been caught out and "apprehended"

The company has also stated that it'll be in touch with customers (past and present) to confirm that their data was involved in the leak. So, if you've been an AT&T client at any point since May 2022, you'll want to keep an eye out for an email – just in case.

For anyone who is impacted by the AT&T breach (or for you privacy-oriented folks out there), there are a few things you can do to limit the damage to your overall digital security. 

Firstly, it's well worth changing the password associated with your AT&T account – especially if you use it for other sites and apps. Then, I'd recommend checking out one of the best VPNs available today. A VPN keeps all of your personal data hidden away from prying eyes and nosy third parties, encrypting it as you go about your day-to-day browsing. Plus, our #1 rated VPN, NordVPN, even has handy Threat Protection tools that'll zap pop-up ads and fight off phishing attempts.

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New information regarding the 2021 AT&T breach is emerging, with the company reducing the number of affected individuals by almost a third, from the initial 70 million, down to 51 million. 

AT&T also said it has started notifying victims of the breach, and offered identity theft monitoring and protection services. 

For the uninitiated, back in 2021, privacy blog RestorePrivacy reported that a threat actor was selling a huge database of current and former AT&T customers on a dark web forum. AT&T denied that it was its database, and claimed that its systems were not breached.

Financial information not included

Fast forward to 2024, and a different threat actor leaked the entire database, prompting the same response from the telco giant. However, after multiple media publications independently verified the authenticity and source of the data, AT&T came clean. However, it still didn’t say how the hackers obtained the database.

In any case, the company revised the number of affected individuals, pinning it down to 51,226,382. Apparently, many of the people on the list had duplicate entries.

"The [exposed] information varied by individual and account, but may have included full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, AT&T account number and AT&T passcode," the company said in the breach notification. "To the best of our knowledge, personal financial information and call history were not included. Based on our investigation to date, the data appears to be from June 2019 or earlier."

When asked about the difference in the number of impacted customers, AT&T told BleepingComputer the database appeared to hold many duplicates:

"We are sending a communication to each person whose sensitive personal information was included.  Some people had more than one account in the dataset, and others did not have sensitive personal information.”

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AT&T has acknowledged a data leak impacted 73 million of its current and former customers. News of the data leak was made public in March of this year, after a hacker using the alias ShinyHunters posted an archive of the stolen data to BreachForums, a notorious data leaks site.

AT&T said it is unclear whether the data, which appears to be from 2019 at the latest, originated from AT&T or one of its vendors. It has also not yet been made public how the data was accessed.

The information posted to BreachForums includes customers’ full names, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and AT&T account numbers and passcodes. In light of this, AT&T has reset all passcodes. The telecoms company has said it will be contacting those affected via email or letter, as well as providing complimentary identity theft protection and credit monitoring services if personal info was leaked.

User’s financial information or call history was not included in the leak.

How public is the AT&T data leak? 

Despite AT&T saying that the data was leaked on the dark web, web security consultant and owner of HaveIBeenPwnd.com, Troy Hunt, explained to What The Tech? that the data is on the “clear web”. This means that it is on sites that can be accessed via your regular browser, giving “thousands if not tens of thousands of people” access to the data.

This means that, for the 73 million people affected by the breach, their personal information is easily accessible. Troy Hunt empathized with this struggle, noting: “We cannot go and change our date of birth, changing a social security number is an absolute nightmare. So we have to work on the fact that the data is out there and we’re never going to get it back.” 

Unfortunately, as many people do not take steps to protect their sensitive information until it has been breached, this can be an arduous process. Hunt suggests using identity theft and fraud protection services—something that AT&T has offered the victims of the data breach.

Where was the AT&T data leaked from? 

There is evidence on BreachForum that the data leaked in March 2024 is a repost of a leak shared in 2021. In 2021, AT&T did not confirm whether or not this data was legitimate, and denied that the data came from AT&T, saying that the data posted “d[id] not appear to have come from our systems”.

Despite this, ShinyHunters continued to make claims about the legitimacy of the data posted, saying that they “d[id]n’t care if they d[id]n’t admit”, referring to AT&T.

How to protect your personal data 

As Troy Hunt said, one of the issues with data breaches is the fact that people don’t protect their data until it’s too late. We’ve all done it—most people don’t assume that their personal information will be accessed by hackers and sold to other bad actors on the internet. Unfortunately, with the rate and scale of cyber attacks, your data being leaked has become less of and if and more of a when.

Take me for example—I used Troy Hunt’s own HaveIBeenPwned.com to find out what information about me has been posted on the internet, and found out that my phone number was exposed in a data breach, and my email address has been exposed in two. 

So, with this in mind, it’s important to take steps to protect your identity and data online, including:

Using multi-factor authentication—this can help prevent hackers from gaining access to your accounts, even if your email address is made public.

Not reusing passwords and resetting your passwords if they are exposed in a data breach—this means that even if your username and password is exposed, hackers cannot access any other accounts you use, and even the account that has leaked details.

Investing in identity protection, whether this is on its own or part of an internet security suite—identify protection software can scour the web for data breaches you were involved in, allowing you to take further steps to protect your identity.

American telecommunications behemoth AT&T has finally confirmed the authenticity of the 2021 data breach that spilled sensitive user information on the dark web, and has initiated a mass reset of user passcodes.

Roughly three years ago, privacy blog RestorePrivacy broke the news of a hacker selling sensitive data belonging to more than 70 million AT&T customers. The data allegedly contained people’s names, phone numbers, postal addresses, email addresses, social security numbers, and dates of birth. 

While AT&T initially denied the breach, saying the data wasn’t from the company, the hacker, going by the name “ShinyHunters” said the organization will likely continue denying until they leak it all. 

Mass reset

Surely enough, last month, a seller published the full database, affecting 73 million people - and TechCrunch analyzed the database, confirming its authenticity, and also establishing that it contained user passcodes, prompting a swift alert towards AT&T. 

Passcodes are four-digit numbers that work as the second security layer, and are used to access user accounts. Even though they were encrypted, some researchers argued that it is something that can be worked around. Apparently, there is not enough randomness in the encrypted data, which means that in theory, a threat actor could guess the passcode. 

It seems the threat is more than just theoretical, as AT&T initiated a mass-reset of the passcodes over the weekend.

“AT&T has launched a robust investigation supported by internal and external cybersecurity experts,” the company said in a statement published on Saturday. “Based on our preliminary analysis, the data set appears to be from 2019 or earlier, impacting approximately 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and approximately 65.4 million former account holders.”

“AT&T does not have evidence of unauthorized access to its systems resulting in exfiltration of the data set,” the statement said.

While the telco did confirm the breach, it says that it still doesn’t know where the data came from, whether it was directly from its servers, or from its vendors.

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Write this down, because I’m going to tell you my secret to understanding the US mobile industry for the last 20 years. The answer to everything is 'The Carriers.' Every question, every conundrum. If you want to know why we DO have this, or DON’T have that? The answer is the US carriers: AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. How has Apple managed to achieve monopoly power in the US and draw the ire of the Justice Department? The answer is the US carriers.

One of the strongest points that Apple makes in its rebuttal to the government’s lawsuit is that the government is considering only the US market, but Apple competes on a global scale. In the global market, Apple’s market share is much lower than in the US alone. It owns closer to 20% of the global market, as opposed to more than 60% of the US market.

Why is there such a huge difference? Is it because Samsung is incredibly popular everywhere else in the world? Are Google Pixel phones and Motorola Razr phones catching on like wildfire? Of course not. It’s because there are lots of phones in the rest of the world that you simply cannot buy here in the US.

Half of the Top 10 phone makers don't sell phones here

The top ten phone makers in the world include Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Motorola. It also includes Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, and Realme. While Oppo’s subsidiary brand OnePlus sells phones in the US, none of those latter brands are available here. Why not? Check your notes, you wrote down the answer.

It’s because of the US carriers. Okay, we can’t blame the US carriers for the US government’s ban on Huawei products (though the government hasn’t offered specific evidence to support that ban). The rest of the phones, though, are not available in the US because the carriers don’t sell them. You can find them through grey market import channels, but they won’t have a local warranty, and they may not support local networks properly.

It’s unclear why the US carriers don’t sell half of the top phone brands here in the US, and we can only add blind speculation. Is there a political motive, as all of these brands are Chinese? I’ve personally heard from a mobile industry analyst that the US government has in some way influenced the carrier decision to forego selling most new Chinese phones. That analyst wouldn’t go on the record, so I take that possibility with a huge grain of salt.

The other possibility is that it is simply cost-prohibitive for a foreign manufacturer to sell phones here. If you want to sell phones in a US carrier store, you need to work with the carriers. That means sending hundreds of devices to labs for testing, and adjusting everything on the device that fails those stringent tests.

It means a lot more localization work for each phone. The US carriers will also want a marketing commitment, or else the phones will end up on the shelves in the back, behind all the iPhones and Galaxy phones and no-name budget phones with Verizon or AT&T branding.

It is easier for US carriers to sell you an iPhone

The same motivation that keeps the US carriers from selling these competing phone brands is also what keeps the iPhone at the top of the pile. It is very easy for US carriers to sell the iPhone. Apple spends a lot of its own money on marketing, alongside whatever the carriers are spending. There are rewards and incentives for selling more iPhones, especially with AppleCare attached.

Best of all, when you have a problem with your iPhone, you don’t need to call Verizon. You can call Apple. In fact, Apple would probably prefer you call them directly.

Most companies hate customer service calls because they cost a lot of money and don’t result in more sales. Carriers will refuse to stock phones if those phones are going to cause a lot of customer service calls. That’s another reason we don’t see Chinese phones, which tend to have poor localization and language issues, in US carrier stores.

The US carriers buy more iPhones than anybody else

Apple isn’t to blame for its overwhelming market share. Instead, blame its largest customers, the ones that buy so many iPhones that Apple’s dominance is inevitable. Apple’s top customer isn’t you or me. It’s the US carriers. Apple sells millions of phones directly to US carriers, and they sell them to us.

Most people in the US still buy their phone directly from their mobile carrier. While Apple and Samsung both sell directly, and Apple even has a store in your local mall, most iPhone owners in the US bought their phone from AT&T or Verizon or T-Mobile, or one of the smaller (often wholly-owned) networks that buy bandwidth from those three. After all, the carriers give you the best deal on a new phone if you sign up for a long-term contract, and who can afford to pay hundreds upfront these days?

If there is a reason that the Apple iPhone is the dominant phone on the market, the reason is the US carriers. They sell more iPhones than Apple directly, along with the Apple Watches that keep you locked into Apple’s platform. Verizon often gives away a free watch and a free tablet if you connect all of your devices to their network; we see this deal every time a new model is launched.

Not only is Apple not solely responsible for its US market dominance, but it’s also fair to say that the US cellular market could use some scrutiny. After T-Mobile swallowed up Sprint, US customers were left with a much less competitive market.

