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T-Mobile Cooking Up $50 Unlimited Voice Plan?
$85 for unlimited nationwide voice/data/SMS

Rumors are bubbling over at Howard Forums (via TMONews) that T-Mobile plans to drop a competitive price bomb in the middle of the wireless market landscape. According to insiders, by March 1 T-Mobile will be offering a $49.99 single line unlimited plan, as well as a "unlimited" (T-Mobile has a 10GB data cap) voice/SMS/data plan or a Unlimited Voice/Blackberry Data plan for $84.99 each.

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Assuming the leaked memo is accurate, the new prices are set to be trialed in San Francisco starting February 19. Judging from the information available, this may be only available for customers who've been with T-Mobile for at least 22 months. We're trying to get a comment from T-Mobile.

Apparently, the recent Boost Mobile pricing move did get the attention of the big boys after all. Will AT&T and Verizon follow suit? Shortly after last year's round of unlimited package oneupmanship, many stock jocks downgraded a number of carriers because they were terrified of a price war on this front.

Previously, T-Mobile was offering just unlimited text messaging and voice calls for $99.99 a month, and the prices for unlimited everything is still sitting around $100-$120 for many carriers. Most of them could easily afford to match T-Mobile, keeping in mind that there's plenty of additional money to be made off of the various tacked on fees, or data bandwidth overage charges.

Of course with the explosive wireless growth AT&T and Verizon are seeing, they could also easily afford to put their hands squarely on their (very wealthy) hips and just laugh at T-Mobile's latest attempt at customer retention.
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swanboy
join:2001-01-22
Hollywood, FL

swanboy

Member

Excellent.

Ladies and gentlemen, I call this the BOOST effect. Sit back and enjoy.

insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN

insomniac84

Member

Re: Excellent.

It is interesting. The coverage limits on BOOST and the slower speed meant it should have been priced lower than other services. If other services are going to match the price, I wonder if BOOST will again lower their price.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to swanboy

Premium Member

to swanboy
Excellent. now how about a TRUE UNLIMITED offering.
10gb what a joke!
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Excellent.

said by dvd536:

Excellent. now how about a TRUE UNLIMITED offering.
10gb what a joke!
better than the 5 GB you get with everyone else.
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

neftv

Member

Realistic unlimited plans not $99

Hmmm was wondering when a realistic unlimited bandwagon was going to start. Could AT&T be next also?
Big Dawg 23
join:2002-03-27
Northfield, MN

Big Dawg 23

Member

Re: Realistic unlimited plans not $99

Verizon and AT&T have no need to change. They are adding subscribers so there isn't a need. Besides look how long sprint had the $99 unlimited everything plan. They still lost 1 Million subscribers in the Fourth Quarter while Verizon and AT&T Grew.
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

neftv

Member

Re: Realistic unlimited plans not $99

yea I see Sprint coverage as the reason for people leaving them. However, if one is in a metro area that has good Sprint coverage and you don't travel that much then I see Sprint good choice. I never had the service but I just looking at Maps for the Philadelphia, PA area. But that is just my opinion, I got to deep with Cingular then AT&T that I would have to wait a bit if I was to change.I like my 8310 to much that I probably go with Bold when time comes for me.
DarnellP
join:2004-10-12
Las Vegas, NV

DarnellP to Big Dawg 23

Member

to Big Dawg 23
said by Big Dawg 23:

They still lost 1 Million subscribers in the Fourth Quarter while Verizon and AT&T Grew.
They may very well lose 1M subscribers, but they don't release their Q4 2008 numbers until tomorrow.
Big Dawg 23
join:2002-03-27
Northfield, MN

Big Dawg 23

Member

Re: Realistic unlimited plans not $99

Sorry not a Million 633,000. Data was released almost a month a go.

