AT&T is the last of the cell phone service providers to offer a Droid Smartphone in their pre-paid lineup. Beginning April 17th, AT&T is offering the LG Thrive for $180. The Thrive is a mid-range Droid, running on the Android OS 2.2 (Froyo). It only has a 3.2 megapixel camera and 160 MB of memory, although it can be expanded to 32 GB with a MicroSD card. The customers will have to pay pretty dearly for using this phone however. Customers can choose the “Smartphone 10 cents per minute” plan or “Smartphone $2 USD per day for unlimited talk and text” plan. Their choices for data plans range from $5 for 10 MB to $25 for 500 MB. There is no contract, which is probably a good thing since customers may dump AT&T once they find out how poor the service coverage areas are.

AT&T Finally Gets On Board

Verizon has a whole bevy of Droid pre-paid Smartphones available. They include the Motorola Original Droid, Motorola DEVOUR, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2, HTC Droid Eris, HTC Droid Incredible, LG Ally, BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry Curve 8530, BlackBerry Storm 9530, BlackBerry Storm 9550, BlackBerry Tour 9630, BlackBerry Bold 9650, Palm Pre Plys, and Palm Pixi. Rumor has it that Verizon’s unlimited talk, text AND data plan will run about $80 per month. And Verizon certainly has better service coverage than AT&T. Of course this is just a rumor so far.

US Cellular is also in the game with the LG Optimus U and the LG Apex as their prepaid Android phones. The Optimus U features a 3.2mp camera, Android OS 2.2, 3.2″ display, and 140 MB of storage. The LG Apex runs on Android 2.1, features a 3mp camera, 3.2″ screen, and has 256 MB or Storage. The Prepaid Plans include: $70-Unlimited Talk & Text with 2GB of data, $60-450 minutes, unlimited text, and 2GB of data, $50-Unlimited Talk & Text, $50-2GB of data.

Sprint’s BoostMobile offers Droid and BlackBerry Smartphones. With the best deal in town, they offer a plan with unlimited talk, text and data for as little as $45 per month once you have paid your bill on time for 6 months. With $18 months of payments on time, your plan drops to $35 per month.

AT&T’s announcement of offering Droid Smartphones on a pre-paid plan just isn’t all that exciting. But they have to do something to stay in the game. They are losing customers and not signing up new ones. If they are able to buy T-Mobile, it may breathe some life into the company, but for now, they come in last on my list.

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Mobile data usage grows almost exponentially. With more and more Smartphone usage, Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile technology in general, how to handle growing mobile data usage is the focus of wireless companies. Wireless companies are spending billions each year to maximize capacity. As their research and development costs grow, so do our cell phones bills. Costly cell phone towers being built at alarming numbers not only push our wireless bills up, but are unsightly as well. A tiny little device the size of a Rubik’s cube is being developed by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) that may be the answer to both cost and more cell phone towers.

Tiny lightRadio Cube Could Be a Cell Tower that Fits in Your Hands

lightRadio cube technology was introduced in February 2011. It takes all the parts of a cell tower and reduces it down to a 2.3 inch cube. It is easy to maintain, holds a lot of data and takes a small portion of energy unlike cell phone towers which are expensive to maintain, large and ugly, and inefficient in their use of energy. According to an article written by David Goldman, CNNMoney.com, the global wireless industry is spending over $210 billion per year to operate their networks and over $50 billion per year to keep upgrading these systems to keep up with the growing demands of mobile data usage. Mobile data usage is expected to grow 30 times in the next four to five years and 500 times in the next ten years, according to Alcatel-Lucent. The lightRadio cube could be effective in reducing costs and providing more data capacity.

With a combination of miniaturization and cloud technology, lightRadio cubes are more efficient. According to Goldman’s article, “Alcatel-Lucent’s engineers stripped out all the heavy power equipment that controls modern cell towers, and moved them to centralized stations.” This allows the lightRadio cubes to be placed just about anywhere. The can be attached to the top of bus station awnings, the sides of buildings or even on lamp posts. They are small and inconspicuous. Instead of those unsightly cell towers, these little cubes contain multi-generational antennas that can relay 2G, 3G and 4G network signals all from the same cube. It also reduces signal interference, as well as doubles the number of bits able to be sent. But probably the best news is that it will help cut the cost of service in half.

“We need to think differently about this, because no one wants limits,” said Tod Sizer, head of wireless research at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Laboratories. “We hope to solve this problem so that the AT&Ts, Verizons and Sprints of the world will be able to provide the data capacity that is needed by the customer.”

lightRadio cubes are set to begin trial usage in September 2011. ALU expects to be mass producing them by 2012. Sprint Nextel is plans to start using the technology later this year.