Instead of going after Apple for dominating the market, the Justice Department should encourage the US mobile networks to offer more options in stores. The rest of the world has far more options, and the global market is more competitive. If the US carriers are the reason we don’t have the same choice as the rest of the world, maybe it’s the US carriers that are the problem, and not Apple.

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A hacker is selling a huge archive on the dark web, claiming it originated from a 2021 data breach at American telecommunications giant AT&T - however the company denies the data originated from its servers.

BleepingComputer reported a threat actor with the alias ShinyHunters posted an ad on the RaidForums for the sale of sensitive data belonging to 71 million AT&T customers.

The database contains people’s names, addresses, mobile phone numbers, birth dates, social security numbers, and other sensitive information. The publication analyzed a sample of the data and confirmed its authenticity. Whether or not the entire database is legitimate, is impossible to determine at this time.

History of breaches

ShinyHunters’s starting price is $200,000, with incremental offers of $30,000. They would sell the database immediately for an offer of $1 million, it was said.

However, when approached by the publication, AT&T said the data wasn’t theirs: "Based on our investigation today, the information that appeared in an internet chat room does not appear to have come from our systems," AT&T told BleepingComputer in 2021. ShinyHunters, on the other hand, responded that they “don’t care if they don’t admit”.

AT&T has a history of malware and data breaches. Roughly a year ago, the company warned millions of its users that some of their sensitive data was exposed in a supply chain cyberattack. Apparently, a marketing vendor was breached a few months earlier, resulting in the theft of AT&T’s data.

In that incident, nine million of its customers were affected, with hackers stealing customer proprietary network information from some wireless accounts. That includes, among other things, the number of lines on an account or wireless rate plan.

Earlier still, in July 2020, news broke that AT&T some employees took bribes to install malware on their network. Two individuals, who were later uncovered to be Muhammad Fahd and Ghulam Jiwani, were charged with paying over $1 million in bribes to several AT&T employees at the telecom’s Mobility Customer Care call center in Washington.

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We're still reeling from the scale and widespread impact of yesterday's huge AT&T outage, and information about what caused the breakdown in cell coverage is now coming to light. And it seems as though a good old-fashioned technical error was to blame.

"Based on our initial review, we believe that today's outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyberattack," said AT&T in an update posted on its website.

"We are continuing our assessment of today's outage to ensure we keep delivering the service that our customers deserve," the statement continued. Somewhere in the region of 2 million reports were filed on Downdetector yesterday, as the incident progressed.

Spokesperson Jim Greer told the Washington Post that AT&T would continue to monitor the situation. The Post is also reporting that the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Communications Commission are also investigating.

More to come

Yesterday's cell network outage was the biggest in recent memory, with problems apparently starting around 3.30am Eastern Time as the US was waking up. We saw reports of issues across multiple states, and 911 calls were also impacted.

While there were also reports of connection mishaps from Verizon and T-Mobile customers, it seems as though they were mostly related to getting through to people on AT&T – so the main outage seems to have only affected one carrier.

Of course this was a massive inconvenience for AT&T customers, who were unable to make personal or work calls while the incident was happening. AT&T has hinted that some compensation will be offered, but as yet we don't have any details on that.

No doubt there's lots more to come on this as AT&T weighs up what went wrong and how it can stop it from happening again. In the meantime, you might want to make sure you know how to set up Wi-Fi calling on your smartphone.

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Criminals have discovered a way to break into email accounts provided by AT&T and is using that to access victim's cryptocurrency exchange accounts and steal their cryptos.

An unnamed tipster talking to TechCrunch revealed how a group of hackers uncovered how to crack email addresses hosted on att.net, sbcglobal.net, bellsouth.net, and other domains from the same provider - AT&T.

Apparently, this group accessed AT&T’s internal network and has the ability to create mail keys for pretty much any user.

AT&T reacts

Mail keys are a type of credential that allows the user to log into their accounts via email clients, such as Outlook, without needing a password. Once they access the inbox, they can request a password change for the crypto account, and after that, they can pull virtually everything found in those accounts.

The tipster even gave a list of people who were allegedly targeted this way, and who confirmed to the publication that the story is true. Victims may need to consider using the best identity theft protection to keep themselves safe.

Giving credence to the story is also AT&T spokesperson Jim Kimberly, who told TechCrunch that the company did spot someone creating secure mail keys without authorization.

"We have updated our security controls to prevent this activity,” Kimberly said. “As a precaution, we also proactively required a password reset on some email accounts,” the spokesperson said.

The company did not say how many people were affected by this incident, but it did say that it locked some email accounts out of caution.

“This process wiped out any secure mail keys that had been created,” the spokesperson added.

The problem doesn’t seem to be that new, either, as one of the victims said the attacks have been happening “repeatedly since November 2022”. Another victim said they lost more than $130,000.

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Via: TechCrunch

I didn’t inherit Mom’s Samsung Galaxy S4, I relieved her of it. After she passed away, I rummaged through it, hoping to unearth a trove of memories. Sadly, as I’ll explain, there was little to see. Her old phone opened fresh wounds. I’ve finally been able to find value in the haunted old device, but it also started me thinking about what will happen to my smartphone when I’m gone. 

Have you considered what will happen to your phone when someone after you inherits it? What will they find? What will it say about you? This is a fairly new question, maybe even born of my Generation X. Frankly, folks younger than me still think themselves immortal, so they aren’t worried about it. For folks older than me, phones haven’t endeared themselves enough to carry cherished inner lives. 

My phone knows more than I expected to tell it

When I grew up, I didn’t worry about which possessions might survive me, other than some photo albums and yearbooks. Nothing was so important. Now I worry about my kid and my pets. My kid’s smart, so I worry more about my pets. I’ve always wanted to keep a parrot but they outlive their owners, and I don’t know anyone who wants to inherit a parrot. 

As for secrets, I never kept a diary, but these days my phone keeps exponentially more personal information than a diary could, with little effort on my part. I failed at journaling, because my phone basically records my life, my daily thoughts, and my dreams. 

My messages tell the story of my relationships with everyone I know. My photos describe the places I’ve been, the things I’ve experienced. I’ve kept track of the most interesting food I’ve eaten, the live shows I’ve seen, and every amazing city I’ve visited. That’s a diary, whether I intend it or not. 

I have a sticky note on my phone with a running list of standup comedy jokes that I may someday write if I ever drop what I’m doing to become a standup comic. I hope we all have sticky notes like this. I also have one with ideas for novel-length books. I have one with a list of things I would buy if I won $10,000,000.

I can’t imagine leaving behind a diary that paints a picture so detailed as my smartphone. With the right technology and an evil scientist [a SmartphoneClone-inator, anyone?], my phone could be used to create a doppelganger that could replace me and live out my life. My friends would never know. They would probably even like Phone-Phil better because I don’t share my most despairing thoughts with my tech. Phone-Phil would be an optimist, for sure.

The reason my Mom's phone was void of her life

When I inherited Mom’s phone – when I took the phone away from her – I had some hope of finding the same internal life on her phone, but with Mom at the heart. What delights had she eaten that I had never seen? What did she want to remember from all of the places she’d visited?

What sticky notes keep a running list to remind her of the person she might be?

Does this seem invasive? I was invading. I felt I had the right. I was looking for Mom, the real Mom because I’d lost her painfully over the last few years. What replaced her redefined her. I wanted to reclaim Mom as I knew her. I thought I would find her in her phone, but I was disappointed. 

My mother was in her early 60s when she learned she had Alzheimer’s disease. That’s very young for the disease to appear. It may have been present earlier, undiagnosed. It’s a hard disease to detect because it looks like so many other things, and you can only truly diagnose Alzheimer’s after someone has passed away when you can look at brain tissue. 

It’s also an especially cruel disease if you develop it at a younger age, as my mother did. It moves faster, which is terribly ironic. If you get Alzheimer’s when you are old, you have to live with it longer. If you get it when you are young, you are taken from yourself and your loved ones even sooner. 

I’m a tech geek. I want to solve my problems with technology. I wanted to solve her problems with tech, and early on in her disease, I hoped that her smartphone might actually make life easier for her. She knew how to use it by instinct to take photos, answer the phone, and read messages. I thought that having a phone would help. I was mistaken. 

I tried to engage Easy Mode on her Galaxy phone. This locks apps in place. It makes the buttons and text bigger. I don’t remember all of the promises Easy Mode made back then, but it wasn’t ready for Mom. 

Things went wrong. I finally relieved Mom of the stress of her smartphone when she complained that the buttons had stopped working. I tried to troubleshoot and found the strangest compilation of problems. 

She had taken a screenshot of her home screen by accident. Then, she made the screenshot of her home screen the wallpaper for her home screen. If she moved to a new window, the apps seemed to remain in place, because they weren’t actually apps. They were a screenshot of her apps. 

Also, her clock now showed two different times. Notifications overlapped in strange ways. Worst of all, though, was that she wasn’t even tapping the apps on her home screen. She had opened her photo gallery and was looking at the screenshot, thinking it was her home screen. She was tapping on an image. Of course, nothing worked. 

It's easy to get phones wrong, and hard to right again

I thought about switching her to something different. Something like an easier-to-use Jitterbug phone, or even an Apple iPhone. While I’m a tech enthusiast, fond of my incredibly complex Galaxy S23 Ultra, I did not have a great experience with Samsung phones, or Android phones, while helping Mom struggle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. 

I don’t think any complex, touchscreen phone is ready for the challenge. There are too many ways you can screw things up simply by pressing the wrong thing, or by pressing the right thing in the wrong way.

I gave Mom the phone in Easy Mode, with limitations on what she could change. Phones have plenty of accessibility features built-in for people who understand their own needs. You can improve your experience with audio, visual, and tactile feedback settings. If you know what needs to change on your phone, you might find a way to change it. 

I’m not sure phones are ready for users who suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia, and who may not understand what has gone wrong, or how to fix it. I truly fear for future generations of smartphone users who will have to manage modern smartphones with decreasing mental capabilities caused by aging, COVID, and other issues. 

It was sadly a phone that reflected its owner

I took Mom’s phone from her, and she was relieved. The phone set high expectations of her. If she gave up her phone, she couldn’t be chastised for not answering, or confused about who was calling. We were all happy when I took her phone, and it went to me because I’m the phone kid. My sister got to hold her jewelry. I got her old smartphone. 

I put her phone in a drawer in my father’s house and didn’t bother with it. She passed away just over a year later. I won’t recount the sequence of events, but it was sudden and it was also expected, as happens with Alzheimer’s when it attacks someone as young as Mom. 

Eventually – I’m not sure when – I unlocked Mom’s old phone. I was the one who set her lock screen password. My sister and I kept a running list of passwords we set for her in the past few years, and one of our email addresses was always the recovery address.