»www.goingcellular.com/sp ··· rs-4494/

kamm
join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY

kamm to Big Dawg 23

Member

to Big Dawg 23
said by Big Dawg 23:

Verizon and AT&T have no need to change. They are adding subscribers so there isn't a need.
Except the point was that if they don't match TMO they could very well stop adding customers and start losing them...

bemis
Premium Member
join:2008-07-18
united state

bemis

Premium Member

Re: Realistic unlimited plans not $99

TMO coverage is very poor, about the only thing that saves them is their 850MHz roaming agreements--or at least that was true 2 years when I had them.

You were fine on a major highway outside urban areas, but if you were in an out lying suburb you frequently had no service...

I'd rather pay more and be able to use the phone everywhere, then pay less and find myself without service, even 10-20% of the time.

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

BillRoland

Premium Member

Still misses the boat

Still not as good a deal as Boost Unlimited.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

OTOH Boost data is 2G (T-Mobile's is 2.5, 2.75 or even 3-3.5G in places) and from what I hear the network is hopelessly overloaded. Plus you can't really bring your own phone like you can with T-Mobile (GSM vs. iDEN) and all iDEN phones have horrific (3 days standby max) battery life.

Still, Boost's pricing and features (practically unlimited everything) are right on.

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

BillRoland

Premium Member

Re: Still misses the boat

said by iansltx:

OTOH Boost data is 2G (T-Mobile's is 2.5, 2.75 or even 3-3.5G in places) and from what I hear the network is hopelessly overloaded. Plus you can't really bring your own phone like you can with T-Mobile (GSM vs. iDEN) and all iDEN phones have horrific (3 days standby max) battery life.

Still, Boost's pricing and features (practically unlimited everything) are right on.
Well, being a Nextel subscriber myself I can't say I've experienced the "hopelessly overloaded" network. I've travelled between Atlanta to Orlando quite a bit and I haven't had a "System Busy" in the last 6 months. My aunt and uncle have T-Mobile and that is the worst cell service I have ever seen, they live in Atlanta and there are coverage holes everywhere. Trying to call them is a crap shoot and once they get outside the city, forget about it.

Data on iDEN is a big drawback. It could be mitigated if they would re-enable WiDEN but I doubt they will. I'll also concede that battery life is far worse.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

True about the fact that T-Mobile coverage isn't the greatest. iDEN is much better coverage-wise as far as spectrum/frequency go, but capacity isn't quite there in some places. Classic case of YMMV; my Sprint phone works everywhere I need it to, 99.9% of the time without having to roam. T-Mobile coverage up here ain't the greatest. Boost Mobile? I haven't checked up here for capacity or coverage, but back home both are good...

fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium Member
join:2005-07-01
Palm Springs, CA
Hitron EN2251
Nest H2D

1 recommendation

fuziwuzi to BillRoland

Premium Member

to BillRoland
said by BillRoland:

My aunt and uncle have T-Mobile and that is the worst cell service I have ever seen, they live in Atlanta and there are coverage holes everywhere. Trying to call them is a crap shoot and once they get outside the city, forget about it.
Your aunt and uncle must have really terrible phones. I've had T-Mobile service in Atlanta for the past 3 years without any problems you suggest. Four of my friends who live in various suburbs (Lithia Springs, Dunwoody, East Point, Tucker) also use T-Mobile and have no coverage issues. I regularly have service on drives to Nashville, Athens, Birmingham... when visiting friends in Los Angeles (Long Beach) and Houston.

I suspect any problems you're encountering is more likely user-oriented and not the problem of the service.

IT Guy
Ow, My Balls
Premium Member
join:2004-07-29
Las Cruces, NM
Cisco ASA 5505
Cisco Meraki MX64

IT Guy to BillRoland

Premium Member

to BillRoland
I've been with T-mobile for over a decade when they used to be VoiceStream and I have had excellent service, true the coverage isn't that great depending on where you are (expect no bars if you are camping in the middle of nowhere), but even when I'm traveling from here in Las Cruces to Albuquerque, Tuscon, pretty much any place with a major state or interstate highway I have a signal. Who wants to answer their phone when they go camping anyway? Since switching to the G1, I have noticed my call quality has improved greatly over my worthless Samsung Blast, no wonder T-mobile was giving them away, they suck!

