The upgrade fee for the past decade has been a nice, cheap $18. The new upgrade fee hitting today sees it raised to $36. Granted, phones cost a lot less a decade ago and people weren’t upgrading them every two years like they are now.

Android Central confirmed the upgrade fee with a statement from an AT&T spokesperson saying that the cost of phones led them to increasing the fee:

Wireless devices today are more sophisticated than ever before. And because of that, the costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased and is reflected in our new upgrade fee. This fee isn’t unique to AT&T and this is the first time we’re changing it in nearly 10 years.

We reported last week that wireless carriers are using all kinds of tactics to make a bit of extra money now that we’ve learned that phone subsidies, especially Apple’s on the iPhone 4S, is killing their bottom line.

With this news and the fact that they are throttling unlimited data users into changing their data plan, it seems that AT&T is doing everything it can to offset the costs of smartphone subsidies.

CNN reports that due to the heavy discounts applied to the iPhone by carriers, sales of the device destroy their bottom lines. Take for instance Verizon, the wireless company that started selling the iPhone in February 2011. Their “EBITDA service margin,” which is a metric that carriers use to “measure their core profit as a percentage of their sales, has dropped dramatically since they began selling the iPhone.

Between 2009 and 2010, Verizon averaged a EBITDA service margin of 46.4 percent per quarter. That fell to 43.7 percent in the quarter that the iPhone went on sale. It plunged even further last quarter when they sold 4.2 million iPhones to 42.2 percent.

Funny enough, their margin bounced back up to 47.8 percent during the third quarter last year. Why is that? People stopped buying iPhones.

AT&T has always sold more iPhones than other carriers which hurts them in a big way. Their margin was at 28.7 percent last quarter, compared to 37.6 percent the year before. The main cause – they sold twice as many iPhones last quarter.

Sprint already had a low margin to begin with, but they really took a beating once they began selling the iPhone. Their margin fell to 9.5 percent from 16 percent a year earlier. Sprint placed the blame squarely on the iPhone for their poor figures.

Analysts agree that the iPhone is bad for wireless carriers. As sales of the iPhone grow beyond anybody’s expectations, the subsidies from the devices will keep on hurting the profits of their carriers.

Carriers pay around $450 per device they sell which is the highest in the industry. AT&T is hurting even more since they offer the iPhone 3GS for free.

Sprint agreed to pay $15.5 billion in up front costs to Apple over the next four years for the device. They don’t even expect to make money on it until 2015.

The cost of adding an iPhone customer is about 40 percent higher than a non-iPhone customer according to Sprint.

Why would these companies destroy themselves over the iPhone then? It’s a matter of keeping customers. Sprint’s CEO told CNN last year that they offered the iPhone because customers were leaving to other carriers that had the device.

The only way that carriers are going to make money off of the iPhone is to raise rates or force Apple to lower their subsidies. Since nobody wants to tell Apple what to do, that’s why carriers like AT&T have been coercing customers into getting more expensive plans.

That’s the only solution making any sense right now so expect to see higher monthly bills in exchange for having an iPhone.

In a blog post, John Donovan, AT&T’s VP, laid out some statistics of how much data their users transmitted, how many phone calls they made and how many texts were sent from those at the game.

Surprisingly, their customers uploaded more data than they downloaded – nearly 40 percent more in fact. They were posting videos and sending pictures over text.

Total data usage in the Lucas Oil Stadium was 215 GB which is the highest ever recorded for a single sporting event.

Their customers made 75,204 calls from the game and sent 722,296 texts.

The company took this opportunity to point out the improvements they made to the area around Indianapolis in anticipation of the big game. They launched Wi-Fi Hot Zone with 15 access points, installed an expanded Distributed Antenna System at the stadium and a number of other venues, added capacity to nearly 200 cell sites throughout the area and deployed nine Cells on Wheels.

They also had a command center with street teams that helped fans on the streets before, during and after the game.

Here’s a video explaining the work AT&T did to outfit the city with a new wireless network:

AT&T says there are some neat added features to the new updated app as well, such as the ability to use your tablet as a remote control and accessing photos from your favorite shows. Use your tablet at home and link with your TV and you can receive extra content from all your shows. Use it on-the-go and never forget to DVR your favorite programs again with the full featured DVR app and the fully intuitive remote control feature, reports AT&T.

David Christopher, Chief Marketing Officer for AT&T mobility and he said this about the new technology:

“Today, we are taking our best in class TV experience and taking it to a whole new level by joining two very powerful platforms: your TV and iPad.”