I just deleted the Gmail app. I didn’t care to read through her old emails. I am sure Mom didn’t have any serious or deep conversations over email, and she also didn’t imagine email would be her surviving record. I let it go, for somebody else to find.

Her photo gallery made me sad. There was nothing interesting, no photos I hadn’t seen that I would want to share with the family. They were photos of Mom struggling. There were so many selfies with confused looks, like she didn’t want the camera to be on, and she pressed the button to take a photo instead of the button to shut it off.

I tucked the phone into a box, along with a bunch of other old phones. I recycled the battery, so the phone was lifeless. I figured it would be a relic, but not nostalgic. There wasn’t anything I needed to see again, I just didn’t want to toss it. It felt like a waste to recycle it for nothing.

You'll give me HOW MUCH for this old phone?!

Four years pass. Along comes an AT&T deal offering $1,000 for trade towards a Galaxy S23, one of the best Galaxy S23 deals since the phone launched. You can give them a Samsung Galaxy phone from any year, in any condition (they say, but read the fine print yourself before you trade). 

Since I worked at Samsung for more than six years, you’d think I’d have a bunch of old phones lying around, but that’s not the case. I started with Samsung just before the Galaxy S2. Until I left, just before the Galaxy Note 8, every phone I got from Samsung belonged to Samsung. When I left the company, they remained in a drawer at my desk. 

Okay, many drawers across many desks. I got a lot of phones. But I didn’t own any of those Samsung phones, and even with an employee discount, I didn’t buy Galaxy phones I could now trade. 

Is it weird to trade Mom’s old phone for something new? The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best phone you can buy today. In a few months, that title will belong to another phone. In a few years, we won’t even be using phones anymore. I’m giving up Mom’s last phone for a fleeting flagship that will be inevitably obsolete.

I won’t get sentimental over a new phone. I fully expect to trade this phone in a year for the next Galaxy S24 Ultra, or possibly even a Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Galaxy Z Flip 5 in August, if those phones really blow my mind. Now that I have an expensive phone, I can trade it for the next model and pay only a fraction of the cost. It’s tricky; I’ll explain it when we get there.

In return, I’ll have a three-year commitment to AT&T to pay off the phone. If I leave after a year, I still owe them two-thirds of the cost, but also I got one-third of the price cut. I get a new phone in exchange for a phone that caused me sadness and had no value.

Mom would hate my new phone as much as her old one

I will take a moment to laugh at the fact that I bought a brand new Galaxy S23 Ultra, the most complicated, feature-packed, customizable phone I’ve ever used, in exchange for a 10-year-old phone that consternated Mom, even in Easy Mode. I’m using a phone I consider the best, and for her, it would have been the absolute worst. 

She’d be happier knowing that I found value in her old phone. She would have thought it ridiculous to keep it in a drawer if I could get $1,000 for it. She wouldn’t have enjoyed my new phone, but she knows that complicated technology makes me happy. She’s my Mom. She wants what’s best for me.

American telecommunications giant AT&T has warned millions of its users that some of their sensitive data had been exposed in a supply chain cyber-incident.

As per a BleepingComputer report, the data breach is a result of a hacking incident against an AT&T marketing vendor that happened in January 2023. 

Now, the company sent out warnings to approximately nine million of its customers that some of their sensitive data was accessed by an unauthorized third party. 

Social Security Numbers intact

"Customer Proprietary Network Information from some wireless accounts was exposed, such as the number of lines on an account or wireless rate plan," AT&T told the publication. "The information did not contain credit card information, Social Security Number, account passwords or other sensitive personal information. We are notifying affected customers."

The notification did not state exactly how many people were affected by the breach, but the company did tell the media that “9 million wireless accounts” were compromised.

Customer first names, wireless account numbers, wireless phone numbers, as well as email addresses, were exposed, the company added.

"A small percentage of impacted customers also had exposure of rate plan name, past due amount, monthly payment amount, various monthly charges and/or minutes used. The information was several years old," AT&T further stated.

The company confirmed that this was a supply chain attack and that its systems remain uncompromised. Furthermore, it added that the data taken is mostly linked to device upgrade eligibility. Be that as it may, the company did notify the police of the incident.

"We have notified federal law enforcement about the unauthorized access of your CPNI as required by the Federal Communications Commission," the company told its customers. "Our report to law enforcement does not contain specific information about your account, only that the unauthorized access occurred.”

If you think your sensitive data has been stolen or used against you, then using the best identity theft protection service can help.

• These are the best firewalls right now

Via: BleepingComputer

US broadband operator AT&T has become the first in the industry to achieve a 20Gbps symmetrical speed on a production fibre network, claiming the milestone could mean even faster speeds for consumers and businesses in the near future.

The company achieved the transmission rate on 25GS-PON in its broadband lab in Austin, Texas and says the technology can work with its existing fibre network. 

The company achieved 10Gbps in lab tests earlier this year and has a commercial 5Gbps ‘Hyper Gig’ broadband offering in the US.

Openreach fibre 

PON is used for the last mile of a broadband connection, linking businesses and households (along with mobile infrastructure) to the wider Internet. 

This essentially describes the fibre connection between a house, cabinet, and exchange.

The company says it will continue to work with other members of the 25GSPON MSA group, a collection of more than 50 operators and suppliers, to drive the standards and specifications of the technology, which it believes will mature within the next 6 to 12 months

Operators and telecoms equipment manufacturers around the world are testing future upgrades to the technology, including in the UK. Openreach and Nokia have already successfully tested 25G-PON in lab trials, while Vodafone and Nokia have started work using 100G-PON.

What separates AT&T’s achievement from other tests to date is the achievement of symmetrical 20Gbps download and upload speeds.

“Symmetrical 20 gig capability gives developers and engineers a huge runway to the future,” said Eddy Barker, AT&T’s AVP for Mobility & Access Architecture. “As concurrent and mass use of AR/VR, the metaverse, autonomous cars, telemedicine, robotic manufacturing, real-time video sharing and editing, and gaming continue to grow, our 20 Gbpss service will provide plenty of bandwidth – that includes helping make possible connected apps and services that haven’t even been imagined yet. “

Telecommunications giant AT&T has developed drones capable of beaming down 5G signal to an area with patchy connectivity.

In true dad joke style, the drone has been named the 5G Flying COW (an acronym for Cell on Wings). In testing, it was able to provide an area of some 10 square miles with strong 5G signal, AT&T says.

“We had intermittent, weak LTE signal at the flight location before we launched the 5G Flying COW,” said Ethan Hunt, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Principal Program Manager, AT&T. “We flew the drone up to about 300 feet, turned on the signal and it began transmitting strong 5G coverage to approximately 10 square miles.”

Flying for hours

While there may be many use cases for drone-based mobile hotspots, AT&T’s first idea is to have them help first responders, mountain rescue services and the like.

The benefits for teams works in rugged conditions are obvious, providing a reliable connection with which to communicate with one another and the people they are trying to help.

The usual problem with drones is their stamina. Today’s flying machines, even the most advanced ones, can only stay in the air for a couple of hours, while consumer-grade products rarely make it for longer than 40 minutes. Right now, AT&T’s devices are tethered, but that’s also being worked on for future iterations.

“We are currently working through many exciting technical challenges to expand the capabilities of our Flying COWs,” said Art Pregler, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program Director, AT&T. 

“We’re working to autonomously fly without tethers for months without landing, using solar power to provide secure, reliable, and fast 5G connectivity to large numbers of users over wide geographic areas. This solution may one day help bring broadband connectivity to rural and other underserved communities across the US and elsewhere.”

Elon Musk’s Starlink is working on providing the entire world with satellite internet connectivity, but until that happens, flying drones beaming down super high-speed internet is a welcome next step.

• Give your fleet a connectivity boost with the best business mobile plans around

Reaching emergency services and getting help after an accident is now even easier with AT&T as it has launched location-based routing to automatically transmit wireless 911 calls to the appropriate call centers across the US. 

By using the new “Locate Before Route” feature from Intrado, the mobile carrier can now more quickly and accurately identify where a wireless 911 call originated from by using device GPS and hybrid information to route the call to the correct call center.

Location-based routing makes it possible for a device to be located within 50 meters of its location so that emergency services can more easily find those in need of help. 

Prior to this launch, wireless 911 calls were routed based on the location of cell towers which can cover up to a 10-mile radius. As a result, this often caused delays in emergency response especially when calls were made within a public safety answering point (PSAP) border where state, county or city boundaries overlap.

Calling emergency services from a mobile device

Over 50 years ago when AT&T worked with the FCC to establish the first 911 systems, landline phones dominated the market. Now though, 80 percent of all 911 calls come from a mobile device.

For this reason, AT&T is deploying location-based routing for mobile devices so that Americans can have the same fast, accurate and reliable connection to PSAPs regardless of how they’re calling emergency services.

EVP at AT&T Network, Chris Sambar provided further insight on the latest addition to the company’s mobile network in a press release, saying:

“Providing our customers with reliable connectivity and high-quality service on America’s largest wireless network is what we strive for everyday at AT&T. Launching this industry-leading public safety solution allows us to ultimately help improve the connections and efficiency for our wireless customers by offering more accurate service when making emergency calls.”

AT&T’s nationwide rollout of location-based routing has already started and is currently available in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Guam. However, the mobile carrier plans to roll out the new service to additional regions over the next several weeks with the rollout expected to be completed by the end of June.

• Need a more durable mobile device? Check out the best rugged smartphones

Despite all the time spent working from home during the pandemic, a new study from AT&T has revealed that the vast majority of businesses lack a detailed hybrid work strategy.

To compile their new Future of Work study, the US mobile carrier and Dubber Corporation Limited surveyed 303 US-based respondents between October and November of last year to discover that 72 percent of organizations don't currently have a hybrid work strategy while 76 percent lack the right key performance indicators (KPIs) to support hybrid working models.

Still though, the research shows that hybrid work will be the standard operating model across industries by 2024 according to 81 percent of respondents with slightly more than half (56%) of work done offsite. There also still exists tension between what employees and organizations want as 86 percent of employees prefer a hybrid work model but 64 percent believe their organization would rather use a on-premise work model.

SVP of marketing at AT&T Business, Alicia Dietsch provided further insights on the results of its Future of Work study in a press release, saying:

“There’s been a non-reversible shift in the way business is done thanks to the constraints of COVID-19. It’s clear that a successful talent program now requires a hybrid work policy, but that policy needs to be supported by a strategic tech-first cultural reset, to ensure business growth and competition. Firms need to ask themselves if they have the in-house expertise to achieve this, or whether it’s now time to go beyond a partner in remote infrastructure rollout to a partner in tech-first remote business strategy.”

Challenges to effective hybrid work 

Last year represented a major shift in how companies conducted business with just under a quarter (24%) of those surveyed saying that their employees worked onsite. Before the pandemic, these non-traditional work models were often viewed as employee perks but they are quickly becoming the norm.