Their customer service is top-notch too, something I rarely expect these days.
swarto112
Premium Member
join:2004-02-17
El Dorado Hills, CA

1 recommendation

swarto112

Premium Member

Re: Still misses the boat

I agree, my experience with T-mobile/Voicestream is that to never get the free or cheap phones as the reception is poor. I switched to a high end phone and all my coverage issues went away. Same with AT&T, it really does make a difference on the phone you get as to the experience you'll receive. Since I have a drawer full of old GSM phones, from time to time I'll pull them out and use them...and I reprove to myself that the phone's make all the difference.
itnetpro
join:2001-10-28
Downingtown, PA

itnetpro to BillRoland

Member

to BillRoland
I live near Philadelphia in a very ruarl area and had Sprint for 11 years until 5 months ago. I got fed up with the long 30-45 minute wait times when calling customer service. I now have T-Mobile and I find the coverage a little better. I get more bars at home and my best friends house. I no longer get my calls dropped in the dead zones where I would loose service with Sprint and most of all. The few times I had to call customer service I got a live english speaking person with in 5 minutes unlike the long hold times over at Sprint. T-Mobile hands down over Sprint with in 50 miles of Philly.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88 to iansltx

Member

to iansltx
said by iansltx:

OTOH Boost data is 2G (T-Mobile's is 2.5, 2.75 or even 3-3.5G in places) ....
More like 1G. Your not going above 19kbps.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

That's 2G. High speed 2G in fact. 1G would be analog. Other 2G networks: CDMAOne (14.4 kbps) and GSM (9.6 kbps). So yeah, it's 2G.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

said by iansltx:

That's 2G. High speed 2G in fact. 1G would be analog. Other 2G networks: CDMAOne (14.4 kbps) and GSM (9.6 kbps). So yeah, it's 2G.
Well GPRS is 2G. 1X CDMA is 2G. These are packet switched shared medium internet access. Not circuit switched data as you quoted above. Nextel data is circuit switched I belive.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

GPRS and 1xRTT are 2.5G. 2G (2.0G) is circuit switched. Again, CDMAOne and GSM are 2G, CDMA 1x and GPRS are 2.5G. Trust me, I've been messing around with the stuff since they called 1xRTT high speed

Gaff
Just like the gypsy woman said
join:1999-09-05
North TX, US

Gaff to iansltx

Member

to iansltx
My Motorola i776w has a 300 hour battery life (~12 days).

I've been on Boost Unlimited for about a week and am extremely happy with it.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

Wow, impressive. I thought the max was 75 hours. Let me know how that goes. Again, the Nextel iDEN network is very solid in some places, especially for DC and to a lesser extent voice. Also, the data speeds don't feel that slow on the phone...
justgold79
join:2008-01-13

justgold79 to iansltx

Member

to iansltx
That's why things like this are sold. The one that it comes with should work great, but unfortunately it doesn't.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72 to BillRoland

Premium Member

to BillRoland
said by BillRoland:

Still not as good a deal as Boost Unlimited.
If you want a limited Sprint network, sure. The boost network is about 1/4 the size of the TMO network, and without roaming agreements. Not to mention that you have to use iDen phones, and they only offer motorolas. And no 3g data at all anywhere. TMO's 3g network may be small right now, but it'll cover about 250 million Americans by the end of the year.

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

BillRoland

Premium Member

Re: Still misses the boat

said by tiger72:
said by BillRoland:

Still not as good a deal as Boost Unlimited.
If you want a limited Sprint network, sure. The boost network is about 1/4 the size of the TMO network, and without roaming agreements. Not to mention that you have to use iDen phones, and they only offer motorolas. And no 3g data at all anywhere. TMO's 3g network may be small right now, but it'll cover about 250 million Americans by the end of the year.
Sorry, but the iDEN network is not 1/4 the size of T-Mobile native, non roaming network.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: Still misses the boat

only about 1/2 the size of the native network. Of course, the roaming network is included in TMO minutes, so there's no loss of voice capability there.
kevcallaway
join:2005-11-05

kevcallaway

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

doesn't boost use all of nextel's native iden coverage? Isn't it pretty similar to T-Mobile's native coverage?