He continued, saying:

“With our new app, AT&T U-verse customers have access to incredible functionality to make the TV experience much richer, from superior search and control functionality, to fresh content that tells you more about what you’re watching, to the ability to share what you’re watching with your friends through social networks. And, when they leave the home, our customers can take the U-verse experience with them.”

Now, thanks to a post from AT&T customer John Cozen, the “top 5%” evidently refers to users who go over 2.1 gigabytes a month. Before Cozen’s story, it is important to keep in mind that, to new customers, AT&T offers data plans that exceed 2 GB a month with no throttling.

Take a look:

So what gives in relation to Cozen’s pathetic treatment from his service provider, aside from the fact that AT&T simply doesn’t want their customers to have unlimited data plans? Before that, here’s glimpse at Cozen’s unfortunate dealings with the ubiquitous AT&T. We’ll pick things up with Cozen’s reply to AT&T’s first, “well, you exceeded the cap” email:

Hi Patti, thank you for your message and attention to this matter. I am aware of the policies and procedures regarding the top 5% of data users on an unlimited plan. My concern remains that I am not actually in the top 5% of data users as I only used 2.1 GB of data before receiving the message. 2.1GB is not an exorbitant amount of data and barely exceeds the 2GB plan offered by AT&T. Please inform me as to what levels of data use generally cause an unlimited data customer to exceed the 5% barrier.

Thank you,

An excerpt from AT&T’s subsequent response is incredibly telling:

To give you a baseline – the average data use across the country by the top 5% of AT&T smartphone customers was 2GB per month, effective August 2011. The amount of data usage of our top 5% of heaviest users varies from month-to-month and by market, based on the usage of others and the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband services. To rank among the top 5%, you must use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period. It’s not how much time you spend using your device, it’s what you do with it. You can send or receive thousands of e-mails, surf thousands of Web pages and watch hours of streaming video every month…

It almost seems fitting to end that particular stanza with a “blah, blah, blah.” The fact is, even though AT&T offers data plans that exceed 2GB a month, Cozen, with his 2.1 GB worth of bandwidth usage, put him that dreaded “top 5%” category,” which doesn’t seem remotely like fair and just business practices, something Cozen also pointed out:

It seems unfair that AT&T would throttle my data plan after 2GB of usage that costs $30/ month yet offers a 3GB plan at the same price with no throttling. As a loyal customer, this is extremely frustrating and feels unfair. I look forward to your response.

Naturally, AT&t’s response to Cozen’s follow-up was just a rehash of the “top 5% get throttled” nonsense, while completely avoiding his point about their current data plans. Instead, they invite Cozen to change his data plan, which is quite telling in relation to what AT&T’s true desires are concerning those of us with grandfathered unlimited data plans.

In fact, that’s who Cozen’s story ends. There wasn’t a “this was our mistake, so here’s a refund for you because we were acting so obtuse about this” from AT&T. To illustrate this point even further, when Cozen finally received a phone call from AT&T’s management team, again he was told to consider switching to a tiered plan, because, let’s face it, AT&T does not want any of their customers to have — or use — unlimited data plans on their smart phones.

The question is, why is AT&T being so stingy with bandwidth as a whole? Even those who use AT&T’s home Internet service don’t get it on an unlimited basis, so again, what gives? Why is AT&T treating bandwidth like it’s a dwindling resource? Does the lack of competition allow these communication giants to act with such impunity, because this is not an example of good customer service or support? Let us know what you think.

Slashgear reports that the download requires that an AT&T SIM be loaded into the phone.

Google has made it clear in the past that it has big plans for Google Wallet, so any blocking by carriers is a huge pain in the butt for the company. For one, Google has already rolled Google Checkout into Google Wallet. It’s also an important product to the expansion of Google Offers, the company’s Groupon clone, which continues to frequently launch in new markets. This could turn into a significant provider of revenue for the company.

Verizon had blocked Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus, though they didn’t like to use the word “blocking”. Verizon put out a statement that said:

Recent reports that Verizon is blocking Google Wallet on our devices are false. Verizon does not block applications.

We are continuing our commercial discussions with Google on this issue.

Still, there has been healthy skepticism about that explanation, given Verizon’s investor role in ISIS, a competing payment service, which AT&T and T-Mobile also invest in.

Since then, hacks have been revealed to get Google Wallet on Verizon, but nothing official.

In fact, while the app has reportedly appeared in the Android Market on AT&T, there hasn’t been any official acknowledgement of this by either Google or AT&T, interestingly.

The Galaxy Note is certainly an interesting entrant in the smartphone/tablet market. With its 5.3-inch OLED screen and S Pen (stylus), it aims to split the difference between smartphone and tablet. It also includes several unique features designed to leverage the device’s unusual screen size. S Memo is a multimedia application designed to accommodate a variety of user-created content including pictures, voice recordings, typed text, or handwritten material. It also includes a beefed-up calendar application that integrates the phone’s to-do list and scheduling apps.

