And there’s no way around it. Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr CC

Verizon will soon start charging a $20 fee for anyone upgrading their smartphone with pretty much no loopholes to get out of it. Yes, a carrier is introducing a new fee without much explanation and customers are forced to deal with it. Shocking, I know. The new fee goes into effect April 4.

Sprint isn’t satisfied with Verizon’s ballsy claims. Photo: Sprint

The war between mobile carriers in the U.S. continues to heat up and with the latest battle, it’s personal. Sprint came out with a new ad that directly targets Verizon’s from just a few weeks ago. Using big, colorful balls to symbolize network quality and performance, Sprint claims Verizon’s ad is rubbish and outdated while the yellow network is the true champion.

Verizon is hungry for new and returning customers. Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr CC

Verizon Wireless is just about matching the deal other carriers have offered for a while to entice customers on other networks. It’s essentially offering to buy you out of your contract with up to $650 per line, less the trade-in value of your current device. But Verizon also has a few extra bonuses to brag about.

American carrier U.S. Cellular has just announced the availability of 4G LTE services in a few new states while expanding existing coverage in some regions. The carrier expects to add 1,200 4G LTE towers which will connect over 93% of its users with blazing fast LTE networks by the end of the year.

Popularly known for its customer friendly plans, T-Mobile is now on its way towards expanding its data network coverage across the U.S. The carrier has announced plans to upgrade the existing range of 2G Edge networks to 4G LTE, with the acquisition of the 700 MHz spectrum from Verizon for a reported $2.37 billion.