Isn't it also true that T-mobile's roaming only allows for 911 calls? Most of these small GSM carriers that Tmo roamed off of were gobbled up by at&T right?

DannyZ
Gentoo Fanboy
Premium Member
join:2003-01-29
united state

DannyZ

Premium Member

Re: Still misses the boat

said by kevcallaway:

Isn't it also true that T-mobile's roaming only allows for 911 calls?
No. If my phone registers with a roaming partner's tower, I have always have full capabilities.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72 to kevcallaway

Premium Member

to kevcallaway
said by kevcallaway:

doesn't boost use all of nextel's native iden coverage? Isn't it pretty similar to T-Mobile's native coverage?
Yes it uses nextel's old iDen coverage. Yes that network is way oversold. No it's not the same size as tmo's.
Isn't it also true that T-mobile's roaming only allows for 911 calls? Most of these small GSM carriers that Tmo roamed off of were gobbled up by at&T right?
Not even close. There are still many GSM carriers, and TMO customers can all still roam on ATT where TMO's network ends.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

TM does not roam on ALL of ATT's network. In many areas it will connect to someone smaller before ATT. Even in Ohio where TM doesn't offer service if there is not another GSM provider you won't get shit.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2 to tiger72

Premium Member

to tiger72
Please... tell us.. how is the iDen network "way over sold"...? Do you have ANY idea how many business subscribers have left Nextel in the last 2 years? DO you even know the subscriber count at this time?

Its not over sold.

quetwo
That VoIP Guy
Premium Member
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI

quetwo to kevcallaway

Premium Member

to kevcallaway
TMO's roaming allows for all voice services, and depending on the carrier, most data services. I've taken trips from Michigan down to Florida and not had a single call drop, or a data drop for more than a few miles.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska to kevcallaway

Premium Member

to kevcallaway
said by kevcallaway:

doesn't boost use all of nextel's native iden coverage? Isn't it pretty similar to T-Mobile's native coverage?

Isn't it also true that T-mobile's roaming only allows for 911 calls? Most of these small GSM carriers that Tmo roamed off of were gobbled up by at&T right?
I visit an area where the small carrier was bought by at&t and they kept the roaming open. I can make and receive phones calls and even surf the web on edge speeds. If i go a few miles away from that coverage into native at&t i lose service on them. They so far have kept the old carriers coverage with t-mobile. What i have noticed in the 5+ years i have had t-mobile is if i am away from the t-mobile network, i can usually roam on another provider if there is one except for at&t. Simmetry pcs, commnet, i wireless, einstein pcs.. Doesn't matter. I usually can roam.

When i first got t-mobile, i was stuck with a crappy nokia with gprs speeds and a simple wap browser. The coverage SUCKED!! Tons of dead spots around western suburbs of chicago. I would have no service around darien, westmont, downers grove, and even in western illinois. Within the past 3 years, they have added hundreds of towers where i go. I now have coverage in western illinois too. Of everywhere i go, i only have an issue in the wal mart off of 75th street in darien, IL. And i hate wal mart so i can care less about that.

My brother swears by at&t, but flat out admits he drops calls every day. I have not had a dropped call in months. And when i did, it was in western illinois where t-mobile coverage ended and roaming started. (Why can't they do seamless handoffs! They partly own i wireless!)

