The United States House of Representatives approved the Wireless Tax Fairness Act on Tuesday, an initiative that prevents new local and state taxes on wireless bills for the next five years. “We need to encourage the development and adoption of wireless broadband, not tax it out of existence,” Representative Zoe Lofgren said. The average tax rate on goods and services in the United States is 7.4% but consumers with wireless contracts pay an average of 16.4% in taxes and fees, WirelessWeek said. &#...

If you are an everyday wireless consumer walking into a store to purchase a new smartphone, the terms HSPA+, WiMAX and LTE may mean very little to you. Yet, each of those networks is different and each is being advertised as “4G” in the United States, thanks to an International Telecommunications Union policy that allows carriers to market newer 3G technologies as “4G” networks. A new bill presented to the U.S. Senate this week hopes to force wireless carriers to clarify what exactly t...

In a coyly named and vaguely worded press release, U.S. wireless carrier Sprint announced that it would “increase its postpaid rates by applying a $10 per month Premium Data add-on charge to activations of smartphones beginning Jan. 30.” The company notes that smartphone users, on average, use “10 times more data than users of traditional feature phones.” As the press release reads:Sprint defines smartphones as devices with robust operating systems that deliver a rich wireless experien...

Today, regional carrier U.S. Cellular announced a promotion aimed at courting new smartphone customers from both within and outside its existing customer base. The offer will give users opening a new smartphone lines a $150 credit off of future bills and is valid from today through November 29th. “We want to remove barriers for consumers who’ve heard about everything we have to offer and are ready to experience something better,” said Edward Perez, the company’s vice president of marketing and sa...

Typically, the word “shrinkage” isn’t a good thing, however… if you’re a wireless provider it could actually be a selling point. Today, Sprint announced a new program known as “Monthly Unlimited with Shrinkage” for its Boost Mobile prepaid customers. As Boost’s website explains:Boost will lower your monthly payment by $5 for every 6 on-time payments. Monthly Unlimited with Shrinkage customers can shrink their monthly payments from $50 to as low as $35/month. Bla...

The House of Representatives defeated the digital TV delay bill with a 258-168 vote that failed to secure the two thirds needed for passage. The vote closely followed party lines with 155 Republicans voting against the bill and 22 Republicans voting for it. Amongst House Democrats, 236 voted for the bill and a mere 13 voted against it. The defeat signaled a win for House republicans who have opposed the delay, claiming the four month delay would further confuse consumers, cause an unnecessary delay for compan...