When it came to the barriers to successful hybrid work, respondents said that lack of workplace innovation, insufficient oversight and cultural shifts presented the biggest challenges. However, participants believe that investments in strategy, building culture remotely and the application of AI in critical business use-cases can help firms successfully transition to a hybrid-first work environment.

Chief experience officers also identified maintaining employee oversight, losing institutional/tribal knowledge and sustaining company culture as other challenges to effective hybrid work. Despite these challenges, mass adoption of new work models has show to be effective with 79 percent of firms believing their employees have been productive though only 45 percent were confident that in employee innovation during the period of the study.

Although hybrid work certainly has its ups and downs, one benefit that can't be overlooked is how adopting a hybrid work model can help attract young talent with 100 percent of those surveyed in agreement on this point.

• We've also rounded up the best online collaboration tools and the best video conferencing software

AT&T has announced its plans to expand its 5G network in an effort to allow customers in the US to roam off of private networks while still remaining connected to its public mobile network.

The telecom is collaborating with Microsoft and using Azure private MEC to deploy private wireless networks across a range of radio spectrums including CBRS as part of its new AT&T Private 5G Edge offering.

Essentially AT&T Private 5G Edge will bring private 4G/5G wireless networks as an integrated platform with connectivity and applications to enable low-latency services at the edge. This will allow businesses to make their private networks simpler, more flexible and easier to use.

VP of product strategy and innovation at AT&T Business, Rupesh Chokshi provided further details on how combining 5G with edge computing can benefit businesses of all size in a press release, saying:

“This solution opens the door to entirely new applications and use cases we haven’t even imagined yet. The combination of 5G and edge compute can utterly transform how businesses are run, no matter the size, and we’re proactively engaging with those businesses to identify the right compelling opportunities. Our collaboration with Microsoft is exciting because it combines technology with an adaptable business model and brings innovation to life – for any customer.”

AT&T Private 5G Edge

Although AT&T Private 5G Edge is still in the early stages, once complete, it will provide connectivity and embedded applications through a single, integrated platform by using CBRS spectrum and/or AT&T spectrum. The mobile carrier is also currently in talks with customers across a number of verticals to figure out how this new technology can be applied. 

In the manufacturing sector for instance, cameras and AI tools can assist in everything from robotic assembly to “event detection” like when a worker is injured or a fire has started and first responders can be alerted almost instantly. Meanwhile, car dealerships will be able to create a dedicated cellular network that can be used to help buyers manage the setup process for vehicle diagnostics and other connected features as opposed to having to rely on their own wireless network.

Still though, moving from Wi-Fi to dedicated and secure 5G connections with edge computing capabilities opens up all kinds of new possibilities in retail stores, manufacturing plants, restaurants, schools and more. AT&T Private 5G Edge will enable IoT capabilities for businesses without the need for complex setup or taking up additional floor space.

Businesses interested in participating in a preview of AT&T Private 5G Edge can request to do so here and we'll likely find out more once the mobile carrier begins deploying its private 5G networks.

• We've also featured the best 5G smartphones and the best Wireless Access Points

AT&T, Dish Network and T-Mobile were the big winners at the most recent auction of 5G spectrum in the US.

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) sale of mid-range 3.45GHz licences raised $22 million for the US government, making it one of the highest-grossing auctions of spectrum ever in the country.

AT&T will pay $91 billon, Dish $7.3 billion, and T-Mobile $2.9 billion. Verizon Wireless was conspicuous by its absence from the process.  

US 5G spectrum

While major communications providers were the biggest spenders, licenses for a range of categories were up for grabs. The FCC said it was pleased at the substantial increase in the number of winning bids per market and noted that 13 of the 33 winners classified as small businesses or those that served rural communities.

The regulator said this diversity would ensure the US would maintain its position as a leader in 5G.

“Today’s 3.45 GHz auction results demonstrate that the Commission’s pivot to mid-band spectrum for 5G was the right move,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “I am pleased to see that this auction also is creating opportunities for a wider variety of competitors, including small businesses and rural service providers. This is a direct result of the Commission’s efforts to structure this auction with diversity and competition front of mind.

“Enabling commercial use of this spectrum is important to America’s continuing economic recovery and 5G leadership, and I look forward to the continued collaboration between the FCC, NTIA, and other federal agencies to find innovative ways to make spectrum available for next generation commercial and government services.”

Mid-range spectrum offers a compromise between the range and indoor penetration characteristics of low-range airwaves and the huge capacity offered by high-band frequencies. AT&T and Verizon Wireless won mid-range C-Band licenses at an auction last year that raised $80 billion for the American government and are preparing an imminent launch of services in the coming weeks.

However, C-Band 5G has proved controversial in the US with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fearing that it could interfere with sensitive aircraft equipment. The mobile industry has refuted these claims.

The FCC said the arrangements for the latest release of airwaves would enable “robust commercial use” without the risk of interfering with existing use cases.

• Here are the best 5G mobile phone deals if you're thinking of an upgrade

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has started to provide the airline industry with ‘Notice to Air’ missions that detail how 5G networks could potentially affect aircraft equipment.

The FAA is concerned that C-Band 5G could affect sensitive electronics, like altimeters, that rely on frequencies located between 4.2 and 4.4GHz. These fears are disputed by mobile operators who will start the commercial rollout of such networks next week.

Mid-range C-Band spectrum offers a compromise between the range and indoor penetration characteristics of low-range airwaves and the huge capacity offered by high-band frequencies. AT&T and Verizon Wireless won C-Band licenses at an auction last year that raised $80 billion for the American government.

5G vs. the airlines: a brief timeline

Jan. 28:  FAA greenlights 5G at the airport  The FAA's ongoing battle with Verizon and AT&T over ultra-fast 5G C-band deployment around airports is finally ending: On Friday, the FAA announced an agreement on new steps that allow yet more 5G towers to operate safely around key airports.

Jan. 13:  FAA reveals exactly what 5G will do to airplanes The FAA is providing the airline industry with ‘Notice to Air’ missions that detail how 5G networks could potentially affect aircraft equipment, notably altimeters that rely on frequencies located between 4.2 and 4.4GHz.

Jan. 10:  50 airports get 5G "buffer zones" Airports in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and more are covered by the new restrictions, with some airports excluded because they do not permit low-visibility landings or because 5G towers are not close enough to cause concern.

Jan. 04:  So much for 5G at the airport Verizon and AT&T agreed late Monday to delay the 5G C-Band rollout, after earlier in the day announcing plans to move forward with their $70 billion dollar investment in the 5G C-band spectrum and their plans to launch the service on January 5.

Jan. 03, 2022:  The DoT treads into the battle A letter by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to AT&T and Verizon acknowledges the investment in 5G-C made by both companies but cautions that "the economic stakes for the aviation industry and the disruptions the traveling public would face ... are significant."

Dec. 08:  FAA sets new 5G flight restrictions The FAA has issued a warning that interference from C-band 5G could result in flight diversions as the planned use of this new 5G wireless spectrum by mobile carriers poses an air safety risk.

Nov. 5:  Pilots warned about 5G interference -- and carries caved Verizon and AT&T agreed to temporarily postpone their rollout of C-band 5G in order to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address concerns surrounding potential interference with key cockpit safety devices.

5G airport buffers

Reuters says more than 300 notices have been issued by the FAA, detailing how aircraft with untested altimeters that need retrofitting or replacing will be unable to perform low-visibility landings at airports where 5G powered by ‘C-Band’ spectrum has been deployed.

The FAA has received additional transmitter location data from operators which mean that some aircraft will still be able to land in low visibility conditions on some runways without restrictions and says it plans to update the industry as it continues its research.

Both T&T and Verizon Wireless agreed to delay the launch of their respective services and introduce measures that mitigate any perceived issues, including airport buffer zones. 50 airports, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Detroit, Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Miami are covered by the new restrictions, with some airports excluded because they do not permit low-visibility landings or because 5G towers are not close enough to cause concern.

Mobile operators and industry bodies say there is no credible evidence of interference, noting that other countries have deployed C-Band 5G with no problems and that there is a sufficient spectrum gap between bandwidth allocated for mobile and for aviation. Others have questioned why the FAA has waited so long before expressing is concerns.

• Here are the best 5G mobile phone deals if you're thinking of an upgrade

Via Reuters

US mobile carrier T-Mobile has revealed that a bug in iOS 15.2 prevented some of its customers from using iCloud Private Relay on their iPhones when using cellular data.

First introduced by Apple with the release of iOS 15, iCloud Private Relay provides users with an additional layer of privacy by preventing others from viewing the websites they visit just like with a VPN. The new feature works by first sending the web traffic of iPhone and Mac users through a server maintained by Apple and then through a second server operated by a third-party.

According to a new report from The Verge, in addition to T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T have also confirmed that they aren't blocking their customers from using Apple's latest privacy feature. A Verizon spokesperson confirmed to the news outlet that iCloud Private Relay works on both cellular and Fios internet connections while a spokesperson from AT&T said that the carrier's policy is not to block Private Relay.

Still though, in an open letter to the European Commission, Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange and T-Mobile voiced their concerns about the impact iCloud Private Relay could have on their businesses explaining that the feature cuts off networks and servers from accessing “vital network data and metadata” and could impact “operator's ability to efficiently manage telecommunication networks”.

iOS 15.2 issue

Some T-Mobile users were unable to use iCloud Private Relay recently but in a statement to 9To5Mac, the mobile carrier explained that a bug in iOS 15.2 was actually to blame.

The company's team identified that a bug in iOS 15.2 led to iCloud Private Relay and other device settings to be toggled off by default. It's worth noting that this issue isn't specific to T-Mobile users which is why some Verizon and AT&T customers also had trouble using iCloud Private Relay on their devices.

Fortunately, there is a workaround for the issue. To get iCloud Private Relay working on mobile data, users first need to turn off their Wi-Fi and then head to the Settings menu on their iPhone. From here, you'll need to choose Cellular, then choose your plan and check that “Limit IP Address Tracking” is enabled. Afterwards, you can turn Wi-Fi back on and iCloud Private Relay should now work on both cellular and wireless networks.

Some T-Mobile customers on plans that feature content filtering (e.g. parent controls) will still be unable to use iCloud Private Relay though as Apple's privacy feature would make it impossible to block their children from accessing certain sites. If you're a T-Mobile customer with this kind of plan, you can always pick up one of the best iPhone VPNs to keep your web traffic private while still being able to control what your kids see online using T-Mobile's parental control software.

We've also featured the best VPN and best proxy

Via The Verge and 9To5Mac

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revealed 50 airports that will be subject to 5G ‘buffer zones’ to reduce any risk of interference with aircraft equipment.

US mobile operators are gearing up to deploy 5G services using mid-range ‘C-Band’ spectrum that offers a compromise between the range and indoor penetration characteristics of low-range airwaves and the huge capacity offered by high-band frequencies.

