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I sat down this month and really looked over my VerizonWireless bill. It has climbed steadily since we subscribed many years ago. We have a family plan with two phones. Basic Service is $59.99 but our bill is OVER $100.

There is the $34.07 Surcharges and Fees, Verizon Wireless Surcharges – “Includes charges to recover or help defray costs of taxes and of governmental charges and fees imposed on us by the government. Other Charges and Credits – includes charges for products and services, and credits owing.”

There is the $6.11 government surcharge and tax.

There is the “Voice” charge of $7.45 “The “Voice” section of your bill Includes charges for voice calls, including calls that exceed your Plan’s minute allowances, 411 Search, Long Distance and other calls.” They claimed seven minutes of share time used and 77 minutes total out of our 400 minutes authorized but we still have an inadequately explained $7.45 minute charge. It doesn’t appear we did anything to deserve this, ah except maybe 411 charges. Yes that’s it.. We don’t even use 100 minutes of a 400 minute allowance during the month. It’s not like we are a challengingly abusive customer that taxes the system! We are taxed to death like everyone else earning much less than $250K per year. Excuse me politicians are you reading this? Hello! But I digress.

There is a data charge of .40 cents but we use no data.

Had we used text messages each one would have cost .20 cents each sent and received. We don’t text.

There is the State of Maryland 911 surcharge of 25 cents and the Calvert County surcharge of 75 cents. Oh and this will really get you thinking. Because cellular service in and around my home has always been poor any calls that do connect go to towers across the Chesapeake Bay and we are connected with 911 centers outside of our area who must transfer our calls to Calvert County 911. Needless to say, we have learned not to count on our telephones for 911 service.

So the real price of a two cellular family plan is $109 and some cents. It may be time to re-evaluate our service. Have you looked at your cellular bill recently? What are the mystery fees and surcharges like with your cellular carrier?

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. (April 23, 2009) — Calvert County public school and law enforcement officials are concerned about a dangerous but growing trend in text messaging. Officials report that children as young as elementary school are “sexting” their friends and acquaintances by using their cell phones to send nude, semi-nude, or sexually explicit

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Reports say a mobile application for Hulu is on the way that will let users watch full TV shows and movies on their iPhone over 3G and Wi-Fi. It’s about time!

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PopularWireless extends our sympathy to the staff of CTIA on the loss of Mark Desautels. Mark was also a close friend of my wife’s family for many years. Mark was well respected and loved. When I first met Mark at a Doran family event he was very supportive of my job search at the time. In my conversation with him it was apparent he loved working at CTIA. We will all miss him.

Announcement

(DougWeb) In the last hour and a half this Friday afternoon three vessels have called for radio checks on marine VHF Channel 16. The Coast Guard reminds boaters on the air and in their various boating courses that radio checks are not permitted on channel 16.

According to the latest news, AT&T is boosting the capacity of its HSPA 3G network from 3.6Mbps to 7.2Mbps on the downlink. At present, AT&T wireless users indeed need excitement. AT&T Cell phone news

The upgrades are possible through software upgrades to its networking equipment. At the same time, AT&T is

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As the host of more than 24,000 visitors on busy summer days, Yellowstone National Park has adopted a wireless communications plan that seeks to balance safety and convenience with its mission of preserving the park’s natural condition.

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Your wifi communications are not as secure as you may think. Others can listen to your data, sometimes as easily as to a radio broadcast!

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Wireless Internet Security: How secure is FTP, my email and passwords? What about WEP/WPA2 routers? Emails and passwords can be easily listened to through on a wifi network. Protected wireless networks can be cracked. Some more easily than others.

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Wireless Internet Security: What can I do to protect myself on open wifi networks? Even though wireless networks can be hacked, you can protect yourself and have a safe Internet experience.

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Complete easy to understand instructions on “how to” set up your WiFi connection and secure it!

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The next version of the Bluetooth short-range wireless protocol officially launched this week, promising an eightfold speed increase that could help device makers like Apple offer true wireless syncing on their handheld products in about a year’s time.

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AT&T said Wednesday that although first quarter profits slipped 9 percent, its wireless data revenues grew nearly 40 percent as it was able to achieve its third consecutive quarter of double-digit postpaid net subscriber additions on the back of 1.6 million new iPhone 3G activations.

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Sprint Nextel is a company that offers wireless and wire line communication services to customers, business and the government. This company is famous for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies to millions of customers worldwide. At a recent press release Sprint announced integrated and enhanced VOIP services for cable co.

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The Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area will be the first region in the country to allow cell phone subscribers to get free broadcast TV on their handsets. Read this blog post by Marguerite Reardon on Wireless.

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Microsoft, HP, etc. finally acknowledge the patent infringement of wireless LAN technology taken from the CSIRO in Australia

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A recent story in the New York Times exposes quite a bit about how wireless carriers transmit text messages (SMS). These articles (the NYT article in particular) are good reads for the terminally curious.

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