WRAL Tech Wire

AT&T extends 4G wireless service to Outer Banks

 As AT&T expands 4G in Triangle, reports surface it may drop HTC Facebook phone

AT&T is expanding its 4G wireless coverage in more of the triangle, but sources say the telecommunications giant may drop the recently launched HTC phone that incorporates Facebook.

AT&T hiring across state as network expansion revs up

AT&T says it plans to add more than 250 jobs to help expand its network across North Carolina. The telecommunication firm also has some 150 open jobs.

AT&T launches pay-as-you-go wireless service

The new subsidiary will offer nationwide wireless service to value-conscious customers interested in unlimited talk, text and data plans without an annual contract.

 AT&T's 1Q sales suffer amid declining landline business

 AT&T expands 4G wireless service to Rocky Mount, Wilson

AT&T continues to wide its 4G LTE wireless service across North Carolina, adding Rocky Mount and Wilson. Several other areas will gain access this summer.

 'Google Fiber' helping pave way for faster network in Triangle

AT&T says it will build a network to rival Google's in Austin, Texas - and it wants the same cooperation from governments. Time Warner Cable has made a bid for the North Carolina Next Generation Network. Isn't competition wonderful? This is good news for consumers and businesses.

 Looking for wireless service? Here's a breakdown on price plans

T-Mobile USA is breaking the mold on standard industry practice by offering a lower up-front cost for a new phone but higher payments. Raleigh-based Bandwidth's Republic Wireless adds its own strategies to a growing mix of mobile offers.

Republic's phone

 New Samsung Galaxy smartphone carries higher price tag

AT&T says it will start taking pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S 4, the season's most eagerly awaited smartphone, on April 16 for $250.

 AT&T hacker gets 3-year sentence in iPad breach case

A man convicted of illegally gaining access to AT&T's servers and stealing more than 100,000 email addresses of iPad users has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.

 AT&T names tech-experienced exec as new NC president

Venessa Harrison, a 33-year veteran of AT&T and its predecessor companies who began her career as an operator in Raleigh in 1979, is the new president of AT&T North Carolina. She brings considerable experience with new technology deployment to her new job.

Venessa Harrison

 ISPs to target peer-to-peer software users for piracy downloads

The Copyright Alert System, organized by the recording and film industry, is being activated this week to target consumers using peer-to-peer software.

 AT&T targets Triangle area for $350M in upgrades over 3 years

Of the $1.5 billion AT&T says it has invested over the past three years to upgrade its networks in North Carolina, some $350 million of that has been spent in and around the Triangle.

4G speeds

 GM dumps Verizon, picks AT&T for faster OnStar service

Mobile World Congress news: "We're making a global commitment to embed 4G LTE mobile broadband across all of our vehicles," Mary Chan, president of GM's Global Connected Consumer, says. "This is the largest commercial deployment of 4G LTE services in the auto industry."

 AT&T invests $1.5B over 3 years to upgrade NC networks

Between 2010 and 2012, AT&T says it poured more than $1.5 billion into its North Carolina networks, upgrading and adding wireless sites while also investing in traditional landlines.

 Verizon sells some NC wireless spectrum; AT&T buys spectrum eslewhere

Verizon is some of the selling wireless spectrum it owns in North Carolina, including Raleigh, to a private equity firm. In another deal, Verizon sells spectrum to AT&T in several other states.

 AT&T restores U-verse service, to issue credit to customers hit by outage

AT&T says it has restored U-verse service during the day, apologizes for the outage, and says it would issue credits to customers affected by the outage.

 Record iPhone sales help AT&T cut its losses

AT&T, the largest U.S. phone company, posted a narrower fourth-quarter loss after customers bought a record number of discounted smartphones, including 8.6 million of Apple Inc.'s iPhones.

 AT&T to issue credit to customers hit by U-verse outage

AT&T says it expects to restore U-verse service during the day, apologizes for the outage, and says it would issue credits to customers affected by the outage.

 AT&T agrees to buy Alltel wireless in deal worth $780M

The second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, agreed to buy spectrum and subscribers from Atlantic Tele-Network Inc., or Alltel as it is known, in a cash deal, bolstering the company's network and bringing in 585,000 new customers.