AT&T, T-Mobile, US Wireless, and Verizon all won licences for C-Band spectrum in an auction last year that raised $80 billion for the American government.

5G vs. the airlines: a brief timeline

Jan. 28:  FAA greenlights 5G at the airport The FAA's ongoing battle with Verizon and AT&T over ultra-fast 5G C-band deployment around airports is finally ending: On Friday, the FAA announced an agreement on new steps that allow yet more 5G towers to operate safely around key airports.

Jan. 13:  FAA reveals exactly what 5G will do to airplanes The FAA is providing the airline industry with ‘Notice to Air’ missions that detail how 5G networks could potentially affect aircraft equipment, notably altimeters that rely on frequencies located between 4.2 and 4.4GHz.

Jan. 10:  50 airports get 5G "buffer zones" Airports in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and more are covered by the new restrictions, with some airports excluded because they do not permit low-visibility landings or because 5G towers are not close enough to cause concern.

Jan. 04:  So much for 5G at the airport Verizon and AT&T agreed late Monday to delay the 5G C-Band rollout, after earlier in the day announcing plans to move forward with their $70 billion dollar investment in the 5G C-band spectrum and their plans to launch the service on January 5.

Jan. 03, 2022:  The DoT treads into the battle A letter by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to AT&T and Verizon acknowledges the investment in 5G-C made by both companies but cautions that "the economic stakes for the aviation industry and the disruptions the traveling public would face ... are significant."

Dec. 08:  FAA sets new 5G flight restrictions The FAA has issued a warning that interference from C-band 5G could result in flight diversions as the planned use of this new 5G wireless spectrum by mobile carriers poses an air safety risk.

Nov. 5:  Pilots warned about 5G interference -- and carries caved Verizon and AT&T agreed to temporarily postpone their rollout of C-band 5G in order to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address concerns surrounding potential interference with key cockpit safety devices.

5G airport buffers

However, the FAA is concerned that C-Band 5G will affect key instruments. Specifically, it fears that 5G services using this spectrum could affect sensitive aviation electronics like altimeters that rely on frequencies located between 4.2GHz and 4.4GHz. Operators have dismissed the claims.

Nonetheless, both AT&T and Verizon Wireless agreed to delay the launch of their respective services and introduce measures that mitigate any perceived issues, including airport buffer zones.

Airports in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Detroit, Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Miami are covered by the new restrictions, with some airports excluded because they do not permit low-visibility landings or because 5G towers are not close enough to cause concern.

“The agency sought input from the aviation community where the proposed buffer zones would help reduce the risk of disruption,” said the FAA. “Traffic volume, the number of low-visibility days and geographic location factored into the selection.

“The wireless companies agreed to turn off transmitters and make other adjustments near these airports for six months to minimize potential 5G interference with sensitive aircraft instruments used in low-visibility landings.

“The FAA continues to work with the aerospace manufacturers and wireless companies to make sure 5G is safely deployed and to limit the risk of flight disruptions at all airports.”

Mobile operators and industry bodies say there is no credible evidence of interference, noting that other countries have deployed C-Band 5G with no problems and that there is a sufficient spectrum gap between bandwidth allocated for mobile and for aviation. Others have questioned why the FAA has waited so long before expressing is concerns.

• Here are the best 5G mobile phone deals if you're thinking of an upgrade

Via Reuters

WarnerMedia owner AT&T has published up-to-date subscriber figures for its premium cable channel, HBO, and streaming service, HBO Max – and both platforms appear in rude health. 

As part of the company’s recent regulatory filing, AT&T revealed that its HBO portfolio surpassed a year-end goal of 73.8 million combined subscribers in December 2021.

Given that WarnerMedia opted to remove HBO (the channel, not the streamer) from Amazon’s Prime Video Channels selection at the beginning of last year – in an effort to drive more subscribers to HBO Max – those figures represent promising growth. 

But HBO bosses shouldn't blow the party poppers just yet. For starters, AT&T’s figures don’t distinguish between HBO and HBO Max, making it difficult to determine which service drew in the lion’s share of their combined audience. 

A spokesperson for WarnerMedia recently told The Verge that these distinctions would be “broken out [...] in a couple of weeks,” but at present it’s hard to make too many bold claims regarding the success of HBO Max, specifically. 

Still, working on the assumption that HBO Max did have a great 2021 – as we anticipate future data will reveal – it’s worth remembering that the pandemic undoubtedly played a role in driving new subscribers to the streamer.

Warner’s day-and-date release schedule meant recent blockbusters like The Suicide Squad, The Matrix Resurrections and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune were made available to watch on HBO Max the same day (or the day after) as their respective theatrical releases, making the service a hotter property than it otherwise might have been in 2021. 

Given that cinemas are likely to remain open en masse in 2022 (though the Omicron variant continues to cast doubt on any permanent return to normality), Warner won’t be continuing with any sort of day-and-date schedule moving forward. 

Upcoming tentpole movies like The Batman will still become available to stream on HBO Max, but only after a 45-day exclusive theatrical run. 

That means the service is unlikely to benefit from a similar injection of subscribers this year, because HBO Max won’t be offering the same immediate access to the biggest releases. 

TV shows are, of course, a different story – but many of HBO’s biggest hits in recent months (like Friends: The Reunion and Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts) also represent one-off specials. It will be up to future seasons of Succession and brand new series like House of the Dragon and The Last of Us, then, to do most of the heavy lifting for HBO Max in the coming year.  

Still second (or third) fiddle 

What’s more, HBO’s growth appears less impressive when stacked up alongside equivalent figures posted by Disney Plus and Netflix in 2021. 

The former, which launched around six months before HBO Max, boasted 118.1 million paid subscribers as of October last year, up from 73.7 million in 2020. 

Netflix, on the other hand, reported an almighty 214 million paid subscribers as of Q3 2021 – with that figure expected to further inflate in Q4 thanks to the meteoric success of Squid Game.

Evidently, HBO Max has a job on its hands in 2022. The platform's rollout across Europe should help to build its subscriber based further but, with even more competition arriving in the form of Paramount Plus (a Halo TV show, anyone?) and Pluto TV, HBO's streamer will need to work hard to convince potential customers to part with yet more of their hard-earned cash.

• These are the best HBO Max movies to stream right now 

Verizon and AT&T agreed late Monday to delay the 5G C-Band rollout. 

In a statement obtained by The New York Times, Verizon and AT&T both agreed to the additional delay of C-Band 5G services. 

[Our original story, where both companies said, "Nah," is below]

Verizon and AT&T are moving forward with their $70 billion dollar investment in the 5G C-band spectrum and their plans to launch the service on January 5. 

In a strongly-worded letter from AT&T CEO John T. Stankey and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson (obtained by The New York Times), the pair of carrier CEOs rejected the DOT and FAA's request to pause the rollout by another two weeks.

The DOT and FAA made a last-minute request on December 31, citing concerns over the 5G C-Band spectrum's potential to interfere with U.S. flight operations, specifically airplane altimeters.

Vestberg and Stankey contest those concerns in their letter, noting that "radio altimeters do not operate on, or anywhere near, the C - Band frequencies. Rather, they operate in a frequency band (4.2-4.4 GHz) that is separated by at least 400 megahertz from the C -Band frequencies (3.7-3.8 MHz) that AT& T and Verizon will begin using in 2022..."

5G vs. the airlines: a brief timeline

Jan. 28:  FAA greenlights 5G at the airport The FAA's ongoing battle with Verizon and AT&T over ultra-fast 5G C-band deployment around airports is finally ending: On Friday, the FAA announced an agreement on new steps that allow yet more 5G towers to operate safely around key airports.

Jan. 13:  FAA reveals exactly what 5G will do to airplanes The FAA is providing the airline industry with ‘Notice to Air’ missions that detail how 5G networks could potentially affect aircraft equipment, notably altimeters that rely on frequencies located between 4.2 and 4.4GHz.

Jan. 10:  50 airports get 5G "buffer zones" Airports in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and more are covered by the new restrictions, with some airports excluded because they do not permit low-visibility landings or because 5G towers are not close enough to cause concern.

Jan. 04:  So much for 5G at the airport Verizon and AT&T agreed late Monday to delay the 5G C-Band rollout, after earlier in the day announcing plans to move forward with their $70 billion dollar investment in the 5G C-band spectrum and their plans to launch the service on January 5.

Jan. 03, 2022:  The DoT treads into the battle A letter by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to AT&T and Verizon acknowledges the investment in 5G-C made by both companies but cautions that "the economic stakes for the aviation industry and the disruptions the traveling public would face ... are significant."

Dec. 08:  FAA sets new 5G flight restrictions The FAA has issued a warning that interference from C-band 5G could result in flight diversions as the planned use of this new 5G wireless spectrum by mobile carriers poses an air safety risk.

Nov. 5:  Pilots warned about 5G interference -- and carries caved Verizon and AT&T agreed to temporarily postpone their rollout of C-band 5G in order to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address concerns surrounding potential interference with key cockpit safety devices.

"Unprecedented and unwarranted"

The executives sound frustrated at the late notice and the alleged inaction by the FAA to press airlines on upgrading their altimeters to avoid spectrums "far removed from the 4.2-4.4 GHz altimeter band."

At its core, though, the letter is a rejection of the DOT and FAA's proposal:

"Agreeing to your proposal would not only be an unprecedented and unwarranted circumvention of the due process and checks and balances carefully crafted in the structure of our democracy, but an irresponsible abdication of the operating control required to deploy world-class and globally competitive communications networks that are every bit as essential to our country's economic vitality, public safety and national interests as the airline."

Verizon and AT&T are not, however, backing away from the mitigation measures it agreed to last November, which includes 5G C-Band exclusion zones, including those around airport runways.

We suspect that the DOT's Buttigieg and FAA's Dickson are crafting a response letter as you read this.

It's unlikely that a response will arrive in time to get in front of AT&T and Verizon's rollout efforts. While the concerns about 5G C-Band flight operations interference will likely persist into the launch, there's no concrete proof that any 5G bands are impacting airplane and airport operations technology.

For consumers, the benefits of 5G feel more like unrealized promises. We now carry 5G phones but only rarely experience the life-altering speeds that were promised in the early days of the next-gen mobile band's introduction.

5G C-Band, though, offers a fresh opportunity to deliver on some of these promises. Using a mid-range band once set aside for satellites, GPS and Wi-Fi, it works with fewer towers and a more direct connection to 5G devices. This might mean better reliability and, more importantly, higher speeds (more like the ones we were promised).

Of course, you still need 5G C-Band coverage in your area to experience this level of connectivity.

• Find the best 5G phones around right now

Microsoft has announced that it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire the online advertising and analytics firm Xandr from AT&T.

The agreement builds on a decade-long relationship between Xandr, its predecessor companies and the software giant for delivering digital media solutions for advertisers on a global scale. Through its data-enabled technology platform, Xandr provides tools which power a diverse ecosystem that connects marketers and media owners through first-party, data-led advertising solutions across its network.

