---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20180628042706.GA3171@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:27:06 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon's new MVNO keeps insisting it's not an MVNO By Chris Mills Earlier this year, it emerged that Verizon is very stealthily funding a company called Visible, which is offering a slightly different kind of wireless service. Subscribers currently need an invite to join, and if they manage to sneak in, they get a slightly restricted unlimited plan for $40, including unlimited calling and texting. Compared to the standard single-line rate of around $70 a month that other carriers offer, it's a great deal. But Verizon's handling of the rollout has been very weird from the start. As a note from Wave7 Research points out, Visible "has no presence at Verizon stores, at national retail, or at independent prepaid dealer stores, based on checks and conversations." You still need an early invite code to sign up for the service, and overall, there's no move whatsoever to try and acquire customers. https://bgr.com/2018/06/27/verizon-visible-mvno-cheapest-unlimited-2018/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20180628043542.GA3344@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:35:42 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: T-Mobile and Sprint execs tell senators merger would improve, not hurt, competition By Mike Snider A Senate Judiciary subcommittee's look Wednesday into the T-Mobile-Sprint merger's potential impact on competition came down to simple arithmetic: Does subtracting one of the top four wireless competitors leave three competitors or two? T-Mobile's all-stock deal for Sprint would create a $146 billion wireless provider in a better position to compete against the two largest carriers, AT&T and Verizon, the companies have said. The merger, announced in April, is also under scrutiny by the Justice Department. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/06/27/t-mobile-sprint-execs-tell-senators-merger-would-foster-competition/737420002/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20180628134845.GA4814@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2018 09:48:45 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Demystifying the Blockchain By Andrew Ross Sorkin This is bonkers. A new so-called blockchain company is selling virtual real estate online with prices as high as $120,000 for a 10-meter by 10-meter piece of virtual land. You can buy a plot of virtual land in a virtual city, with certain neighborhoods costing more than others, like in a real city. Except that it isn't a real city. It is all virtual. Follow? Me neither. Somehow this company, Decentraland, managed to raise $26 million in 30 seconds from investors last year. That money isn't "virtual" - it is real. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/business/dealbook/blockchain-technology.html?emc=edit_nn_20180628&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=8417658120180628&te=1 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20180628042938.GA3192@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:29:38 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Calhoun MI 911 not working for Verizon users BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) - 911 service has been restored to many in Calhoun County. People with landlines or any cellphone service except for Verizon Wireless can now call 911 in the event of an emergency. Verizon users in need of police, firefighters or an ambulance should call 269.781.0912. The cause of the outage was not released Wednesday night. Crews are working to fix the problem completely. https://www.woodtv.com/news/kalamazoo-and-battle-creek/calhoun-county-911-outage/1269266981 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <3def6b5e-3f59-46ed-a3ea-de81c141ddaf@googlegroups.com> Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2018 16:50:00 -0700 (PDT) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Illinois teen faces felony charge for recording conversation with school principal ABC News reported that a 13-year-old boy faces a felony charge in Illinois for recording a conversation with his school principals without their consent. His state has one of the strictest eavesdropping laws in the country. article at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/illinois-teen-faces-felony-charge-for-recording-conversation-with-school-principals/ see also: https://nypost.com/2018/06/22/student-charged-with-eavesdropping-after-recording-talk-with-principal/ ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Fri, 29 Jun 2018