Fortune

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson’s strategy [to synergize all of the company properties] is breathtaking in scale and scope, the largest transformation underway at any company in the Fortune 500. AT&T’s main traditional competitor, Verizon, has chosen an entirely different path, and Stephenson’s new rivals are in markedly different businesses. Stephenson marvels, “I spend as much time thinking about Amazon and Netflix as I do thinking about Verizon and Comcast now.”

AT&T’s decision to label some of its most advanced 4G LTE mobile network as “5G Evolution” has drawn scorn from rivals and some analysts who claim the carrier is misleading consumers about the real arrival date of faster fifth-generation technology called “5G.” Competitor Sprint went a step further and filed a lawsuit to block AT&T from using the term and having a label show on customers’ phones as “5GE.” “AT&T has employed numerous deceptive tactics to mislead consumers into believing that it currently offers a coveted and highly anticipated fifth generation wireless network, k

T-Mobile’s pricing is under scrutiny as both federal and state regulators continue to evaluate its proposed merger with Sprint. CEO John Legere recently sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai pledging not to raise prices for three years on any of its current mobile plans if the merger is approved. Critics said perhaps T-Mobile’s pledge was leaving wiggle room for higher-priced, new 5G plans. Legere said emphatically that was not the case. 

Some 911 emergency services in various parts of the country were inaccessible Dec 28 amid an internet outage from Louisiana-based CenturyLink, prompting a federal inquiry and rebuke. Calling the outages “completely unacceptable,” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said his agency has launched an investigation into the CenturyLink 911 outage in parts of Washington state, Missouri, Idaho, and Arizona. The outage started the morning of Dec 28 and quickly spread beyond people’s ability to watch online videos.