President of web experiences at Microsoft, Mikhail Parakhin explained in a press release how its acquisition of Xandr will help shape the digital ad marketplace of the future, saying:

“With Xandr’s talent and technology, Microsoft can accelerate the delivery of its digital advertising and retail media solutions, shaping tomorrow’s digital ad marketplace into one that respects consumer privacy preferences, understands publishers’ relationships with consumers and helps advertisers meet their goals.”

Shaping the future of digital advertising

Microsoft and Xandr have a shared vision for the digital ad marketplace of the future as well as complementary strengths to empower the open web so that everyone can thrive and do so in a way that is consistent with the software giant's commitment to strong data governance and consumer privacy practices.

Through the acquisition, Microsoft will be able to accelerate the delivery of digital advertising solutions for the open web by combining its audience understanding, technology and global advertising customer base with Xandr's large-scale, data-driven platforms for advertising.

The company brings a number of advertising platforms to the table including its cross-screen, first-party data-centered buying platform Xandr Invest as well as its full funnel marketing offering Xandr Monetize.

By acquiring Xandr, Microsoft aims to become organizations' media partner of choice for the open web and we'll likely hear more on its plans for the digital ad marketplace of the future once the transaction officially closes following regulatory review.

We've also featured the best online marketing services and best email marketing software

Airlines and aviation officials are warning that the resumed rollout of AT&T and Verizon’s new 5G wireless service in January could lead to widespread flight delays across the US especially in snowstorms and other low visibility conditions.

As reported by Bloomberg, the officials say that C-band 5G threatens to interfere with altimeters and other equipment on planes and helicopters that track aircraft altitude. If this happens, it could prohibit planes from landing in poor visibility, leading to delays, diversions and even the cancellations of flights.

While the wireless industry believes these claims are unfounded, the aviation industry is very concerned about how interference from C-band 5G could threaten its business which is already struggling as a result of the pandemic. At the same time, airlines are also dealing with staff shortages and unruly passengers.

During a recent Senate hearing, CEO of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly said that the deployment of 5G is the company’s number one concern in the near term. According to the trade group Airlines for America, flight disruptions from the rollout of AT&T and Verizon’s new 5G wireless service could cost airlines as much as $2.1bn.

Airlines vs the wireless industry

C-band 5G uses signals that operate in airwaves close to those used by radio altimeters which airplanes use to determine altitude by bouncing radio waves off the ground.

While the aviation industry says that tests show 5G can interfere with an aircraft’s altimeter, the wireless industry continues to dispute this claim arguing that 5G signals are far away enough from the frequencies used by altimeters and are set to operate at safe levels.

Based on some worst-case assumptions, Airlines for America told the US senate that AT&T and Verizon’s new 5G service has the potential to disrupt as many as 350k flights a year. However, the FCC, which gave the approval for mobile carriers to use these new airwaves, has yet to impose any additional restrictions. The government agency is working with the FAA to resolve this ongoing dispute between the aviation and wireless industries.

With the holidays coming up and AT&T and Verizon planning to resume their rollout of C-band 5G on January 5, time is running out for the matter to be resolved once and for all. If the FCC and FAA are unable to come to an agreement, we could see flights either delayed or outright cancelled next year during snowstorms and other times when there is low visibility.

We've also featured the best 5G smartphones,  best business smartphones and best mobile plans for business

Via Bloomberg

Four US operators have agreed to pay a combined $6 million to settle investigations into their respective compliance with emergency call reliability rules during network outages in September 2020.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said AT&T, Intrado, Lumen (known as CenturyLink during the outage), and Verizon violated its rules regarding the delivery of calls to 911 while some also failed to follow the appropriate process for notifying call centres affected by the outage.

The FCC requires operators to notify officials of any outage lasting more than half an hour.  

FCC 911 fines

Lumen will pay more than half of the total sum, forking out $3.8 million, while Intrado will pay $1.75 million, AT&T $460,000, and Verizon $274,000. The FCC added that will all introduce new compliance plans alongside their respective penalties.

“The most important phone call you ever make may be a call to 911,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "Sunny day outages can be especially troubling because they occur when the public and 911 call centres least expect it. It’s vital that phone companies prevent these outages wherever possible and provide prompt and sufficient notification to 911 call centres when they do occur.”

The FCC fined another US carrier, T-Mobile, $19.5 million in November for a 911 outage that lasted more than 12 hours, affecting more than 20,000 calls in the summer of 2020.

Earlier this month it emerged that some Android smartphones were being prevented from calling 911 due to a bug with Microsoft Teams, an issue which has since been resolved.

• If you're looking for a new phone, check our our best 5G mobile phone deals

US airlines have warned that plans from Verizon and AT&T to deploy C-band 5G could lead to the disruption of thousands of flights and cost air travelers $1.6bn in delays.

At a recent US Senate Commerce Committee hearing, chief executive executive at United Airlines, Scott Kirby explained that the rollout of 5G services using the C-band spectrum could delay, divert or cancel around four percent of daily flights, according to a new report from Reuters.

Kirby also noted that once the Verizon and AT&T resume their rollouts of C-band 5G on January 5, the airline's pilots “will not be able to use radio altimeters at 40-something of the largest airports in the country”. This means that in the event of bad weather, cloud cover or even heavy smog, pilots would only be able to do visual approaches as their altimeters could be affected by potential interference.

The trade group Airlines of America (A4A) also said that if the FAA 5G directive had been in effect in 2019, “approximately 345,000 passenger flights, 32 million passengers and 5,400 cargo flights would have been impacted in the form of delayed flights, diversions or cancellations”.

FAA 5G directive

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently issued a set of airworthiness directives that ordered the revision of airplane and helicopter flight manuals to prohibit some operations that require the use of radio altimeter data when in the presence of C-band 5G signals.

The government agency also plans to issue notices if necessary to “state the specific areas where the data from a radio altimeter may be unreliable due to the presences of 5G C-band wireless broadband signals”.

Although airlines are taking issue with the rollout of C-band 5G, the wireless industry has defended the technology as 5G operates safely and without causing harmful interference to aviation operations in almost 40 countries around the world. In addition to delaying the commercial launch of their respective C-band wireless services, AT&T and Verizon have both adopted precautionary measures for six months in an effort limit interference.

As it stands now, we'll just have to wait and see as to whether or not C-band 5G leads to the disruptions to flights US airlines are worried about.

We've also featured the best 5G smartphones,  best business smartphones and best mobile plans for business

Via Reuters

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a warning that interference from C-band 5G could result in flight diversions as the planned use of this new 5G wireless spectrum by mobile carriers poses an air safety risk.

As reported by Reuters, concerns have been raised by both the aviation industry and the FAA that sensitive aircraft electronics such as radio altimeters could be affected by potential interference from C-band 5G which falls between 4 GHz and 8Hz.

Just last month, AT&T and Verizon agreed that they would delay their respective rollouts of C-band 5G until January of next year in order to work with the FAA  to address concerns surrounding potential interference with key cockpit safety devices.

Now though, the FAA has taken things a step further by issuing a set of airworthiness directives in which the government agency has ordered the revision of airplane and helicopter flight manuals to prohibit some operations that require the use of radio altimeter data when in the presences of C-band 5G signals.

5G vs. the airlines: a brief timeline

Jan. 28: FAA greenlights 5G at the airport The FAA's ongoing battle with Verizon and AT&T over ultra-fast 5G C-band deployment around airports is finally ending: On Friday, the FAA announced an agreement on new steps that allow yet more 5G towers to operate safely around key airports.

Jan. 13: FAA reveals exactly what 5G will do to airplanes The FAA is providing the airline industry with ‘Notice to Air’ missions that detail how 5G networks could potentially affect aircraft equipment, notably altimeters that rely on frequencies located between 4.2 and 4.4GHz.

Jan. 10: 50 airports get 5G "buffer zones" Airports in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and more are covered by the new restrictions, with some airports excluded because they do not permit low-visibility landings or because 5G towers are not close enough to cause concern.

Jan. 04: So much for 5G at the airport Verizon and AT&T agreed late Monday to delay the 5G C-Band rollout, after earlier in the day announcing plans to move forward with their $70 billion dollar investment in the 5G C-band spectrum and their plans to launch the service on January 5.

Jan. 03, 2022: The DoT treads into the battle A letter by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to AT&T and Verizon acknowledges the investment in 5G-C made by both companies but cautions that "the economic stakes for the aviation industry and the disruptions the traveling public would face ... are significant."

Dec. 08: FAA sets new 5G flight restrictions The FAA has issued a warning that interference from C-band 5G could result in flight diversions as the planned use of this new 5G wireless spectrum by mobile carriers poses an air safety risk.

Nov. 5: Pilots warned about 5G interference -- and carries caved Verizon and AT&T agreed to temporarily postpone their rollout of C-band 5G in order to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address concerns surrounding potential interference with key cockpit safety devices.

C-band 5G interference

In one of its airworthiness directives, the FAA warned that since radio altimeter anomalies are often undetected by aircraft automation or pilots when close to the ground, they “could lead to loss of continued safe flight and landing”.

At this time, it still remains unclear as to what airports or airplanes may be impacted but the FAA said that it would issue notices if necessary to “state the specific areas where the data from a radio altimeter may be unreliable due to the presences of 5G C-band wireless broadband signals”.

Although C-band 5G interference is a potential problem for airports, airplanes and pilots, the FAA explained in a statement that it is working together with the FCC and wireless carriers on the issue, saying:

“The FAA believes the expansion of 5G and aviation will safely co-exist. Today, we took an important step toward that goal by issuing two airworthiness directives to provide a framework and to gather more information to avoid potential effects on aviation safety equipment. The FAA is working closely with the Federal Communications Commission and wireless companies, and has made progress toward safely implementing the 5G expansion. We are confident with ongoing collaboration we will reach this shared goal.”

Hopefully the FAA is able to resolve these issues soon so that AT&T and Verizon can continue their planned rollouts of C-band 5G early next year.

We've also featured the best 5G smartphones,  best business smartphones and best mobile plans for business

Via Reuters

T-Mobile will no longer be able to advertise its 5G network as the 'most reliable' in the US according to a new ruling from the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau.

In a new press release, NAD recommended that the company discontinue all claims that it has the most reliable 5G network based on third-party testing from the Accenture-owned advisory firm umlaut. However, T-Mobile has already said that it will appeal NAD's decision on the matter.

NAD only got involved after AT&T challenged express and implied claims made by T-Mobile which first appeared in two television commercials and internet advertising.

President of technology at T-Mobile, Neville Ray praised the results of the nationwide study of 43m data samples from over 70,000 of its 5G smartphone users conducted by umlaut in a press release back in July, saying:

“umlaut’s report is just the latest to prove customers and businesses alike can count on T-Mobile 5G to deliver a fast and reliable 5G connection in more places than anyone else. While the other networks play catch up, we’ll keep adding more 5G coverage and capacity to bring a transformative experience to customers across the country.” 

