“AT&T applauds Senator Schumer for his efforts to help deter the theft of mobile wireless communications devices.  At AT&T, we continue to research and implement measures to address the growing issue of stolen wireless devices.  We appreciate the Senator’s efforts to do the same and we look forward to working with him and his colleagues as this legislation moves forward to ensure that customer security and privacy issues are adequately addressed.”

“The need for more spectrum is an industry-wide issue and problem.  The merger AT&T proposed last year was all about creating more capacity by combining the spectrum holdings and networks of two companies.  The FCC was within its rights to withhold its approval.  But it is incorrect when it denies the impact such decisions have on the price of wireless services.

“Basic economics, and the law of supply and demand, apply to the wireless industry as to all others.  In the case of wireless, without additional capacity, which would have been created by our transaction, prices rise.  This simple point was made last week by AT&T’s Chairman.

“Last year, when Chairman Genachowski spoke at the CTIA convention he made essentially the same point, saying,

‘If we do nothing in the face of the looming spectrum crunch, many consumers will face higher prices—as the market is forced to respond to supply and demand….’

“We are pleased that the U.S. Senate today approved the nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai as FCC Commissioners. Both Commissioner Rosenworcel and Commissioner Pai are widely respected for their knowledge and depth of experience on communications issues.  All of us at AT&T are enthused that they’ll be joining the FCC, where we expect them to have an immediate and constructive impact.

“Our nation’s communications policy framework is in dire need of modernization to reflect today’s technological innovations, consumer demands and competitive markets. Working together, we can accomplish that vital objective, and also meet President Obama’s stated goal of reaching 98% of all Americans with high-speed broadband services.  We look forward to working with the full Commission to ensure the continued investment in America’s infrastructure.”

Here, Jim talks about how the regulatory structure in this country is designed to oversee a wireline voice monopoly, which does not exist today.

And here, Jim talks about how the Telecom Act is out of date and that there’s a need to take a fresh look at modernizing the function of the FCC  as well.

Roger Enter of Recon Analytics discusses his new study, “The Wireless Industry: The Essential Engine of U.S. Economic Growth,” and the impact the wireless industry has on job creation and GDP.

Tom Hazlett, Professor of Law & Economics at the nearby George Mason University, talks about the wireless innovation wave and that it is just beginning.

Mike Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist of the Progressive Policy Institute, addresses how while investment by the government has been falling in recent years, investment by wireless providers is very strong.  Are they “investment heroes”?

This week, we launched our new website to help better educate our customers on protecting their wireless devices and their personal information.  You might recall that, just a few weeks ago, we joined our fellow wireless carriers, law enforcement, Senator Schumer and Chairman Genachowski at an FCC event that focused on industry efforts to address the problem of stolen devices.

The new website, which can be found at www.att.com/stolenphone, focuses on the critical importance of passwords – not only to protect the device but the account as well.  We encourage our customers to also change their passwords. Often.  We also provide guidance on downloading apps that help to protect devices and personal information. We further offer a tutorial on how to back up SIM card contacts.  And last, but certainly not least, we provide the steps a customer should take in the event their device is lost or stolen. 

Our many efforts to tackle the challenges that stem from the theft of wireless devices are well underway.  And our work with the industry as well as governments and the law enforcement community continues. So, stay tuned for more updates as we roll out additional educational tools and materials (and the new database to identify and disable stolen devices) over the coming months.

“AT&T takes the problem of unauthorized third-party charges, or cramming, very seriously.  We provide our customers with tools to understand and manage legitimate third-party charges on their phone bills and we have also put in place an aggressive anti-cramming program that includes strict requirements for customer authorization of third-party charges, monthly tracking of cramming complaints and audits of third-party billers.  In addition, last month, we announced that we would limit third-party charges on wireline bills to certain types of charges that are less likely to create opportunities for cramming.  The industry as a whole has worked cooperatively with each other, as well as the FCC, to identify ways to help customers effectively manage their bills.  And we are committed to continuing this work”

“I want to applaud Chairman Greg Walden and Ranking Member Anna Eshoo for their leadership on this important issue. The growth of the mobile Internet continues to spur phenomenal economic activity and inspire remarkable consumer benefits. Comprehensive and sound spectrum policies lie at the heart of the ability of the entire wireless ecosystem – from app developers to software providers, to device makers and service providers – to satisfy the booming demand for wireless services.

“We look forward to working with the bipartisan Federal Spectrum Working Group as it strives to safeguard and cement our Nation’s leadership in the mobile Internet.”

The theft of wireless devices is a complicated issue that we take very seriously, which is why we were pleased to join Chairman Genachowski at the FCC’s event today and to be part of CTIA’s announcement on the wireless industry’s efforts to tackle the many challenges concerning stolen devices.

We have been working with carriers, manufacturers, OS providers, governments and law enforcement for some time now on finding a comprehensive solution that helps the law enforcement community do their job but that wireless carriers are able to quickly implement from a technical standpoint.

Building on today’s industry-wide commitment, AT&T will launch a new website designed to better educate our customers on how to protect their device and personal information, and what to do should their device be stolen.  We think the new website, which will be up and running in the next few weeks, will be a valuable tool for our customers, as well as for consumers in general.

And to ensure that our customers understand the importance of password protecting their device, we’re going to provide helpful reminders to take this critical step when customers purchase their devices, through subsequent e-mails and text messages, and in bill inserts.  And information on apps that help monitor devices, and protect information, will be readily available.

But we won’t stop there.

AT&T is Co-Chair of the North American Fraud Forum and Security Group of the GSM Association, which has been exploring technical solutions to permanently disable stolen devices on all networks, across the globe.  So, we’re excited that, this summer, we’ll be launching a database that will enable us to identify and disable stolen devices using a unique device identifier called IMEI and share that info with other GSM carriers so any stolen device will be disabled on our network.

A great deal of cooperation and technical work among several industry stakeholders went in to making this a reality. And the work continues.

We’ll be posting updates on all these efforts underway over the next several months and we look forward to your feedback.

“We congratulate Committee Chairman Upton and Subcommittee Chairman Walden for their leadership in crafting this important, common-sense effort to reform current FCC practices, many of which predate the agency’s current leadership.  Passage by the House is a needed step forward, and is also an important signal of support for modernizing telecom regulation.  It has become increasingly clear that, for America to have the world-class broadband infrastructure it needs, all of us must rethink outmoded regulations and outdated mindsets.  The US broadband industry is today investing and innovating at Internet speed.  The legislation passed today by the House challenges the FCC to keep pace.”

“Today, the NTIA released its report on clearing the path to reallocate 95 MHz of federal spectrum for commercial use. This is an important step by the Administration. AT&T commends NTIA and Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling for moving aggressively and creatively toward the reallocation of a significant amount of spectrum vitally needed by the wireless industry. We look forward to reviewing NTIA’s report in detail, and to working cooperatively with both NTIA and the impacted government agencies to address reallocation challenges in a manner that will ensure that the identified spectrum bands are made available expeditiously, while protecting vital government services that cannot be easily relocated.”