Email from mywireless.org date November 13, 2012:

You’re getting squeezed by taxes and fees, but it might be even worse than you think. A new study shows your wireless taxes and fees in Pennsylvania are the 8th highest in the nation at nearly 20%. That’s nearly triple what you pay in general sales tax on other taxable goods and services, and we think that’s outrageous.

You’re not alone, either. The average American now pays more than 17% in monthly wireless taxes and fees (up from an average of 16.26% in 2010, a 5.5% increase in just two years!).

Congress has a solution. It’s currently considering a freeze on any new state and local wireless taxes and fees for five years (the bipartisan ‘Wireless Tax Fairness Act’). The House passed this bill around this time last year, and there are only a few weeks left in this Congress for the Senate to pass its companion bill on behalf of the hundreds of millions of us who are looking for some wireless tax relief. It’s a no-brainer.

We need your help! Please write your Senator today and let them know how important it is to you that they pass the ‘Wireless Tax Fairness Act’ in this Congress!

Visit www.mywireless.org today to take action.

In an effort to help our customers impacted by Hurricane Sandy, AT&T is waiving voice and text overage charges through the end of November for customers in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. AT&T will also extend the late-payment window for wireless customers who are behind and waive late payment fees.

Does this change affect me?
This change applies to customers in affected areas in New York, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut, in the following Counties:

New York:
Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan and Westchester.

New Jersey:
Middlesex, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Bergen, Passaic, Union, Somerset, Sussex, Monmouth, Warren, Hunterdon, Ocean, Salem, Camden, Burlington, Gloucester, Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Mercer.

Pennsylvania:
Centre, Clinton, Cumberland, Mifflin, Lebanon, Dauphin, Perry, Juniata, Northumberland, York, Lancaster, Adams, Lycoming, Sullivan, Union, Snyder, Columbia, Montour, Schuylkill, Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks, Monroe, Luzerne, Pike, Lackawanna, Wayne, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Delaware, Philadelphia and Chester.

Delaware:
New Castle, Kent and Sussex.

Connecticut:
Hartford, Litchfield, Tolland, Windham, New London, New Haven, Fairfield and Middlesex.

What about service before today? Am I charged for overages last week?
Usage prior to October 29 or after November 30 will be billed normally.

Will charges be waived through the entire month of November?
Yes – we expect recovery to affect many customers’ regular services for weeks and we want to make sure that we allow for them to make use of service while working to put their lives back in order.

Does this mean I won’t pay anything?
No.  This offer is to waive overage charges for voice and text only.

Will I get a discount on my next bill? How will I know if I went over?
You should see no additional voice or text charges on your bill beyond your monthly plan charges.

What about data overages? Will you waive those?
If a customer has a specific storm-related situation causing data overages we encourage him/her to contact our customer care teams.

AT&T is also supporting customers in the Northeast by offering the following:

• Roaming Agreement: Exercising a special agreement with T-Mobile to enable roaming across both companies’ networks seamlessly and free of charge to customers with compatible devices and where capacity is available.
• Retail Store Charging Stations: People in affected areas are invited to visit any of AT&T’s approximately 400 retail store locations now open through the Northeast, as well as temporary mobile charging stations, to charge their devices. Extra charging strips are in place in many stores and customers of any wireless carrier can come in to charge their devices.
• Late Payment Support: AT&T will extend the late-payment window for wireless customers who are behind, waiving late payment fees.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, AT&T today announced it is offering a promotional discount to tablet customers.  Beginning Friday, Nov. 9, customers will receive $100 off any tablet purchased at selected retailers with a two-year data plan agreement.

Tablet customers can choose from several qualifying data plan options, including adding a tablet to an AT&T Mobile Share plan for just $10 per month.  With Mobile Share, customers share a single bucket of data – from 1GB up to 20GB – with other devices, including smartphones, tablets, gaming devices, and more. 

The full range of tablet data plan options include:

• AT&T Mobile Share: $10 to share between 1 GB and 20GB
• AT&T DataConnect 250MB: $15 for 250MB
• AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
• AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB

“AT&T has the widest variety of tablets and a broad choice of data plans to pick from” said David Christopher, Chief Marketing Officer, AT&T. “With this new promotional discount for any tablet we sell, we’re giving our customers even more reason to stock up on the hottest device of the season, and just in time for the holidays”

AT&T customers have access to the nation’s largest 4G network, covering 285 million people. AT&T’s 4G network combines two fast technologies that work together for customers, LTE and HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul. That means AT&T customers are able to enjoy a widespread, ultra-fast and consistent 4G experience on their compatible device as they move in and out of LTE areas.**  With other carriers, when you travel outside of their LTE coverage area with your smartphone, you may be on a much slower 3G network.

Google’s mobile Android operating system is celebrating it’s 5th birthday.

Google tells us the total number Androids hit a half billion back in mid-September, around the same time Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was quoted as saying there were 1.3 million new activations each day. Doing some quick math on the Android calculator app, we get just over 570 million total activations up to the current day. That’s almost two Android devices per U.S. citizen, and quickly approaching one for every 10 people on Earth.

AT&T announced last Thursday a new service called AT&T Locker that will allow AT&T iPhone and Android smartphone customers to store 5GB worth of videos and photos for free in AT&T’s “cloud.”

