AT&T isn’t exactly thrilled about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) latest proposal: a rule that would require carriers to unlock phones within 60 days of activation. As expected, the telecom giant is pushing back, claiming this policy could hurt consumers in more ways than it helps.

“AT&T reiterated that requiring providers to unlock handsets before they are paidoff would ultimately harm consumers by creating upward pressure on handset prices and disincentives to finance handsets on flexible terms. AT&T offers an array of affordable options for consumers to connect via a device that best suits their needs, including subsidized pricing and no interest financing. Locking a handset purchased under those terms until it is paid-off is not anti-consumer, as it enables providers to make devices more affordable to all consumers, who overwhelmingly elect to purchase their phones in this way.”

Honestly, this sounds more like corporate self-preservation than a defense of customer rights.

The 60-day rule: FCC’s move for competition

The FCC’s proposal aims to make it easier for consumers to switch carriers by standardizing phone unlocking policies. Right now, many carriers—like AT&T and T-Mobile—lock phones until the customer either pays off the device or fulfills a certain period on the network. This effectively ties customers to a provider, limiting competition and forcing them to stay longer than they might want. The FCC believes its 60-day rule would change that.

The FCC’s argument is straightforward.

If customers can switch carriers more easily, competition will thrive, and the best services will naturally rise to the top. With an unlocked phone, consumers can choose the carrier that suits their needs without jumping through hoops. As the FCC put it, this would “reward the most innovative services.”

AT&T’s concerns

Not surprisingly, AT&T has some complaints. In an October meeting with the FCC, AT&T executives argued that a shorter unlocking window could backfire on consumers. According to AT&T, requiring carriers to unlock devices before they’re fully paid off might lead to higher handset prices and fewer financing options. The company claims its current financing deals make smartphones more affordable, especially for low-income customers, and locking phones until they’re paid off is part of how it maintains these subsidies.

AT&T also raised concerns about fraud, suggesting that a shorter unlocking period could make it easier for bad actors to exploit the system. The company requested a 180-day fraud detection period to protect against this risk, far longer than the 60 days proposed by the FCC.

AT&T confirms huge data breach impacting 70M+ customers in total

Is the market really “fiercely competitive”?

One of AT&T’s key defenses against the rule is that the mobile carrier market is already competitive enough. The company insists that the proposed rule wouldn’t improve competition by any meaningful measure, arguing that unlocking policies aren’t the barrier the FCC makes them out to be.

Verizon, one of AT&T’s biggest competitors, is on board with the FCC’s 60-day rule. Verizon has been unlocking phones within 60 days since a spectrum purchase agreement in 2007. If one of the biggest players in the market can manage it, AT&T’s claim that such a rule would be catastrophic feels more like corporate resistance than genuine concern for the consumer.

More time

AT&T is asking for more time to implement any changes—suggesting that carriers should have up to 24 months to comply with the new rules, should they be passed. Additionally, the company wants the FCC to respect existing contracts between customers and carriers, which could complicate the timeline for any policy shifts.

T-Mobile has also raised similar concerns, but the FCC isn’t likely to let these companies dictate the rules. The Commission’s goal is to make switching easier, promote competition, and give consumers more control.

Featured image credit: AT&T

Insights from the 2024 update on the AT&T data breach underscore the critical importance of bolstering cybersecurity defenses.

AT&T data breach: The 2024 update and steps forward

AT&T has confirmed the circulation of a data breach online, impacting over 7.6 million existing customers and 65 million past customers. The firm has updated the security codes for current customers who were impacted and noted that the exposed data “may have included full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, AT&T account number and passcode.”

AT&T is informing impacted customers through “email or letter” about the specifics of the data involved and the actions being taken on their behalf. An extensive collection of AT&T customer information, encompassing social security numbers and encrypted passwords potentially enabling access to customer accounts, was released on the internet in March.

The AT&T data breach incident compelled the telecommunications behemoth to update the passcodes of millions of customer accounts, as revealed exclusively by TechCrunch. Following an analysis of the breached data by a security expert, who reported to the news platform that the passwords were ” easy to decipher,” TechCrunch notified AT&T.

“AT&T has launched a robust investigation supported by internal and external cybersecurity experts. Based on our preliminary analysis, the data set appears to be from 2019 or earlier, impacting approximately 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and approximately 65.4 million former account holders,” AT&T reportedly said.

How to check if your account is impacted by the AT&T breach?

Should your account be among those affected by the security incident, AT&T has already updated your passcode as a preventive action. The company is urgently recommending that all other customers update their AT&T passcodes, especially if they haven’t been changed within the past year.

Here are the steps for updating your passcode:

• Navigate to your “myAT&T Profile” and log in when prompted.
• If you’re unable to log in due to additional security measures, opt for “Get a new passcode.”
• Proceed to “My linked accounts.”
• Click on “Edit” next to the passcode you wish to change.
• Complete the process as guided by the prompts.

Furthermore, AT&T is providing those affected by the breach with free identity theft protection and credit monitoring services to support their customers.

Not only AT&T is hacked in 2024

For the first time, AT&T has confirmed that the data leak pertains to its customers, three years following a hacker’s assertion of stealing 73 million AT&T customer records. Initially, AT&T refuted any compromise of its systems, yet the origin of the leak is still uncertain.

Leading organizations from various industries, including  Cencora, Prudential Financial, Bank of America, HPE, loanDepot, Trello, Subway, Football Australia, HealthEC, and Fidelity National Financial, have encountered data security breaches in 2024. This prevalent problem highlights the universal challenge of data breaches, impacting sectors ranging from finance and healthcare to sports and food services.