With 3g now, i am very happy. It totally sucks when i leave chicago and go to western illinois. 1100kbps down, 350 kbps up to 40 kbps down. They still don't have edge past dekalb! If at&t, sprint, and the smaller roaming carriers can launch edge in the same area, why can't t-mobile? That upsets me.

rec9140
Provoice just DO it
join:2003-07-29
Mulberry, FL

rec9140 to BillRoland

Member

to BillRoland
said by BillRoland:
Still misses the boat

Exactly. No coverage, so who you gonna call.

tmobile should just rename its self MetroMobile as thats all it covers. Fine if your in the metro/city areas, but come out to the rest of the country and no coverage.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

2 edits

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: Still misses the boat

said by rec9140:
said by BillRoland:
Still misses the boat

Exactly. No coverage, so who you gonna call.

tmobile should just rename its self MetroMobile as thats all it covers. Fine if your in the metro/city areas, but come out to the rest of the country and no coverage.
I have family sitting on 30 acres on the side of a Mesa on the western slope of Colorado. Definitely nowhere close to a Metropolitan Area (the closest city is Grand Junction, 60 miles to the northwest). And yet I get 3 bars on TMO's native network. This area isn't even on their official coverage map.

Go figure.

edit:
And I lived in Kansas City, literally 2 miles away from Sprint's corporate headquarters in Overland Park, KS, and my girlfriend *still* couldn't get Sprint coverage at home in the middle of the metro area.

YMMV, i guess.

rec9140
Provoice just DO it
join:2003-07-29
Mulberry, FL

rec9140

Member

Re: Still misses the boat

said by tiger72:
I have family sitting on 30 acres on the side of a Mesa on the western slope of Colorado. Definitely nowhere close to a Metropolitan Area (the closest city is Grand Junction, 60 miles to the northwest). And yet I get 3 bars on TMO's native network. This area isn't even on their official coverage map.
Go figure.YMMV, i guess.

They are just lucky, as T(metro)Mobile is probably only a little behind Sprint in their lack of coverage. Theres a huge hole in my area for sprints coverage and its not exactly in the middle of no where either.

In T(metro)Mobile's 99% of the time no coverage and you can see corn fields.
MightyPez
join:2002-05-01
Saint Paul, MN

MightyPez

Member

Very nice

I use T-Mobile in the twin cities and love the service in this area. If they drop the price to that level I will renew my contract immediately.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Niice

Nice to see that Sprint/Nextel/Boost seems to be at the forefront of dropping the latest and greatest pricing and new technologies and causing the others to start playing catchup. I can think of three instances where this has happened in the last year or so alone.

••••••••

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s

Premium Member

It's about time

This is something the cell phone companies should of done a long time ago. I have a similar service with MetroPCS. I have unlimited calling, texting, and web access for $50 a month. It's great that I can make calls all day long without worrying about using my minutes or waiting till 9pm. The only drawback is I have to pay for my own phone which is no big deal.

AT&T and Verizon won't do it because cellphones are a cash cow for them. Providing unlimited service for that low of a price won't be in there best interests.

•••••••••

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Would be nice if they had coverage

Their coverage in my area pretty much blows.

ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA

ninjatutle

Member

Re: Would be nice if they had coverage

It would also be good if they had 3G coverage. They blow.
jameswade
join:2001-12-09
Hot Springs, NC

jameswade

Member

Re: Would be nice if they had coverage

Same in Asheville, NC area, lots of roaming on AT&T and no 3G.

Verizon has had 3G here for about three years, but no Android phone.

I really want an Android phone, but there is no CDMA Android phone.

Standards, can't have too many...

IT Guy
Ow, My Balls
Premium Member
join:2004-07-29
Las Cruces, NM
Cisco ASA 5505
Cisco Meraki MX64

IT Guy

Premium Member

I hope It's True

I just got a G1 and would love "unlimited" voice/SMS/data despite not having 3G in my area, at least I wouldn't need to be tethered to a wireless router to check email and browse the web. 10 GB cap is pretty disappointing though, they should increase that.

•••••••••••
pokeydsl
join:2002-10-11
956

pokeydsl

Member

Good bye landlines

Once the other major wireless carriers meet this price point, AT&T and Verizon et al, will need to start worrying. This will be very disrupting to the telecoms
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Good bye landlines

ATT and VZ will NEVER do this.