“Sprint is talking to Alcatel Lucent about this technology and we will be working with them to test and evaluate it,” a Sprint spokeswoman said. “We have been aggressive in smaller factor cell sites to help us support the growth in data traffic.”

Size does matter. The wireless companies are finding that not only are cell phone towers expensive to build and maintain, but they are exhausting room to build these monstrosities as well. According to Goldman’s article, “Each 1.5-Watt lightRadio cube powers about a two-block radius, so in urban areas, they can be deployed throughout the city and stacked like Lego blocks in stadiums or other areas that need extra capacity. In rural areas, they can be deployed atop existing cell towers in arrays.”

Are you as excited as I am about this innovation? It would be nice to actually tear down a lot of the obsolete towers. They are unsightly and not all that efficient. I remember when Nextel created cell phone tower sheaths, coverings that disguised the tower to look like a native grown tree. It was some improvement in aesthetics, but not by much. They were actually pretty funny looking trees. Having little cubes instead is much better.

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Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $93.5 Million to the US government. According to an article written by Brad Reed, ITWorldCanada, the original complaint was filed against Verizon in 2007. MCI (starting in 1999) began overcharging the government by “submitting invoices for payment to the United States for certain surcharges … that it is prohibited from charging the United States under Federal Acquisition Regulations … and the FTS 2001 contract.” Since Verizon and MCI merged in 2006, the courts found Verizon liable for MCI’s actions.

Verizon Loses Case to US Government

“Verizon was not only charging the government for the costs associated with communication services, but it also was pumping up its revenues by charging the government for Verizon’s own property taxes and other costs of doing business,” said attorney Colette Matzzie of the law firm Phillips & Cohen LLP, which filed the original complaint against Verizon. “Under federal law, Verizon was responsible for paying those costs, not the government.”

This is the 2nd time in less than a year that Verizon has agreed to pay millions for overcharging. Last fall, Verizon had to pay the Federal Communications Commission $25 million for charging its customers with unexpected “mystery fees.” Apparently Verizon was charging customers fees for data plans when they didn’t have data plans. Verizon had to pay $52.8 million to consumers for overcharging them.

Nearly 1 in 5 US cell phone subscribers had their cell phone bill rise unexpectedly. According to a survey done last year by the FCC, conducted by research firms Abt/SRBI and Princeton Survey Research Associates, 17% of US cell phone users had an unexplained rise in their bills even though they hadn’t changed service plans. The survey didn’t single out any particular cell phone service provider.

Do you watch your cell phone bill closely or just pay it automatically? Apparently Verizon was counting on your inattention. I for one, will be watching very closely now. Verizon is already one of the most expensive carriers out there. Unfortunately for me, Verizon has the best coverage in my area. AT&T and Sprint really fall short in my rural area. But I will be watching the bills for any sudden increase.

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Have you been shocked by your cell phone bill lately? One in five people got an unexpectedly high bill in the past year, according to Consumer Report’s just released cell phone survey. Were you texting more than your plan allowed? If you recently upgraded to a Smartphone, you may have gone over your data usage allowance. How can you avoid cell phone bill shock?

Cell Phone Service Certainly Isn’t Cheap

Shop around for service providers. Next time you are about to renew your contract with your current cell phone service provider, try checking out the competition. According to Christine Park, KFSN Fresno, Sprint and Verizon tied as top cell phone service providers with a contract. That being said, Verizon is one of the most expensive, but in my opinion, provides the best area coverage. Sprint is more affordable, has lots of options, but reception can be kind of sketchy. Most of the people I know who have Sprint like the service as long as they live in a city. Rural areas don’t get such good reception. With Verizon, it’s all about the network, but you pay for it. AT&T comes in last in all areas of service, including customer service.

Consider a contract free service. Consumer Cellular came out on top as number one according to Christine Park. I checked them out and they offer a no-contract service for a fairly reasonable rate. They don’t offer many phones, even if you pay for the phone, but at least they seem to be available in my rural area. If you want a better selection of phones, T-mobile has expanded its selection of phones available to non-contract subscribers and even includes a couple of Smartphones. Their service reception isn’t the greatest in rural areas, but again, for a city dweller, it’s not a problem. Boost Mobile, Cricket, and MetroPCS also offer flat rate, no-contract plans, but are only available in some areas.

