The company said it is contacting customers on its older 2G network and providing upgrade offers in an effort to get them onto one of the newer networks.

“Dedicating more capacity to our advanced wireless networks will help more of our customers in New York City have a better experience overall,” AT&T regional general manager Tom DeVito said in a statement. “By re-allocating network resources from our 2G network to support our newer, advanced networks, we’re moving capacity to support the voice and mobile internet services our customers want.”

New York and San Francisco, in particular, have long been trouble spots for AT&T customers.

AT&T has been doing a number of things to improve service in those cities and in other areas. Adding cell towers is one option, but doing so typically requires approval at the local level for each new tower. Carriers are also pursuing other new tricks, including the use of smaller cells as well as building up Wi-Fi “hot zones” to help off-load traffic.

Dubbed Viewdini, the app allows users to search for a particular title, actor or keyword across a variety of video services, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Comcast Xfinity and mSpot.

“We are just seeing a hunger for people wanting to watch video,” Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead said in an interview. Viewdini isn’t a video service in its own right, but rather a portal of content found on others’ services. Still, Mead called Viewdini one of the carrier’s key product launches for the year.

“I think this will capture the audience’s imagination,” Mead said.

The idea is that the ability to stream high-quality video is one of the things that sets LTE apart from other wireless services. Of course, one of the big challenges is that although the service is plenty fast, watching just a handful of hours of video in a month could put a customer over their data allotment.

Mead said that Verizon has plenty of systems in place to keep customers from unknowingly going over their data limit, including text alerts when customers hit 50 percent, 75 percent and 90 percent of their data limit.

“We never want customers to be surprised,” Mead said. However, he added that the company also has competitive pricing for customers who find video they want to watch and choose to go over their original data cap. “We look at it as great flexibility for customers.”

In addition to helping find videos, Viewdini will also have IMDB-style information on the movies and TV shows. Mead said that Viewdini will be limited to Verizon Wireless customers when it launches later this month.

“This is a competitive differentiator,” Mead said.

While Viewdini is Android-only at launch, the carrier said it expects eventually to add support for other operating systems.

Mead said that Verizon is working to spur strong demand for mobile services, as well as enough bandwidth to serve that demand. Mead said that the company is pleased with how its 4G LTE network is being used thus far.

“What we’re seeing is the growth that we wanted to see,” he said. “What we are seeing is customers discovering the breadth of what they can do on the Verizon network. We’re very encouraged by that.”

Only a small fraction of Verizon Wireless customers are on 4G LTE, however, with the vast majority of its customers still using 3G service.

Verizon has been actively pitching the power of what the new higher-speed network can do, through its own efforts like Viewdini, as well as through content partnerships, including its deal with the National Hockey League, in which its 4G customers get added content when using the league’s mobile app.

Next up on Mead’s to-do list is acquiring the spectrum needed to build the next generation of networks. Part of that strategy involves the company’s proposed deal to acquire a swath of spectrum from a group of cable companies — a deal opposed by T-Mobile, Sprint and an organization of rural carriers.

“We view AWS [the spectrum it is seeking to buy from the cable companies] as the spectrum where we will expand our LTE services and capacity going forward,” Mead said. “We’re still encouraged that we’ll have approval to move on later on this summer.”

Mardini, a 22-year-old entrepreneur and New York University student, is reselling devices and services from Sprint. In fact, Sprint is handling most facets of the business, aside from sales and marketing.

That’s a good thing, since Voyager Mobile consists of about seven employees, mostly family and friends. But though Mardini is only 22, this is his third start-up, having already built up businesses in music equipment and IT services.

Mardini says the goal with Voyager is to offer customers low monthly prices. Voyager is pitching $19 (plus taxes) a month for unlimited talking and texting, and $39 (plus taxes) for talking, texting and Web use.

“I pay so much for my cellphone,” Mardini said in an interview last week. “I was thinking there has to be a better way to make it cheaper for everyone.”

The company was all set to start taking orders on Tuesday, but the Web-site issues forced a few days’ delay.

