Articles by Jeff Kagan

AT&T is one of the most successful and best-known brand names in the wireless and telecom industry and, in fact, in the entire world. So why do customers dislike it so much? That's the question Esther Lee thinks about every day. Esther Lee is vice president of brand marketing and advertising for the company. Her job is to help customers love the A...

AT&T is one of the most successful and best-known brand names in the wireless and telecom industry and, in fact, in the entire world. So why do customers dislike it so much? That's the question Esther Lee thinks about every day. Esther Lee is vice president of brand marketing and advertising for the company. Her job is to help customers love the A...

What will T-Mobile do if the merger with AT&T does not work out? On the outside, both AT&T and T-Mobile are pushing as hard as they can to get the deal done. However, behind the scenes, T-Mobile is working even harder on the path it will take in the event the deal does not get done. And it may have hit on something My Pick of the Week is how both G...

Research In Motion is the successful, but aging grandpa in the wireless business, and lately it has encountered some big problems -- but that doesn't mean the company can't turn around. I'll get into its challenges and some ideas about how it can surmount them first. Then, in my Pick of the Week section, I'll look at Cox Communications, its brand ...

After Steve Jobs' passing last week we have seen an unbelievable amount of, well, love poured out by everyone. That is truly amazing. Then it hits you. Steve Jobs and Apple are connected. They are one. It's almost like Siamese twins connected at the hip. What can we expect now that Steve is no longer with us? For my Pick of the Week, I'll consider...

Every company faces the same challenges. Some successfully transition themselves inside the changing industry. They update their brand and continue ride the Wave. Others struggle. Some even die. Why the difference? Look at companies like Verizon, AT&T, Qwest, Kodak and Yahoo, among many others. Why do some succeed while others fail? There are three...

Every company faces the same challenges. Some successfully transition themselves inside the changing industry. They update their brand and continue ride the Wave. Others struggle. Some even die. Why the difference? Look at companies like Verizon, AT&T, Qwest, Kodak and Yahoo, among many others. Why do some succeed while others fail? There are three...

You know how frustrating it is to have a wireless call dropped, right? Or to have such a weak connection that you can't make a call at all. Very frustrating, to say the least. Now imagine that problem happening on a regular basis. Sounds like problems we had 10 years ago, right? Well, that is still everyday life in too many cities and towns around the United States. I call them black holes in wireless coverage, and I'll explain why.

Recently I read in The New York Times that the phenomenon of the "star analyst" is coming back into fashion. If Wall Street analysts, tech analsyts and telecom industry analysts are getting hot once again, how can you get good advice and good reviews from the analyst community? Let's discuss. Then in my Pick of the Week, I want to tell you about A...

Which cellphone network offers the best service for you? Simple question. The answer is a lot more complicated. When we walk out of the house each morning, we make sure we take our wallet, our keys and our wireless phone. We don't leave home without them. Our phone is our connection to our world. However, all networks are not equal. Some are better and some are worse...

Now that the Department of Justice said no to the AT&T, T-Mobile merger, can we please start talking about solving the real -- and growing -- problem in the wireless industry? It's something that will affect every carrier and every customer in the years to come. In fact this is the very reason AT&T wanted T-Mobile in the first place: the spectrum ...

We knew this day was coming. Now that Steve Jobs is leaving, Apple will change. Apple has stood out during the last decade or more as an incredible growth engine for customers, investors, workers and partners. However, it wasn't just Apple. If Apple is the steak, then Steve Jobs is the sizzle How important is the sizzle? Will Apple still be Apple? ...

I don't get why companies today take so long to make deals. Just do it already. The latest rumor is about Sprint Nextel, Comcast and Time Warner Cable acquiring Clearwire. Of course, we have heard of other Sprint rumors over the last few years that didn't pan out -- like acquiring T-Mobile. Dan Hesse, the CEO of Sprint, waited too long to pull the trigger on that one, leaving Sprint out in the cold. So will Sprint swing this deal or not? ...

Enough already with the crappy and negative stories about Phil Falcone, Sanjiv Ahuja, LightSquared and the whole GPS problem. This is a company and a technology and a solution that we need. It is designed to fix the growing wireless data problem many of us are already experiencing. So why isn't LightSquared leading with PR messaging about how it w...

Did AT&T just get chink in its armor? Something curious and interesting may be happening at the phone giant. Its growth seems to be slowing, according to the latest quarterly results. I watched Verizon for something similar that would show a trend in the industry, but its growth still looks strong. So what's the problem? Historically both companie...

Did AT&T just get chink in its armor? Something curious and interesting may be happening at the phone giant. Its growth seems to be slowing, according to the latest quarterly results. I watched Verizon for something similar that would show a trend in the industry, but its growth still looks strong. So what's the problem? Historically both companie...

Verizon Communications [NYSE: VZ] is struggling through yet another strike. Actually, all the workers, customers and anyone who touches Verizon are also struggling. I have commented on these strikes many times over the last couple of decades. What is happening is unfortunate, but it's a necessary part of the process as the industry changes. First,...

Motorola Mobility is one of the industry's more interesting stories. It is a story of rags to riches to rags, again and again. It was the leader in the wireless handset market for decades. Then it lost its way in the 1990s and has not had a long-term recovery since. Through partnerships with Google and Verizon, it seemed to be getting some tractio...

We always think the next generation is better. Often that is true -- but too often, it's worse. On the heels of success, too many companies take their eye off the ball. Every year, new and improved versions are introduced to keep us brand-loyal. That works until something goes wrong. Then years of valuable brand building simply collapse This up-and...

Twenty-five years ago, I was in the business of auditing phone bills for many companies and saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Back then, that was a lot of money. I felt like Santa Claus and had lots of happy clients. Today, the utility and phone bill auditing business is even more important, but it's completely different. It can...