Technology: NYC Adds Free AT&T Wi-Fi to Public Parks

Give a "w" for technology......

"New York-dwelling tech geeks rejoice: Pretty soon, you’ll be able to access Wi-Fi while lounging in the park.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, along with AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson, announced Thursday a five-year initiative to bring free Wi-Fi to 26 locations in 20 New York City parks across the boroughs. Today, AT&T Wi-Fi will be up and running in Battery Bosque (a garden in Battery Park), the north-end playground in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and around the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem.

The other 23 locations will begin to pop up over the summer — Wi-Fi is even coming to the blighted grass of Brooklyn’s McCarren Park, where I personally plan to while the summer away.

The city has been getting increasingly digital of late, adding Wi-Fi to subways, car services and hotspots like Times Square (via AT&T as well). This new parks effort, however, is a part of New York’s Road Map for the Digital City, a plan unveiled in May 2011 to make the city more connected. AT&T, meanwhile, gets some badly-needed PR." - via Masahable

Source:

Here Comes "Big Money": AT&T Buys T-Mobile

"AT&T just announced a definitive agreement with Deutsche Telekom to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion in cash and stock. In a press release, AT&T said the agreement has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors.

If the deal meets regulatory approval, AT&T will be the largest wireless provider in the United States. The company says the transaction will allow it to expand its 4G LTE network to 95% of the population of the United States, and touts enhanced “quality in the near term” for AT&T and T-Mobile customers." Read Full Article - Via Mashable

Money in the Bank: Verizon to Keep $30 Iphone Plan (Not AT&T)

"Verizon Wireless will keep its $30 unlimited data plan for the iPhone, Lowell McAdam, chief operating officer of Verizon, said today at the company's quarterly investor meeting.

The Wall Street Journal first reported McAdam's comments ahead of Verizon's quarterly earnings conference call this morning. And the company confirmed it here at an event for investors and analysts.

"I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot," he told the Journal. He said that not offering an unlimited plan would put up a barrier for customers who want to leave AT&T. In June, AT&T changed its data service offering and eliminated the unlimited data plan for new customers. Now new customers are required to buy one of two capped services: $25 for 2GB of data or $15 for 200MB of data per month.

While new customers at AT&T are not able to get an unlimited data plan for any smartphone, customers on contract with AT&T before June were grandfathered in to the plan." Read Full Article -- Via Marguerite Reardon (CNET)