5G and non-5G networks

Umluat's scoring for 5G network reliability tested T-Mobile's 5G network based on three metrics: 5G coverage reach, 5G connection share and download speed.

While the mobile carrier argued that many consumers toggle between 4G and 5G and that umlaut's testing methodology represents how many of them use 5G to supplement 4G, NAD determined that non-5G data cannot be used to support a claim about a 5G network. NAD also made the point that speed and coverage alone cannot be used to support a reliability claim.

T-Mobile responded to NAD's decision by saying that it was disappointed and would appeal it. The mobile carrier also argued that it should be able to advertise umlaut's independent award.

While T-Mobile can no longer claim that it has the most reliable 5G network, the company did take the top spots for 5G speed and availability in RootMetrics' latest 5G Scorecard.

Interested in upgrading to 5G? Check out our list of the best 5G smartphones and our roundup of the best cell phone plans

AT&T and Verizon Wireless have agreed to undertake additional measures to prove to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that 5G using C-Band frequencies does not interfere with aircraft equipment.

Mid-range C-band 5G spectrum offers a compromise between these two desirable outcomes and will be a vital resource in the rollout of 5G.

5G networks will use a much more diverse range of spectrum than previous generations of mobile technology, with low-band frequencies like 700MHz offering wide coverage and high-band millimetre Wave (mmWave) delivering huge capacity over short distances.

5G safety

Both AT&T and Verizon, along with T-Mobile and US Wireless, won licenses for C-Band airwaves located between 3.7GHz and 3.98GHz in an auction earlier this year that raised $80 billion.

However, the FAA fears that 5G services using this spectrum could affect sensitive aviation electronics like altimeters that rely on frequencies located between 4.2GHz and 4.4GHz.

Mobile operators and industry bodies say there is no credible evidence of interference, noting that other countries have deployed C-Band 5G with no problems and that there is a sufficient spectrum gap between bandwidth allocated for mobile and for aviation. Others have questioned why the FAA has waited so long before expressing is concerns.

The first tranche of C-Band spectrum allocated during the auction was set to be released to winning bidders next month, but AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay the launch of C-Band 5G services for a month while more research was conducted.

Now the operators have also agreed to take additional steps to minimise the energy coming from 5G base stations for six months, especially around airports and heliports. They say that unless credible evidence that demonstrates interference emerges during that period, the commitments will expire on July 6 next year.  

Via Reuters

Here are the best 5G mobile phone deals if you're thinking of an upgrade

Ericsson and AT&T have signed a five-year deal that will facilitate the US carrier’s 5G network expansion and rollout of C-band spectrum.

The two companies have worked together for more than two decades and this latest agreement will help AT&T achieve its ambition of covering 70-75 million people with 5G using C-band airwaves acquired by the operator earlier this year.

5G networks use more diverse array of spectrum than previous generations of mobile technology, with various frequencies serving different user groups.

• What is 5G? Everything you need to know
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Ericsson 5G AT&T

Low-band spectrum such as 700MHz offers wide coverage but lower capacity while millimetre Wave (mmWave) frequencies that offer massive capacity over a short range. Mid-band C-band spectrum, located between 3.4GHz and 3.8GHz, offers a happy compromise between these two desirable outcomes.

AT&T will use Ericsson technologies, including advanced antennas and 5G carrier aggregation and advanced RAN coordination, to improve the coverage, capacity and latency of mid-band and high-band deployments.

The technologies will also pave the way for future innovations, including Cloud RAN, that enhances the agility and capability of 5G networks.

“As we continue to expand our nationwide 5G network, Ericsson’s technology offerings and 5G expertise will assist with our network evolution,” declared Scott Mair, President, AT&T Network Engineering and Operations.

“This latest agreement provides the pathway for us to deploy Ericsson’s next-generation centralized RAN architecture, enabled by Fronthaul Gateway, with the ability to support future network enhancements, like the evolution to Cloud RAN.”

“This agreement reinforces our long-standing partnership of innovation and execution with AT&T,” added Niklas Heuveldop, President and Head of Ericsson North America. “5G networks will enable unprecedented, sustainable and exponential growth, accelerating the digital transformation of industries and the public sector, for the benefit of consumers, enterprises and society at large. Ericsson is excited to join forces with AT&T to help make this vision a reality.”

Ericsson’s latest estimate is that there will be 580 million 5G subscriptions by the end of 2021.

• These are the best 5G phones available today 

Hackers managed to break into Syniverse, a relatively unknown company that provides backbone services to major wireless carriers around the world, in a campaign that could have impacted millions of cellphone users, reports suggest.

According to Motherboard, Syniverse forms a critical part of the global telecommunications infrastructure, and counts the likes of AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, T-Mobile, among its customers.

In a filing with the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company disclosed that threat actors managed to gain “unauthorized access to databases within its network on several occasions, and that login information allowing access to or from its Electronic Data Transfer (EDT) environment was compromised for approximately 235 of its customers.”

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The incident, which was detected in May 2021, but dates back to May 2016, is discussed in the section where it talks about the risks associated with the company owing to the nature of its business. 

Global privacy disaster?

Syniverse hasn’t discussed the incident outside of the SEC filing, and didn’t respond to Motherboard’s questions about the scope and scale of the breach. 

However a former Syniverse employee disclosed that EDT systems have information on all types of call records. Another anonymous individual familiar with telephone carriers suggests that the Syniverse hackers could have had access to metadata such as length and cost, caller and receiver's numbers, the location of the parties in the call, as well as the content of SMS text messages.

"Syniverse has access to the communication of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people around the world. A five-year breach of one of Syniverse's main systems is a global privacy disaster," security researcher Karsten Nohl told Motherboard.

However, the former Syniverse employee suggests the breach is probably more embarrassing than devastating since nothing untoward seems to have come out of it in over five years.

“Not saying nothing bad happened but it sounds like nothing did happen,” opines the former employees.

• Protect your devices with these best antivirus software

Via Motherboard

AT&T can draw on almost 150 years of experience in the business world. In that time, the company has clearly learned a lot regarding the diversity of needs driving each customer decision. That really comes across when examining the company’s VoIP service offerings, as there are more than a few for businesses to consider. 

Although the sheer breadth of different services available can be a little intimidating at first, the range is likely to be appreciated by most businesses, as they are likely to find a package - and a price plan to suit them. In particular, businesses that already use AT&T for either an existing phone or internet package will find that it is easy to add a VoIP service to their current deal. It is worth noting, however, that some customers have complained that this means the company's VoIP services can work out slightly more expensive if organizations do not want to sign up for a whole host of AT&T solutions. 

Nevertheless, looking just at the company’s VoIP services, all the usual features are accounted for - including multiple lines and advanced collaboration features. Plus, the company’s security credentials and levels of customer service have both been highly praised. 

Service overview

As well as trusting AT&T’s reputation, larger organizations are likely to find the sheer breadth of VoIP services on offer appealing. Altogether, the company lists eight business VoIP services on its website, including: AT&T Phone for Business, AT&T Office@Hand; Webex Calling with AT&T, SIP Trunking, AT&T IP Toll-Free, Local and Long Distance, Voice Transformation Consulting, and Mobile Rate Plans. Each offering has its own list of features and pricing plans, so it’s recommended that businesses take their time before committing to any one particular solution. 

Organizations that already have a relationship with AT&T may find that deciding which VoIP service to adopt is a little more straightforward (and cost-effective). In general, set-up costs are low but existing AT&T customers may find that it is significantly cheaper to bolt on a VoIP service rather than go with one of AT&T’s competitors. 

In terms of the different services on offer, AT&T’s services run the gambit from a fully-fledged hosted VoIP service to a more basic analog phone service that comes with unlimited calling and a large selection of conventional calling features.

As with many other VoIP solutions, subscribers to AT&T Business VoIP won’t have to worry about maintenance or upgrades, as this is all provided by AT&T and takes place in the cloud. Changing services is straightforward and also takes place remotely. 

AT&T Phone for Business

The first business VoIP offering from AT&T is titled: “AT&T Phone for Business” and offers a VoIP service for up to 6 lines using existing analog phones. As with all AT&T’s VoIP services, there are no advertised pricing plans for the company’s Phone for Business solutions. Organizations have to contact an AT&T representative to come up with a bespoke quote. 

If businesses choose to go with AT&T Phone for Business, they will receive a secure service backed by a built-in firewall and virtual private network termination. Set-up is straightforward and the option of using pre-bought handsets is bound to appeal to smaller companies that want to keep costs to a minimum. 

That brings us neatly to one particular drawback that has been noticed by some users of AT&T’s VoIP service. Some users have complained that international calling rates to some locations are more expensive when compared to other VoIP providers, so that’s something that businesses that have a lot of international clients or branches may want to evaluate. 

Nevertheless, users of AT&T Phone for Business have praised the call quality and the level of support on offer, so the solution represents a good choice for businesses large and small, particularly if they are already using AT&T for another telecoms service. 

AT&T Office@Hand

Actually built upon RingCentral’s office VoIP solution, AT&T Office@Hand combines voice communication, fax, and text messaging through one phone number. By enabling employees to work anywhere, whether they prefer using a smartphone, tablet, softphone or desktop IP, they can remain productive even while on the move. 

Office@Hand is available in three packages: Standard, Premium, and Enterprise. The Standard package starts from $25.40 per user, per month, and comes with unlimited user numbers, unlimited internet fax, 1000 toll-free minutes a month, and 100 HD video seats. The Premium package is priced at $36.25 per user, per month, and comes with additional toll-free minutes and more HD video seats, as well as automatic call recording and Salesforce integration. The Enterprise edition includes all this and more but is priced according to the specific terms of the contract. 

In terms of features, Office@Hand users benefit from up to three company numbers (a local main number, a toll-free number, and a local number for faxes), unique extensions for each employee, conference bridges to enable team members to hold an unlimited number of conferences whenever they want, and app integration with the likes of Google, Zendesk and Microsoft Office 365.

Webex Calling with AT&T

Catering for the modern enterprise, which needs VoIP services to double as fully-fledged remote collaboration tools, Webex Calling with AT&T is another communications solution offered by the US telecoms giant. It is a global, cloud-based voice solution that can be integrated with legacy phone hardware as well as Cisco-based conferencing and collaboration solutions. Working together, AT&T and Cisco deliver an enterprise-ready cloud PBX, integrated with Cisco Webex Teams for business calling, meetings, and team collaboration. 

The service offers VoIP phone functionality but with the option of integrating with AT&T’s portfolio of unified communications (UC) tools. A “per seat” consumption pricing model provides businesses with the flexibility to grow without facing exorbitant fees.