The Galaxy Note’s peculiar smartphone/tablet design makes it unique among its competition. It will be interesting to see how it fares. Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets praised the Galaxy Note for bringing “a new level of efficiency to busy customers who would normally rely on multiple devices.” The Galaxy Note, he said, will allow users to “accomplish more with a single device than ever before.”

The Galaxy Note requires a minimum 2-year contract and data plan. The device is also 4G LTE compatible, which means it will work on AT&T’s fledgling 4G network.

There is no word yet on how soon these new plans will be rolling out. Engaget is reporting that a source inside Verizon had seen references to “account level data plans” in employee training materials. Presumably the new plans will be available soon, but until Verizon makes an official announcement, there is no way to be sure when. Given that AT&T made their announcement about the shared data plan a full six months before Verizon, they aren’t likely to let Verizon get much of a jump on them, which means that we can probably expect AT&T to make an announcement not long after Verizon does.

AT&T has already upped their service in anticipation of the 150,000 Super Bowl attendees that will swarm Indianapolis this Sunday. Now, Verizon has released a statement announcing that its making improvements to their 4G LTE network as well as making wi-fi available for all wireless users.

The statement notes that this will be the first Super Bowl where 4G LTE technology is available for users of smartphones and tablets, which the wireless companies expect fans to use with near-compulsive rates while watching the game. Verizon, who is the official wireless provider of the NFL, has also enhanced its network at more than 30 venues in Indianpolis so that customers will hopefully not encounter any connectivity issues while trying to multitask with social media before, during, and after the game.

The nice thing about the wi-fi enhancement is that it’s going to be available to everyone – not just Verizon customers (Wink, wink, AT&T subscribers and remember who took care of you at the Super Bowl). I imagine there will be so much wireless activity arising from Indianapolis this weekend that you’ll probably be able to see the city glowing from space.

All of this effort by wireless companies to ensure that there is as little drag as possible with connecting people and/or websites produces in me a question of obsolescence: remember when people went to sporting events and… I dunno, just watched the game? How boring, y’know?

Anyways, I picked up on the general cause-and-effect: lots of people concentrated into one area means that my AT&T service will become unusable. Popular sporting events accentuate this. Neat.

AT&T, it turns out, has made some moves recently that suggest they may actually be aware of negative correlation between sports fans and cellphone service quality. You see, the Super Bowl is next weekend on February 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and as many as 150,000 people may descend upon this mid-sized city to partake in this most commercialized bacchanal in the world. AT&T, it turns out, has made a “significant investment in permanent and temporary wireless network enhancements” in order to make sure that people subscribed to the wireless provider’s unsatisfying service will be able to use their phones for purposes other than as a pocket weight.

Residents of Indianapolis, despite the impending suffering that hosting the Super Bowl entails, seem okay with the fact that AT&T is upping the quality of their service.

“We appreciate that AT&T is making this substantial investment in Indianapolis, both for the big game and for AT&T’s many customers who live here,” said Scott Miller, president, Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. “Technology is vital to the way we live and work every day, and investments like the one AT&T is making help our business community and local economy continue to thrive.”

AT&T’s made several improvements to the area’s wireless coverage in anticipation of the Super Bowl. First, they launched an AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Zone, the company’s seventh major-market hotzone, serving parts of downtown Indianapolis. The new hotzone will provide fast and reliable Wi-Fi near many popular locations along Capitol Avenue, Meridian and Pennsylvania Streets as well as East and West Georgia streets near the center of town, which consistently see high customer traffic and mobile data use.

AT&T has also launched an expanded Distributed Antenna System at Lucas Oil Stadium, where the game will be played, and has expanded its 4G LTE network to its DAS for media accommodations and has plans to enhance or install DAS systems in a number of other venues before the big game. Further preparations for the game include deploying nine Cells on Wheels (is that like Meals on Wheels for phones?) to support the stadium, the downtown area, practice facilities and other places where large crowds are expected to accommodate increased wireless network demands from high concentrations of smartphone users (it kind of is!).

“We’re excited to provide significant network improvements,” Brian Ducharme, Vice President and General Manager of AT&T Indiana and Michigan said. “They will enhance the network experience for our customers in Indianapolis before, during and after the game.”

So good job, Indianapolis. You win better cellular service from AT&T because you’ve invited the bloated beast known as the Super Bowl into your home. Now if only AT&T could extend the same courtesy to some of us lucky enough to avoid the slavering mobs that will invade your Super Bowl-hosting city. Hope it’s worth it to you.