The service is available through a free app in the Apple App Store or the Google Play store. And it allows users to store roughly 5,000 average sized photos in the cloud. The app requires subscribers use either an iPhone 3GS or newer device. And Android users must be on version 2.1 or higher of the Android OS. Customers who don’t have devices that meet those requirements can still store photos and video in the Locker, but they must connect via a computer to sideload the video or pictures to the cloud storage.

From the left to the right and everything in between, DISH has it covered.  You can hear from conservatives, progressives and independents as the race to the White House unfolds.  Watch Current TV, msnbc, Bloomberg and more, plus their newest channel TheBlaze – an exclusive new channel featuring Glenn Beck.

In honor of the series premiere of Coast Guard Florida on The Weather Channel, DISH wants to send you and a friend on a free trip to Miami Florida!  Enter for your chance to win and watch an exclusive video from the new season and answer trivia on their Facebook Sweepstakes Page.

You can record Coast Guard Florida or watch it live on your mobile device with DISH Remote Access at www.dishonline.com.

Series premiered on October 10th.

The wait is over! You can now get a Genie™ for your home.  Genie from DIRECTV is the most advanced HD DVR ever.

Here are just a few reasons why you should get a Genie™ for your home.  Plus, with select promotions you can even receive a FREE Genie™

• GENIE™ SERVES YOUR ENTIRE HOME WITH ONE HD DVR — With Genie™, enjoy a full HD DVR experience on every TV in your home. Now you can record, pause, fast-forward, rewind and delete pre-recorded shows from any room. You can even start watching in one room and finish in any other. Plus, your family can watch the same pre-recorded show simultaneously in up to 4 rooms.1
• GENIE™ ELIMINATES RECORDING CONFLICTS — Genie™ lets you record any 5 shows you want – all at the same time – all in HD – and all with one central HD DVR.2
• GENIE™ STORES ALL YOUR FAVORITES — Genie™ has more than enough room, so you’ll never have to delete your favorite shows to make room for new ones. Genie™ comes with 1 terabyte of HD DVR storage and up to 3 times more HD recording capacity than cable.3
• GENIE™ IS SUPER SMART — Genie™ even recommends new shows you might like, based on the ones you typically watch. It’s never been easier to discover new favorites.

For complete offer details visit One-Stop Communications today.  Find out how you can get a Genie™ for free.

We are very proud to be celebrating our 16th birthday at One-Stop Communications.  Our business was born in 1996 at a small building on South Main Street in Lewistown. 

Over the years, One-Stop Communications has been involved in many changes of the wireless industry, and has been an authorized dealer for all of the major carriers in the area.

In June of 2000, One-Stop Communications outgrew its former location, and moved to 126 Electric Avenue in Lewistown.  Today, One-Stop is a thriving business that employs over 10 professional staff with over 45 years of combined experience in the communications field. Most customers live and work within a 90-mile radius of Mifflin County, but the business has grown to serve customers all over the United States.

Celebrate our 16th birthday with us!  Just mention we our celebrating our 16th birthday and we will give you $16 off the purchase of any wireless phone.

AT&T Launches New App for the November 2012 Election; VoterHub is an Easy-To-Use, All Encompassing Voter Information and Sharing App

AT&T and the Pew Center on the States and Politics-360 announced the 2012 debut of VoterHub, a smartphone application designed to serve as a nonpartisan clearinghouse for essential voter information for the upcoming November 2012 General Election. The VoterHub app provides voters with national and statewide candidate information, and also provides a platform for voters to connect and share with one another.

The smartphone app hosts many additional features such as: voter registration information, voter specific polling place information, sample ballots, access to Associated Press real-time election coverage, videos, candidate and local ballot initiative information, and election results. VoterHub also allows the user to set up alert reminders and notifications for key dates and results.

In addition, the app allows users to share content easily through several different social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Foursquare, and email.

“Voting is an important civic duty for each one of us,” said Tracy King, Vice President of Public Affairs for AT&T. “This is why we are thrilled to launch VoterHub which brings together all of the critical information voters need in one easy-to-use app. VoterHub aims to educate voters and encourage Americans to have their voices heard by voting in the upcoming election.”

VoterHub uses information from a variety of national organizations to inform voters and encourage them to take part in the November election. The Voting Information Project-a joint effort of state and local officials, the Pew Center on the States, Google Inc., AT&T and Microsoft Inc.- provides the VoterHub app with critical and official information for voters including state-specific voter ID laws, national and local candidate information, and details on local ballot initiatives. Other sources VoterHub uses include Rock the Vote, Turbo Vote, Google Election Center, official state election websites, Vote Smart, and Pollster.

“We are proud to launch a voting app with AT&T that is a one-stop-information-shop for the upcoming elections,” said David Becker, Director of the Pew Center on the States’ Election Initiatives. “By using official data from the Voting Information Project, this app helps bring critical polling place, ballot content and registration information directly to voters on their smartphones on and before Election Day.”

The VoterHub app is available today for Android and Windows Mobile users in their app stores, and will be available in the Apple app store soon. The mobile web app is available on any mobile device with a browser at http://voterhub.us.