AT&T took top honors for overall customer satisfaction among wireless full-service carriers in J.D. Power’s 2017 U.S. Wireless Customer Care Full-Service Performance Study, Volume 1. AT&T’s score of 827 on a 1,000-point scale edged out second place winner T-Mobile. Verizon came in a close third with a score of 816, while Sprint trailed in fourth with a score of 744.
“When you call, visit one of our stores or go online for help, you want and expect us to be quick and courteous. It should be a given. And that’s why we’re constantly working behind the scenes to make sure our reps have the tools and training needed to make every customer touch a fantastic one,” AT&T Mobility and Consumer Operations CEO Glenn Lurie said in a blog post. “Taking care of you is our No. 1 job at AT&T. Because without you, we wouldn’t exist.”
The J.D. Power score comes in contrast to T-Mobile’s claim earlier this week that Nielsen Mobile Insights data indicated the Un-carrier ranked number one in Customer Service Satisfaction in 2016.
Prepaid carrier for frequent international callers Ultra Mobile announced the launch of “The New $19,” a new plan that includes unlimited nationwide talk, text, and 100 MB of high-speed data across more than 60 countries.
According to a press release, the $19 plan allows for the use of data in those 60-plus countries, as well as $1.25 in international calling credit, and one-time $5 international roaming credit. The plan will apply to countries including Brazil, India, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Mexico, China, Canada, and the Dominican Republic, among others.
Following in the footsteps of larger, postpaid carriers, Ultra also introduced DataXtra for its unlimited plans, a feature that switches users to 3G data speeds when their high-speed allowance runs out.
Mobileum, a provider of roaming and analytics solutions, announced a new business solution to meet the EU’s new Roam-Like-At-Home Regulations.
An extension of its existing platform, Mobileum’s EU Roam-Like-At-Home Solution offers full compliance to EU roaming regulations by allowing operators to implement control measures related to FUP on roaming data allowances. This includes detecting and acting on permanent roamers by measuring roaming, domestic presence, consumption, and roaming tariff notifications, as part of key transparency measures, in addition to identifying breaches of users’ available allowances within fixed bundles.
The solution can also be extended to tackle atypical roaming voice/SMS usage and launch roaming packs as part of an alternate roaming tariff plan, as well as flagging breaches of available allowances within fixed bundles.
Microsoft on Thursday formally asked Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to create a process to grant exemptions to President Donald Trump’s recent Executive Order temporarily barring refugees, immigrants, and visa holders from seven countries. Specifically, the company asked Kelly and Tillerson for an exemption that would allow valid nonimmigrant work, student, or other visa holders who have committed no crimes to enter and leave the United States on travel related to business or an “exigent family-related emergency.”
Microsoft said it has 76 employees impacted by the Executive Order who, with their 41 dependents, have nonimmigrant visas to live and work in the United States.
Microsoft’s full appeal to Tillerson and Kelly can be found here.