Here are practical steps and measures individuals can take to fortify their defenses against cyber attacks:

• Create complex passwords that combine letters, numbers, and symbols.
• Ensure each account has a unique password to prevent a single breach from compromising multiple accounts.MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification beyond just a password. This could be a text message code, an email, or an authentication app.
• Regularly update your operating system, browsers, and all applications. Software updates often include patches for security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers.
• Learn to recognize phishing emails or messages that try to trick you into giving away personal information or downloading malware. Be cautious about clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown sources.
• Install and maintain reputable antivirus software to help protect your device from malware and other threats. Ensure that the antivirus software is kept up-to-date.

Featured image credit: AT&T

AT&T disclosed earlier this week that it is the latest company to have been subject to a data breach. An employee allegedly gained unauthorized access to customer data and may have obtained Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers among other details, according to telecom giant.

AT&T wrote a letter to Vermont’s attorney general, explaining the situation, but did not specify the number of customers affected by the breach. However, a source close to the source told Reuters that AT&T has informed about 1,600 customers of this incident. The employee involved has since been discharged and US Federal authorities are investigating the breach with AT&T.

“Unfortunately, we recently learned that one of our employees did not follow our strict privacy rules and inappropriately obtained some customer information. This individual no longer works at AT&T and we are directly contacting the limited number of affected customers,” said an AT&T spokesperson.

The letter also outlines safety procedures as precautionary measures since the extent of the breach, although small, remains uncertain.

This breach is the latest in a string of cyber attacks and data breaches that have victimised banks (J.P.Morgan Chase), retail chains (Target, Home Depot) and other organisations in the US, within the last year and has been gaining considerable traction.

Read more here

Follow @DataconomyMedia

(Image Credit: Chris Young)

At the Hadoop Summit Conference this week, AT&T Vice President of Big Data Victor Nilson outlined the ways in which AT&T are using Big Data to cut costs and improve customer experience.

The volume of data in the AT&T network has skyrocketed by over 50,000% in the past six years. In the same time frame, they have invested $40 billion in their wireless and wireline networks. The company collects 30 billion data points an hour, and uses this data to work towards optimising efficiency and customer experience.

One way in which this data is put to work is in a tower-outage analyser that AT&T have developed. Traditionally, gathering information on how tower outage impact customer experience has been challenging, as calls are often simply added off to nearby towers. The tower-outage analyser offers a data-driven picture into customer activity in the affected area. Using this technology, AT&T can prioritise repairs in the areas with greatest customer impact. AT&T claim implementing the tower outage analyser has led to a 59% improvement i customer experience.

Another area in which AT&T are harvesting their big data insights is motor vehicle repair. AT&T possess ten of thousands of service vehicles, and the cost of keeping them on the road is pretty hefty. They spent $7 million on towing charges and $10 million on battery jump-starts in the last year alone. So, AT&T have developed a system which collects data on 80 different metrics, to proactively discover which vehicles need maintenance, and not kind of maintenance they require. They can now, for instance, replace batteries before they die, cutting down on the jump-start bill. Nilson describes this process as “moving from time interval maintenance to just-in-time maintenance”.

Read more here.
(Photo credit: Chris Young)

Last Friday saw AT&T presenting new prototypes and discussing the future of technology at their Innovation Showcase in New York. Among the prototypes displayed were GPS sensors for luggage, software for streamlining equipment management in businesses and accessible data visualisation software than can be run from a laptop or tablet.

Indeed, an overarching theme of the event seemed to accessibility and interconnectivity. “We used to be more protective,’ explained Marion Croak, AT&T’s senior vice president of Applications and Services Infrastructure. “Now, we make APIs available … and give developers tools to use so that reliability and resiliency—things that can take years to develop—are available to any innovator [immediately] and is theirs to use”.

Greater openness and accessibility will allows users “to have access to [a new kind of experience],” she continued. “Customers will be given the tools to create their own services. It will be your network. You’ll be able to design it.”

Proof-on-concepts on display at the innovation showcase included:

• Smart Luggage- A GPS sensor built into luggage that allows users to track their luggage, and even receive text alerts when their luggage reaches the airport. It also has a flashing LED light to allow you easily identify the suitcase at the luggage carousel. The current model has hit a few stumbling blocks: the GPS allows you to see broadly where your suitcase is, but not specifically where it is in an airport; the battery only last three days; and FAA regulations concerning GPS & wireless connectibility mean it’s not possible to use the tracker during transatlantic flights. But, Smart Luggage is still very much a work in progress; AT&T are looking to resolve some of these issues, as well as working on integration with RFID and Beacons.
• Nanocubes- Nanocubes is AT&T’s big data visualisation project. What makes it different from all of the other visualisation technologies swamping the market is that it doesn’t rely on vast amounts of local resources to run; it can be accessed from a laptop or tablet. Nanocubes is AT&T’s answer to making big data visualisation broadly accessible.
• Project Halo- Project Halo is designed to co-ordinate and streamline logistics around equipment maintenance. The current demo is centered around kitchens in Disney resorts, in partnership with Disney Sync Link. In short, if a dishwasher broke down, Project Halo would send out an alert to all workmen in the area who could fix it. The worker could then accept the assignment, find out the appliance’s exact location, view repair manuals and submit a work order- all through Project Halo.

“When you look at the historic events in telecom,” Christopher Rice, vice president of Advanced Technologies and Architecture at AT&T. “There’s the move from analog to digital, then from voice to data—and then cellular. We’re in one of those exciting moments again now, moving to software.” From the technologies presented, it certainly seems that AT&T is moving smoothly into this new era of technology.

Read more here.

(Image credit: Jeepers Media)