Things are up and running now, with Voyager offering a range of prepaid devices, including a pair of Android phones at $219 and Samsung’s Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch for $549.

So, naturally, there was much kerfuffle on Wednesday after reports that Verizon was planning to ax plans, even for those grandfathered in. The reports stemmed from comments made by Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo at an investor conference.

Thing is, he didn’t actually say that those on plans would lose them. However, he did suggest that those looking to upgrade to a 4G LTE smartphone would soon be unable to take their plan on to a new phone.

Until now, Verizon has been letting those with unlimited plans move to 4G and keep their plan. Shammo said that will come to an end once the company introduces shared data plans this summer.

“So when you think about our 3G base, a lot of our 3G base is unlimited,” Shammo said. “As they start to migrate into 4G, they will have to come off of unlimited and go into the data share plan.”

But those who have unlimited plans and are okay with keeping their 3G phones are likely to be able to keep their plan. My understanding is that there are Verizon customers on 10-year-old rate plans and, so long as they are happy with their phone, no one will force them to change plans.

In a statement on Thursday, Verizon Wireless didn’t exactly clear things up entirely, but suggested that there will be fair warning before anything changes.

As we have stated publicly, Verizon Wireless has been re-evaluating its data pricing structure for some time, Customers have told us that they want to share data, similar to how they share minutes today. We are working on plans to provide customers with that option later this year.

We will share specific details of the plans and any related policy changes well in advance of their introduction, so customers will have time to evaluate their choices and make the best decisions for their wireless service. It is our goal and commitment to continue to provide customers with the same high value service they have come to expect from Verizon Wireless.

That said, if you have an unlimited plan and think you might want to move to 4G, it’s probably best to do so now.

Update: I got a few more details on how this will be rolled out. First of all, Verizon is saying definitively that customers that are on an unlimited plan and want to keep it with their existing phone can do so.

What will happen is that once shared data plans arrive, unlimited data customers won’t be able to upgrade to a new phone at a discount and keep their unlimited plan. Should they want to, customers could opt to pay the full unsubsidized price for a new phone (3G or 4G) and keep their unlimited data plan.

T-Mobile is also looking to free up space in another part of its spectrum that should finally allow iPhone users to run on its network at full speed. The company has about a million iPhone subscribers, even though those devices can only run at slow 2G speeds. T-Mobile USA does not sell the iPhone itself.

At a dinner event in New Orleans on Monday, CTO Neville Ray said that the effort to reclaim some of its 1900 MHz spectrum should reach a critical mass in the fourth quarter of this year, allowing the company to more aggressively court AT&T subscribers that are no longer under contract.

Ray declined to comment on whether the company would directly target iPhone users in a big marketing push planned for later this year.

“It would make sense,” Ray agreed, but added, “We’re not there yet.”

The company announced on Monday night two of the companies that will help it build out its next-generation network: Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.

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During a media briefing at BlackBerry World this week, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins told attendees to expect a 4G LTE-enabled PlayBook “later this year.” He provided no details beyond that, revealing nothing about potential carriers, specs or pricing.

So, for now, we have only RIM’s word that the device is coming relatively soon. Which is encouraging and somewhat dubious at the same time. Remember, RIM first announced plans to release a 4G version of the PlayBook in January of 2011, promising to deliver it that summer.

In June, former RIM President and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis reiterated that plan, but pushed the launch date to the fall.

“We are now on a steady cadence of features and applications releases using our industry leading automatic wireless software update for PlayBook, including Facebook and video conferencing,” he said. “We are soon to release native email and BBM in our Android player later in the summer. To be followed in the fall with 4G PlayBooks for WiMAX, LTE and HSPA+.”

But that never happened. Sprint scrapped its WiMax PlayBook plan in August. And a promised LTE version of the device didn’t debut that fall, and hasn’t shown up since.