Webex Calling with AT&T comes with all the standard features that businesses might expect, including call forwarding, call parking, conferencing directories, single number reach, an IP desk phone and more. It also offers local, in-country phone numbers for 150+ countries and territories, along with 24/7 support, so the service makes a great choice for businesses with global reach.

In addition, Webex Calling with AT&T offers a flexible UC deployment approach that supports on-premises, cloud, and hybrid solutions and, of course, offers robust integration with Webex Teams. Organizations will find that having AT&T as a single point of contact for the design, implementation, upgrading, and ongoing support makes the maintenance of these services a lot more straightforward than having to communicate with different vendors. 

Other services

Looking at some of the other VoIP services offered by AT&T, let’s start with SIP trunking. This allows firms to consolidate their voice and data with a SIP trunking solution that delivers outbound, inbound, local and long-distance calling. Advanced calling features for businesses utilizing existing on-premise telephony equipment are also provided and a web-based portal supplies performance reporting, call detail reporting, and facilitates e-ordering.

Moreover, the AT&T IP Toll-Free solution is a fantastic solution for businesses that want their customers to reach to be able to reach them without incurring usage charges. This in-bound toll free service is great for businesses undergoing digital transformation. With AT&T IP Toll-Free, calls originate in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and travel over the AT&T MPLS network before being delivered to a router at your site.  In addition, a number of mobility rate plans offer 5G connectivity to keep businesses up-to-speed with the latest connectivity solutions. 

Altogether, these services add up to a huge range of options for businesses to consider. With information, particularly regarding pricing, not always clear online, businesses may find it easier to contact an AT&T representative in order to determine which solution is right for them. 

Voice transformation consulting

One of the main reasons why businesses persist with traditional desk phones is that they are not entirely sure how to manage the transition to VoIP services. For larger organizations in particular, the process of migrating their many communication tools to a new VoIP system can be a little overwhelming. Fortunately, AT&T’s voice transformation consulting service helps ease migration and reduce complexity.

Some of the other benefits promised by AT&T’s consultancy service include a faster return on investment, optimized costs, and lower risk levels. Furthermore, AT&T supports users to integrate multi-vendor and interoperable services to provide added flexibility. The company is also on-hand to support a reduction in the amount of equipment being used and provide advice on how to scale VoIP services up and down to meet changing levels of demand. 

Although VoIP solutions are relatively straightforward once set up, this doesn’t mean that businesses should rush into making a decision that could have a profound impact on the effectiveness of their communication. With AT&T voice transformation consulting, the planning, design, integration, deployment, and optimization of your VoIP solution is handled step-by-step. What’s more, AT&T manages the migration strategy, technology impact, financial justification, load testing, and service management.

Adopting a VoIP solution means moving away from traditional TDM and ISDN services to SIP trunking. In order to achieve this, AT&T’s consulting team provides a programmatic approach to SIP transformation, including full life cycle support from readiness to day-two service support. The first part of this involves a SIP readiness assessment, which identifies aspects of your architecture that may be impacted by SIP adoption. Other important aspects, including testing, piloting, and transformation planning are also taken care of - taking the stress out of VoIP adoption.

Our overall verdict

Overall, AT&T’s business VoIP offerings are well worth a look. Companies will find all the core features included, although it might take them a while to determining which service is the right one for them - other VoIP providers have adopted the less-is-more approach and that has certainly helped provide clarity of message. 

Close integration with Webex is likely to be a major draw, particularly given the amount of remote collaboration that is currently taking place in offices around the world. And, the fact that organizations can receive a favorable price on their VoIP solutions if they are already using AT&T for other communications services is a nice bonus. Plus, whichever VoIP service that businesses ultimately decide on, they receive the kind of reliable offering that you’d expect to be delivered by as trustworthy a brand as AT&T. 

• Want to compare AT&T Business to its rivals? Check out our guide to the best VoIP services available

Your HBO Max subscription could be getting cheaper if you don’t mind watching advertisements, AT&T announced today. 

Previously AT&T (owners of WarnerMedia, which in turn owns HBO and HBO Max) announced that it would bring the service to 60 new countries in June – and when that happens, AT&T will also launch a cheaper ad-supported price tier, according to information obtained by The Verge. 

So what’s the catch? Well, you won’t be able to watch cinema releases the same day as they launch in theaters like you can with the full service. What that means, essentially, is that you’ll be paying less to watch shows like Rick & Morty and Game of Thrones, but you’ll be missing out on The Matrix 4 and Dune when they come to the full service and theaters later this year.

As a consolation, however, you won’t have to watch ads on first-party HBO content – e.g. TV shows like Game of Thrones, The Wire or The Sopranos. And there is always the chance that the movies will be available on the service sometime after the launch, too.

So how much will it cost? 

Unfortunately, AT&T didn’t disclose how much the new service is going to cost, nor did it give an exact launch date for the new tier. 

Traditionally, ad-supported services come in at half the cost of their ad-free counterparts (here in the US, Hulu costs $5.99 for the ad-free version and $11.99 for ad-free) so it’s likely that the new tier for HBO Max will be under $10 given its base price of $14.99 per month. How much it will cost outside of the US in any one of the 60 new countries, however, is anyone’s guess.

So should you subscribe now or hold off? Our advice: probably hold off, if you can. 

Because the service will be coming out in just a few months, it might be worth holding off on subscribing , especially if you wouldn’t mind watching ads – and missing a few theatrical releases – for a lower price.

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In an effort to help small businesses weather the pandemic and continue to innovate, AT&T is introducing new tools to help them adapt, mix and match the right tools and stay protected from spam on their business phones.

The US telecom's new Unlimited Your Way for Business gives small businesses the ability to mix and match its AT&T Business Unlimited phone plans for each member of their team with up to 10 lines per plan group.

Each of AT&T's Business Unlimited phone plans already include unlimited data, talk and text as well access to its 5G network and 5G+ service. However, now team members that require extra features such as mobile hotspot data, HD video capabilities or network prioritization for critical data can pick a plan that has the features they need even if other co-workers don't require them.

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AT&T's new mix-and-match options allow businesses to control costs by picking the right phone plan for each employee with the flexibility to adjust each plan as their needs change.

Unlimited Your Way for Business

Receiving calls from random numbers can disrupt employee productivity as they have no idea who's calling which is why AT&T is launching Caller ID for its Business Unlimited Elite and Performance plan lines.

AT&T Caller ID provides a listed caller name directly from the company's network even if one doesn't already exist in a user's contacts. This means that small businesses will no exactly who is calling and they don't even need to take any action to turn on this service.

In addition to Caller ID, AT&T also offers Call Protect to help secure calls. This feature automatically blocks fraudulent and spam calls and can be enabled on compatible smartphones.

By giving small businesses more flexibility, AT&T is helping them save money while ensuring each employee has access to the features and services they need to do their jobs.

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Dell has announced its new Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet which was built from the ground up to meet the demands of those working in the most extreme environments.

The new rugged tablet was designed to provide the mobility and connectivity needs required by field users to help them stay productive.

The Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet can even be used in extremely hot environments such as deserts or in an extremely cold locations such as the Arctic. The device features an enhanced 1,000 NIT FHD display with anti-glare coating so that users can showcase their work even when out working in direct sunlight. The screen is also glove responsive so that it can be used in colder environments.

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However, what sets Dell's new rugged tablet apart from other devices in the category is the fact that it has a broad range of connectivity options including access to FirstNet. FirstNet is a special network, built by AT&T in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority,  designed for first responders and those critical to their emergency response.

Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet

Dell's Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet can be configured to individual user needs and the device can be outfitted with the latest 8th Generation Intel Core Processors boasting up to 2TB of high performance and reliable PCIe solid state drives.

The new rugged tablet is also IP-65 rated for protection against dust, dirt and water ingress along with hazardous location Class 1 Div 2 certifications. The Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet has been drop tested from 4ft and has been built to withstand -20 to 145 Fahrenheit temperatures.

For those in need of extended battery life, Dell offers an optional dual hot-swappable battery-architecture as well as an on-the-go charging ecosystem for uninterrupted operation. In terms of security, the Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet features a built-in infrared camera with Windows Hello facial recognition with the option of next-generation fingerprint, contactless and contacted smartcard readers also available.

The tablet can also be protected by Dell Pro Support Plus service with an option for 24/7 access to the most experienced Dell technicians and same or next business day onsite repair after remote diagnosis. 

Vice president of Dell specialty products, Tom Tobul explained why the company's new rugged tablet is the perfect fit for field workers as well as first responders, saying:

“Dell Rugged customers are often operating in the most challenging, unpredictable environments out there, and constant access to their data can be vital to their roles. The new Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet offers the latest processors and several connectivity options in a compact, light device, perfect for those in the field. The impact of reliable technology and connectivity options for Dell customers in these critical roles should not be underestimated. The tablet’s certification for use on FirstNet, and it’s WiFi and broadband capabilities make it easier for first responders on scene to share live updates, which could help drastically improve the coordination of resources in emergency situations.”

• Check out our complete list of the best rugged tablets of 2019

The US Department of Justice has revealed that AT&T employees took bribes to unlock millions of smartphones and to install malware and unauthorized hardware on its network.

The news comes from a DOJ case opened against 34 year old Muhammad Fahd from Pakistan and his co-conspirator Ghulam Jiwani who is believed to be deceased. The two were charged with paying over $1m in bribes to several AT&T employees at the telecom's Mobility Customer Care call center in Bothell, Washington.

The bribery scheme went on for several years and lasted from at least April of 2012 until September 2017. It started when the two Pakistani men bribed AT&T employees to unlock iPhones so that they could be used on other networks.

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Fahd and Jiwani recruited the company's employees over the phone or through Facebook messages and once they agreed, they received lists of IMEI phone codes which they had to unlock to receive payment as cash or deposited in their bank accounts.

The first stage of the scheme lasted for about a year until several employees left or were fired by the company.

Malware stage

Fahd and Jiwani then changed their tactics by having AT&T employees install malware on the company's network at its Bothell call center. This initial malware collected data on how the company's infrastructure worked between April and October of 2013.

Court documents, which were recently unsealed, revealed that this malware was a keylogger with the ability "to gather confidential and proprietary information regarding the structure and functioning of AT&T's internal protected computers and applications”.

According to the DOJ, the pair then created a second malware that used information acquired by the first malware. This new malware used AT&T employee credentials to perform automated actions on the company's internal application to unlock phones whenever Fahd wanted without any further help from its employees.

Once Fahd began to have problems controlling this malware, he bribed AT&T employees to install rogue wireless access points inside its Bothell call center. These devices helped him gain access to the company's internal apps and network so that he could continue his phone unlocking scheme.

The DOJ claims that Fahd and Jiwani paid over $1m in bribes to the company's employees and were able to successfully unlock more than 2m devices. Fahd was arrested in Hong Kong in February of 2018 and then extradited to the US this August. He now faces a number of charges and if found guilty, could spend up to 20 years behind bars.

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Via ZDNet