No-contract service plans aren’t for “power users.” No-contract plans are best suited for people who only make occasional calls and text but don’t surf the web or use their phone for email. Pay-as-you-go plans are also good for a first phone for your teen since many plans just stop if the minutes are used up. Be sure to check however, since some contract-free plans charge as much as 25 cents per minute for overages.

What’s the bottom line? Shop around. Compare services as well as call reception. Consider your communication needs. If you are a power user, just bite the bullet and get a good plan. In the long run you will save money. Keep in mind that no-contract plans generally charge more money for the phone itself. Compare how much you will save by getting the phone free or at a discount with a contact vs. what you will pay in service fees.

Last month Verizon announced its plan to offer 4 G wireless service to Seattle by the end of the year. 4 G is a new-technology market already offered in Seattle by Sprint and T-Mobile, so naturally Verizon wants to join in the race. AT&T Mobility, having exclusive rights to the iPhone at this time (which is NOT 4 G), hasn’t announced plans to join the 4 G race in 2011. If they do join in the fray, can we assume then that AT&T will be pushing for 4 G iPhone?

Verizon Targeting Seattle for 4 G Wireless Service

4 G wireless technology allows users to have download speeds and network capacity to handle even the newest services on their mobile devices. These services include live TV, high definition movies in real time, video conferencing, etc. 4 G (4th generation) is being offered by 2 competing companies in the Seattle area, LTE and WiMax. LTE is supported by Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, while WiMax is supported by Sprint and Clearwire, a Kirkland based company.

Typically the majority of Smartphones utilize the 3 G network, providing roughly 1.5 to 2.5 megabits of data per second. The new 4 G network generally delivers more than 10 megabits per second (mbs) at the top end range. To view live HD movies with a smooth, uninterrupted viewing most experts agree that between 3.5 and 4.5 mbs is needed. You can see why consumers are clamoring for the 4 G service.

Verizon coverage will be fairly inclusive in the Seattle area. Its anticipated coverage will be roughly from Lynnwood on the north to Fife in the south; the Seattle waterfront on the west and Redmond and Issaquah to the east. Coverage will also be available in Auburn, Bellevue, Bothell, Burien, Covington, Des Moines, Edmonds, Federal Way, Kenmore, Kent, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Renton, Sammamish, South Everett, Tukwila, and Woodinville. Sea-Tac (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) will also be included in the coverage. Nationwide, the coverage will extend to 38 major cities and 60 commercial airports.

Verizon will be initially offering 4 G for only USB modems and air card devices for laptops. Verizon plans to offer the 4 G wireless service for 4G Smartphones sometime in 2011, but hasn’t announced a specific date. Sprint has been offering 4 G for Smartphones since Fall 2009, and T-Mobile since June 2010. Verizon is a bit behind in the race, and with only USB modems and air cards in the immediate plans, it doesn’t seem like Verizon is too serious about the competition.  As I said earlier, AT&T has not announced plans to offer the 4 G wireless in Seattle, but it has been rebuilding its Seattle-area infrastructure and updating its software. (Hmmm….) With Verizon coming into the market by the end of the year, AT&T would be the only major player not playing.

Your 3 G cell phone will not be obsolete, yet. LTE and WiMax have assured us that the 4 G network is compatible with phones only capable of 3 G service, and that 4G phones will be backward-compatible when their customers stray into 3G-only signal areas. I know this is a major relief to those people who hate to upgrade their cell phones.

Are you excited by the new 4 G technology? Will you be watching streaming video on your phone? I appreciate the video I can watch on my Droid X on the 3 G service, but having an air card for my laptop that streams at the higher speed would be nice. Of course I live in rural northern California, so it will be a long wait for 4 G. We still have dial up Internet service in some areas.

24 of the world’s largest cell phone companies have joined forces to fight Apple’s domination of cell phone applications. The consortium is made up of big names like Sprint, Vodafone and China Mobile. The Wholesale Applications Community announced its intentions last week in Barcelona, Spain, at the Mobile World Congress.

Consortium formed to battle Apple

Apps are a definite cash cow. Spending is set to explode to $6.2 billion this year, with total downloads rising to 4.5 billion, up from 2.5 billion last year. It’s no small wonder that cell phone providers want to share in some of this wealth.

The cell phone application developers face the problem of too many platforms. The consortium hopes to offer developers a way around this problem. The benefit for the consumer is that it will encourage the developers to make more apps available across a variety of platforms.

How will it affect Apple? The benefit will be for the other platforms and the consumers. Apple is so big that it probably won’t even be a blip on their radar screen. But hey! I’m all for free enterprise! Let’s encourage those developers. And we all know the best persuasion is money.