VZ offers the unlimited plans for $99 only certain times of the year. it's already gone and their more focused on their merger and their MyCircle now. Which is over priced like the rest of their plans.

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

DaveDude to pokeydsl

Member

to pokeydsl
I was thinking the same, i think this is to stave off metropcs, which is moving in on some customers. If it were $40, i would drop my landline instantly.

woody7
Premium Member
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA

woody7

Premium Member

hmmmm....

This is why I haven't updated my contract with ATT. I don't want to be locked in when/if they do change.

kamm
join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY

kamm

Member

Re: hmmmm....

said by woody7:

This is why I haven't updated my contract with ATT. I don't want to be locked in when/if they do change.
QFT

CingularFonUser
@208.3.69.x

CingularFonUser

Anon

Not bad at all


T-Mobile's network works really well in many areas throughout the US. You'll always have internet posts that say otherwise, and rightfully so, but I've noticed that many posters make claims on others experiences (not their own) or past experiences that are no longer valid.

I'd give T-Mobile credit where credit is due. Their network has improved especially in metro areas and they have expanded roaming agreements covering over 252 million Americans.

I don't need unlimited voice personally, but at this price point it's hard to argue against it. This is truly a great value to use on a nationwide network.

However, I hear this will be used for retention purposes and not necessarily for new customers. I guess we'll have to wait and see by March 1st.

openupshop
join:2000-11-25
Chandler, AZ

openupshop

Member

Ported to Boost from T-Mobile and Ported Back LOL

I ported my number from t-mobile to boost. 1st of all Boost mobile has no call waiting. They don't advertise that. Also Boost mobile has no real SMS like SPRINT. Every text message sends as a MMS message. Sometimes text messages will take an hour for the other party to receive. Guess the grass is not always greener on the other side.

I am back with T-Mobile and happy with my G1
DarnellP
join:2004-10-12
Las Vegas, NV

DarnellP

Member

Re: Ported to Boost from T-Mobile and Ported Back LOL

said by openupshop:

I ported my number from t-mobile to boost. 1st of all Boost mobile has no call waiting. They don't advertise that.
Probably because it's no longer true...

»www.boostmobilecommunity ··· ogid=490

openupshop
join:2000-11-25
Chandler, AZ

openupshop

Member

Re: Ported to Boost from T-Mobile and Ported Back LOL

WOW...just to bad the text messaging still sucks!

It takes foreeeever for a message to send and be received.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

old subsidy, new access plan

Many wireless customers just can't afford to be in a contract with their job situation very shaky, and many others may even qualify for a USF benefit now being offered in prepaid cell phones.. this is a draw down of potential customers that cell phone companies want to keep, even though they may be unable to pay their bills under a contract at some point in the future.

Just to add fuel to the fire of customers pulling away from the major carriers:

»www.safelinkwireless.com ··· ome.aspx

If you make less than $26,000 per year (or are collecting public assistance benefits- medicaid, food stamps, government energy subsidy grants, etc) you probably qualify for a free Tracfone cell phone with about 68 minutes of calling time added per month. These minutes roll over if unused each month (as long as there is regular added minutes.. and you can probably buy additional minutes too). Therefore, the cell companies are going to have to work much harder to win customers into paying money for service as it brings the overall values down if many can get a phone for free & prepaid minutes... why sign a contract or use a more expensive prepaid service?

I'm not dumping on one cell carrier.. but all the majors will have to answer this question for their very survival: Verizon, Sprint, Tmobile, AT&T.

Jenavive
@charter.com

Jenavive

Anon

FUD


I know T-Mobile has bad covearge areas, but all carriers do.

I'm surprised that so many techies who visit these forums can still be so misinformed in 2009.

Stating that T-Mobile's network sucks (as in absolutes)is really FUD since coverage is location dependent.

I just ported over from Verizon here in LA. T-Mobile works well for me in all the areas I need them too. That just goes to show that our needs are different and our local networks can be different too.

