As Helio once said, don't call it a phone. (Except that it *was* a phone, but whatever, hear us out). Verizon is attempting to show off the various mobile media aspects of its phones with a new, 6,600-square-foot Boston retail store "experience" that the carrier announced Friday. MediaPost reports that the store offers consumers a high-tech and hands-on experience with wireless voice, data, music and video services:

"The store, one of about 100 now open across the country, displays more than 55 working phones, broadband services and integrates kiosks for easy check and bill paying. Eventually, Verizon plans to convert most of the 2,400 company-operated stores and kiosks nationally." AT&T has already opened stores in a similar vein earlier this year.

The Associated Press is reporting that Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $21 million to settle a lawsuit filed by California customers upset with the company's early termination fees, one of the case's lawyers said on Wednesday.

"We are recovering cash" that would "be available" to Verizon mobile phone customers who paid fees to end their contracts early, said Alan Plutzik, an attorney for the customers, in the report.

It's not yet clear just how many customers will be able to receive cash as part of the settlement, and Verizon has yet to comment on the judge's decision. These cancellation fees, which usually cost between $150 to $225 to end a customer's cell phone contract earlier than the usual two-year agreement specifies, have been the target of much derision in the industry. Recently, the carriers have begun to pro-rate the cancellation fees, bowing to consumer pressure.

In today's episode of CEOs Gone Wild, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said some pretty bizarre things in an interview with the Financial Times, according to MacUser. Here's a sampling:

On Apple: "Steve Jobs eventually will get old... I like our chances."

On the iPhone's potential mass-market acceptance: "There goes the conspiracy again," he said in the interview. "You're declaring them a winner before they've earned it on the field."

Yeah, that's what it is—we're all in on this conspiracy, see, where Apple actually has a hit product on its hands, and since Verizon doesn't sell it, we want to stick it to them by pretending that the product is good when it isn't.

Score one for the consumer. The Washington Post is reporting that the federal government, speaking on behalf of former Verizon phone service customers, yesterday sent the communications company a stern message: Stop trying to woo back those consumers who have opted for a new provider.

The report said that Verizon had been using its proprietary customer data to repeatedly hound former customers and try and get them to rejoin the carrier. But a majority of FCC members ruled that this was illegal and violated consumer privacy rights.

"Today we carry out Congress's unambiguous mandate to protect consumer privacy," said Robert M. McDowell, a Republican commissioner, according to the report.

Now that Verizon Wireless has announced it is acquiring Alltel to become the largest cell phone carrier nationwide, with a total subscriber count somewhere north of 80 million, CNET News is asking whether or not this is good for customers in the long run. The report said that the biggest fear for consumer advocates when companies merge is that consolidation means fewer choices for consumers, and fewer choices often leads to higher prices.

"If the deal goes through, two companies, Verizon and AT&T, will control about 150 million of the 260 million wireless customers in the U.S.," Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, said in the report. "With Sprint in a weakened condition, this deal will speed the unfortunate trend of giving consumers fewer, rather than more choices in telecommunications services, while giving a few companies more control over the lives of consumers."

It certainly looks that way to us, given Verizon's history of blowing away cell phone software, replacing it with its own monetized services, and disabling hardware features that they haven't gotten around to writing their own software for.

Intent on once again being the largest US mobile operator, Verizon Wireless is buying Alltel in a deal valued at $28.1 billion, including $5.9 billion in equity and $22.2 billion in net debt.

News of a potential deal broke yesterday afternoon.

The companies say that the merger will benefit their customers with a wider range of services, including an expanded IN Network calling community. Alltel customers will find themselves with access to an over-the-air music service and a nationwide network.

Pending regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to close by year-end.

The New York Times' Dealbook blog is reporting that Verizon might buy Alltel, citing "a person briefed on the matter" and a report from David Faber on CNBC. The acquisition, if it happens, would make sense since both use CDMA technology and have national roaming deals in place.

Verizon Wireless, which Verizon Communications owns in partnership with Vodafone, is the second-largest US mobile operator behind AT&T. Alltel, the largest regional cellular operator, was taken private last summer, with its new owners paying $71.50 a share.

Contrary to popular belief, Verizon Wireless will not charge more for customers to use its upcoming open network that will support devices in addition to those sold by the carrier. That's according to a Silicon Alley Insider report citing Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. At the Dow Jones D6 conference on Thursday, McAdam made the promise in response to a question of sorts from the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg.

According to the report, it went like this:

Mossberg: If I go in and bring to your network a phone you didn't sell and I didn't buy in your store...I am expecting that I'm gonna not be charged a different rate than the person who bought one of your phones.

McAdam: You won't be. Period.

It will be interesting to see what really happens once the network launches.

Bloomberg reports that Verizon Wireless, the biggest winner of airwaves in a government auction that ended this week, may have made a risky investment, Goldman Sachs Group said:

"The company spent $9.36 billion on airwaves in three blocks, each with their own challenges," Goldman analyst Jason Armstrong said in the report. "With the biggest block, bought for $4.74 billion, Verizon needs to let any type of device run on the network. Another block may have interference, and a third chunk came at an extremely high price."

According to the article, Verizon Wireless outbid larger rival AT&T to acquire the airwaves, which will help handle tasks such as sending video to phones. The companies, seeking to bolster growth through wireless subscriptions as customers drop home-phone lines, drove up the prices in the bidding contest, while fending off competition from new entrants such Google (which may have just been a bluff all along).

More than 80 percent of the entire spectrum up for bid went to either Verizon or AT&T. But Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wachovia Securities in Chicago, said in the report that Verizon's aggressiveness here makes sense: "They bought to protect their only really meaningful vehicle for growth right now," she said. "Wireless is key to their earnings."

(Image credit: wireless.fcc.gov)