Of course, 2011 was a rocky year for RIM, and the company had more important things to worry about than the LTE PlayBook — like taking a $485 million writedown for discounting the first version of the device. Perhaps now, with its new leadership in place and BlackBerry 10 presumably on track for launch late this year, RIM finally has the focus and chops to deliver the device during the window Heins has promised.

It’s not the iPad that’s been mislabeled. It’s Australia’s 3G networks.

In a brief filed with the Federal Court in Melbourne, Australia, this week, Apple — which last month agreed to notify consumers that its new iPad is not compatible with Australia’s 4G LTE network, and to offer refunds to early purchasers who feel they were misled by its branding — refused to stop marketing the device as “iPad Wi-Fi + 4G.”

Its argument for doing so? Many of Australia’s 3G networks can reasonably be described as 4G under international definitions.

“The iPad with WiFi + 4G is a device which performs in accordance with the descriptor ‘4G’ in terms of data transfer speed,” Apple argued in its brief, according to the Australian, which first reported on the document. “The descriptor ‘4G’ … conveys to consumers in Australia that the iPad with WiFi + 4G will deliver a superior level of service in terms of data transfer speed (consistent with accepted industry and regulatory use of that term), and not that the iPad with WiFi + 4G is compatible with any particular network technology promoted by a particular mobile service provider in Australia.”

In other words: No, the iPad with WiFi + 4G doesn’t support Australia’s true 4G LTE network, but it does support networks that are fast enough to be defined as 4G. So, no harm, no foul.

And as silly as that might sound, it’s technically true. When the International Telecommunications Union, which sets the marketing standards for wireless networks, expanded its definition of 4G service in December of 2010, it said this of the term 4G:

“As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as ’4G,’ although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed.”

And if that’s the definition, Apple argues, then there’s no reason to change the branding on the “iPad Wi-Fi + 4G” in Australia.

It’s all semantics.

But will a court buy that argument? We’ll find out in May, when the case is expected to be given a full hearing.

(Image courtesy of Someecards)

Of those, 3.2 million were iPhones.

Now, that’s significantly less than the 4.3 million the carrier sold last quarter.

But remember: Last quarter saw record-setting iPhone sales of 37 million for Apple, driven by the launch of the iPhone 4S. So, while sales have certainly slowed, they’re impressive nonetheless.

After all, they represent more than half of Verizon’s smartphone business. And consider this: Verzion sold just 2.1 million 4G LTE-enabled smartphones during the same period — a million less than the iPhone, which is still 3G.

In new commercials debuting later on, the carrier’s spokeswoman throws her trademark dress on the ground and takes to the open road with the tagline “No More Mr. Nice Girl.”

Likewise, the No. 4 U.S. carrier is looking to change its image. T-Mobile has been losing customers and has seen its effort to sell itself to AT&T fall short. With no similar deal on the horizon — and no iPhone on its shelves — T-Mobile is working on its Plan B.

The company plans a broader effort to re-brand itself for the second half of the year.

“We’re working toward a brand refresh later in the year,” T-Mobile senior VP Peter DeLuca said in an interview. “We really can’t wait until the end of the year to make some noise in the market.”

And the company is hoping Carly’s new image will help do that. T-Mobile is also launching a new Android phone — the HTC One S — later this week at an event in New York. An ad highlighting that device will be among the new Carly spots.

Parent company Deutsche Telekom has vowed to invest $4 billion in the operation it once hoped to shed, following its rivals with a next-generation LTE network. Until that gets rolling next year, though, T-Mobile will continue to pitch its current 4G network, which is based on HSPA+, a souped-up version of the technology that powers 3G.

T-Mobile is also planning a $200 million incremental boost to its advertising spending. The new ad campaign will debut on television, DeLuca said. However, T-Mobile is also spending a lot of its dollars in other areas, including pre-roll ads on Hulu and takeover ads on YouTube.

Part of the marketing will also include a “test drive” Web site, where T-Mobile hopes to show its devices can be faster than rival devices, such as the iPhone.

“We really want to set the record straight and say to the consumer they really should be taking a second look at T-Mobile,” DeLuca said.