Eddie4zSeattle
@charter.com

Eddie4zSeattle

Anon

Re: FUD


I agree Jenavive.

Sometimes I'll read an users comments about T-Mobile's network on some far western suburb of Chicago being bad and he/she will claim that T-Mobile's network sucks all over the place.

They just give bad information in order to spread what you stated: Fear Uncertainty and Doubt.

But I wouldn't put it past a few of these users being ATT or Verizon cell phone mall kiosk employees whose network expertise is severely lacking. Their fanboyism kills their relevance. Maybe it's just their little way of excusing their customers for overpaying each month.
pabster
join:2001-12-09
Waterloo, IA

pabster

Member

Meh.

T-Mobile sucks. Sorry, but it has to be said.

Coverage is average at best and their "3G" is so limited it makes AT&T's 3G network look stupendous.

They could offer it at $50 and I wouldn't touch it still. I'll gladly continue to pay twice that to AT&T for a service that actually works.

Remember that much of their network is the old PCS 1900 VoiceStream. It really stinks.

cameronsfx
join:2009-01-08
Panama City, FL

cameronsfx

Member

Re: Meh.

said by pabster:

T-Mobile sucks. Sorry, but it has to be said.

Coverage is average at best and their "3G" is so limited it makes AT&T's 3G network look stupendous.

They could offer it at $50 and I wouldn't touch it still. I'll gladly continue to pay twice that to AT&T for a service that actually works.

Remember that much of their network is the old PCS 1900 VoiceStream. It really stinks.
They could give it to me for $25 a month and I still would tell TMobile, "No thanks."

ANON123
@verizon.net

ANON123

Anon

Boost

I had boost b4. It was EXCELLENT service as it is SPRINT. call up sprint with your boost phone and it will guide you through all menues and even customer service will tell you boost is a sister of sprint. 50 bucks for nationwide service on par with VZW is great. beats metro and all these small cariers, I hate GSM voice quality i would take a CDMA call quality ANYDAY. You people need to get your facts straight on texting and coverage. I text not thorugh mms lol through sms on a motophone and it takes less then 5 10 seconds to reach another phone. when i had my iphone texts would delay and voice quality was shit on att.
Bigfatmooose
join:2007-05-17
Pittsfield, ME

Bigfatmooose

Member

T-Mobile Coverage

Everyone is bashing coverage with t-mobile. Coverage is based upon where you live. T-Mobile does have poor coverage in certain areas however at&t , Verizon and spring aswell have poor coverage in areas aswell. T-mobile doesn't have the marketing budget to lie to the American people about their coverage that at&t and Verizon has. I have multiple family members who have att and Verizon who complain about coverage all the time. Its quite funny I go to their house have no problems but they have nothing but issues. So its really about what service works best for you and where you live and travel to. If you truly want a phone that has perfect coverage why don't you shell out $$$ to get a satellite phone then you can have coverage. ALso coverage is effected phone , battery strength, and also terrain and geography. In rural areas if their are mountains, hills and valleys signal from towers cannot go through mountains. Cell phone providers have to put especially GSM carriers have to put up more towers to provide coverage in areas that are rural. Towers aren't cheap either and ofcourse people don't want cellphone towers in their coummunity. Though I wouldn't mind one in my backyard LOL. Also buildings foliage and very other man made obstacles also can hinder cell phone coverage. T-mobile just like every carrier has to constantly tweak their networks to make them perform good. Also other providers can also cause interference especially when testing new towers. I remember when alltel was testing GSM towers which caused issues with t-mobile coverage. But companies due have people brainwashed into thinking they have the best coverage no company has truly the best coverage its all about what works best where you live hell if verzion works for you go for it att works good where you live go for it. But T-mobile where i live I have awesome coverage for the calls I make and where I travel to I never have problems and their allot cheaper their the competition out their
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Coverage

Verizon and ATT are the only ones with decent coverage. Not sure what the big deal about unlimited calling is, most of the plans offer a boatload of minutes as it is, texting is where the rip-off is.