In what could be a severe blow to companies like Google, mobile operators in Europe are planning to filter out advertisements on their networks, according to a Financial Times report.

As per the report, one unnamed carrier has already installed an ad blocking software, which is developed by Israeli startup Shine, and plans to activate it by the end of 2015. “Tens of millions of mobile subscribers around the world will be opting in to ad blocking by the end of the year,” said Roi Carthy, chief marketing officer of Shine. Read more »

Following the footsteps of AT&T and T-Mobile, the remaining two of the Big Four US carriers – Verizon and Sprint – have also agreed to settle cramming allegations with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The two carriers will pay a total of $158 million, of which $90 million will come from Verizon while the remaining will come from Sprint. At-least $70 million of the Verizon’s fine and $50 million of the Sprint’s will be used in customer refund programs, $4 million and $6 million, respectively, will go to the US treasury, while the remaining will go the state governments. Read more »

Google is always looking for ways to boost the usage of its products among consumers globally. For that, the company is in talks with Hutchinson Whampoa to work on a deal that will eliminate the international roaming costs for Android phones.

Google wishes to disrupt the US mobile market with its own network and deals with other networks to offer better, affordable options for the Android phone users. The idea is to have a uniform rate for calls, texts, and mobile data irrespective of the region. Read more »

AT&T has launched a new limited-time offer that will net you a $100 bill credit on every purchase of a Samsung Galaxy Alpha. However, as with any offer, there are some caveats: the offer is limited only to online orders, and you need to purchase the device through the carrier’s Next program.

For those who aren’t aware, the AT&T Next program allows you to purchase a device with no down payment and then pay for it in monthly installments ranging from $15 to $50 per month depending on the device. Read more »

Google is all set to offer its ultra-high speed Google Fiber broadband service in several new metro areas soon, according to a Wall Street Journal report. These areas include Atlanta, Nashville, the North Carolina cities of Raleigh-Durham, as well as Charlotte.

As per the report, the Mountain View, California-based company has already sent invitations to local media in the cities to attend events this week, details of which are still under wraps. While events in Atlanta and Nashville are scheduled for today, those in Raleigh and Charlotte are planned for tomorrow, and Durham the day after. Read more »

T-Mobile launched a brand new program for discounts on popular smartphones. Dubbed Score!, the plan gives subscribers the opportunity to pick up a new device at a special price every year.

Score! is available for both prepaid and postpaid T-Mobile customers. Read more »

Hutchison Whampoa, which owns British carrier Three UK, is considering a purchase of Telefonica’s O2 UK for around 9 billion pounds ($13.6 billion), according to a report from The Sunday Times, which also notes that talks are at an early stage, and nothing is yet confirmed.

A deal makes sense for both companies given that Hutchison is looking to expand in Europe, while Telefonica is in need of cash to help pay down its debts. The latter even came close to selling O2 UK to BT last year, but the deal didn’t go through as the telecommunications giant eventually agreed to acquire EE. Read more »

Just a few days after announcing that it will begin charging for voice calls made over its 2G or 3G network, India’s leading cellphone carrier Airtel has temporarily rolled back the change in the wake of an upcoming consultation paper from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) relating to services offered by Over The Top (OTT) players.

“In view of the news reports that a consultation paper will be issued shortly by TRAI on issues relating to services offered by OTT players including VoIP, we have decided not to implement our proposed launch of VoIP packs,” Airtel said, adding that the company is hopeful that stakeholders’ interest as well as the sector’s viability will be taken into consideration during the consultation. Read more »

A couple of days back, Bharti Airtel suddenly changed its stance on VoIP calls made on its 2G and 3G network in India. From including it as part of the customer’s existing data plan, the company announced that VoIP calls will be charged separately.

The company has now announced a dedicated data plan for VoIP calls. For INR 75 ($1.18) you get 75MB, which can turn out to be pretty expensive if you do a lot of VoIP calls over 3G connection. Not to mention, this is in addition to the standard data plan you will need for everything else. Read more »

Some residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota will soon have access to superfast Internet, thanks to US Internet, which has recently announced that it will offer a mind-boggling 10Gbps broadband speed to both residential and small-business owners in the city. Just to give you an idea, this is 10 times the speed of Google Fiber, which is currently available in Kansas City; Provo, Utah; and Austin, Texas.

“The launch of our 10 Gbps Internet service will make Minneapolis the first city in the world to receive access to the Internet at speeds never before experienced in our country, or any other country for that matter,” U.S. Internet CEO Joe Caldwell said in a statement. The service will be available for $400/month — there’s also a $99 installation fee. Read more »

AT&T mobility customers have been receiving emails informing them that a data breach occurred between April 9th and 21st, and that their data was vulnerable during this time.

The culprit wasn’t mentioned, just that it was a third-party source “[that] violated security protocols and accessed customer data.” Read more »

The White House launched an initiative, ConnectED, which aims to give 99% of US students high-speed internet access within the next five years.

Sprint has decided to partake in ConnectED by pledging broadband internet service to the homes of 50,000 students in the US. Read more »

Nokia and Korean mobile carrier, SK Telecom just partnered up to accomplish a pretty impressive technological feat.

They were able to transfer 5GB of data in just 11 seconds over SK Telecom’s LTE network. Read more »

WhatsApp now offers its own prepaid service through E-Plus in Germany, letting you use the popular messaging app for a fixed monthly amount. The offer also features unlimited usage of the app even if you don’t have any standing traffic left.

The package with the SIM card is on offer for €10 but features a starting balance of €10 itself making the SIM practically free. Otherwise a call or text will set you back €0.09 to all German carriers whilst 1 MB will cost €0.24. Read more »

Verizon is preparing for Black Friday, which is just in 10 days, on November 29, Friday. The biggest US carrier has a number of deals in line. For starters the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 have been slashed on that day from $149.99 to $99.99 on a two-year deal.

Tablets and Motorola DROIDs are also on the menu but as you might expect Verizon is requiring a contract with almost everything. Check inside for the full list. Read more »