In addition to remaking its image, T-Mobile is also looking to cut costs, announcing plans to slash call-center jobs and acknowledging it is considering selling its U.S. cell towers.

I’ve been using the iPhone since it came out in 2007. And while I’m satisfied with the way it works, I’m considering changing phones just to have something different—in particular a larger screen. What, in your opinion, are the best alternatives to the iPhone? I use mine primarily for email, along with checking stocks and weather.

A:

I would go with an Android phone, which has plenty of apps that are similar to what you are used to, and which typically these days come with larger screens, some exceeding 4.5 inches. There are always new models coming out, and there are so many that it can be hard to recommend one. But, in my tests, I’ve been especially impressed with the Samsung Galaxy models.

Q:

I’m a Verizon user currently on 3G and we’ve been promised 4G in our area by end of 2013. Do you have any indication Verizon is actually going to continue with LTE service or is this just a smoke screen? Are they really going to roll out new 4G (LTE) service or is this just chosen markets?

A:

I don’t know where you live, or when or whether Verizon Wireless plans to offer LTE, the fastest cellular data network, in your particular area. But I can say that, for Verizon, LTE is anything but a “smoke screen,” and I’d be stunned if the carrier didn’t continue rolling it out. Verizon has deployed it in over 200 markets and says it plans to cover 400 markets by the end of 2012. It’s a key part of the company’s competitive strategy.

Every carrier that deploys a new network starts with a few “chosen markets,” and there are always some areas left out, even years later, for various reasons. But from everything I know, Verizon is planning a broad national LTE network.

Q:

I run Windows 7 on a Mac using Parallels Desktop. Can I use the normal Windows update process to keep Windows 7 up to date or will it compromise the Windows setup through Parallels?

A:

Your virtual copy of Windows inside the Parallels software is designed to work just like Windows on a physical PC. That includes the Windows update process, which I have used many times on Windows via Parallels. This is separate from any updates made by Apple to the Mac operating system, or updates to the Parallels program itself.

Email Walt at mossberg@wsj.com

“Pending regulatory approval, T-Mobile will receive spectrum from Leap in several markets in Alabama, Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota, and Leap will receive spectrum from T-Mobile in Phoenix, AZ and Houston, Galveston and Bryan-College Station, TX,” T-Mobile said in a statement. “Additionally, the companies will exchange spectrum in Philadelphia, Wilmington, DE and Atlantic City, NJ as well as several markets in Texas and New Mexico.”

The move will help T-Mobile as it looks to modernize its network and add LTE service by next year, T-Mobile said.

T-Mobile said that the two companies jointly filed an application for the spectrum transfer with the Federal Communications Commission last week.

For its part, Leap said the move would also help with its LTE efforts. Leap sells wireless service under the Cricket brand name.

“As we have previously announced, we plan to cover approximately two-thirds of our current network footprint with LTE technology over the next two to three years,” Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson said in a statement. “In addition the transactions will allow us to re-align spectrum in key markets into contiguous channels thereby optimizing our delivery of wireless services.”

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Leap and T-Mobile have been mentioned (along with many other combinations) as potential deal partners in the wake of AT&T’s failed T-Mobile acquisition. However, Monday’s deal was a fairly small-scale arrangement limited to exchanging some frequencies.

Sprint has said it will offer 4G LTE service by June in six larger markets — Kansas City, Mo., Baltimore, Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta and Houston — and that the service will cover 120 million people by the end of the year.

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Chief backer Phil Falcone acknowledged the possibility in several interviews on Tuesday, including an email to The Wall Street Journal.

“Spectrum value does not decrease in bankruptcy,” he said in the email. Falcone earlier mentioned the possibility of a bankruptcy filing to Reuters.

LightSquared has spent billions to try to build a 4G wireless network that it could lease out to others. However, regulators revoked their tentative approval for the plans amid concerns that there would be unavoidable interference with existing GPS devices.

The company had signed several deals ahead of the regulatory move, including a pact with Sprint that has since been terminated.