T-Mobile Makes 3G Launch Official NYC first, 20 more by year's end... Monday May 05 2008 17:32 EDT If last week's leaked memos and Internet-wide discussion hadn't clued you in, T-Mobile has launched their 3G (HSDPA) network in New York City. T-Mobile has issued a press release announcing the launch, and contrary to some earlier reports, this isn't just a voice-only test launch. Even though last week's leaked memo showed us T-Mobile will launch the service in these 20 cities by the end of the year, T-Mobile plays coy: quote: By year’s end, T-Mobile expects its high-speed data network will be available in those cities where a majority of its subscribers currently use data services.
Sorry Ohio, you apparently don't use enough data. T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom's interest in buying Sprint/Nextel (or just Nextel?) adds an interesting dynamic to the mix, but in general, this launch arrives with a whisper, not a roar. T-Mobile is apparently having a hard time getting Uncle Sam off of the 1700Mhz spectrum they purchased from the old fellow. At launch, only four handsets can use the network (Nokia 3555, 6263 and Samsung t819 and t639), and obviously T-Mobile has quite a hike ahead if they want to catch up with AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Anyway it's nice to see you, T-Mobile 3G. You're late. |
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No Ohio?Surprising considering we have 3 main cities in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.
We have T-Mobile for our work phones because they are international and we do a lot of traveling overseas.
Was looking forward to getting in on this too as our current plan will be expiring and we need new phones in a couple months.
Guess it's back to the drawing board... | |
| | jonnyz Premium Member join:2003-03-20 Canfield, OH |
jonnyz
Premium Member
2008-May-5 10:18 pm
Re: No Ohio?I'd say. Luckily I have AT&T, which has 3G in all of those places, and it's even in the greater Youngstown area where I am. | |
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YAY 3GNow TMo just needs to offer some 3G phones. I will finally have a reason to upgrade my 2 year old MDA. | |
| | Mike Mod join:2000-09-17 Pittsburgh, PA |
Mike
Mod
2008-May-5 6:13 pm
Re: YAY 3GiPho what? | |
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Re: YAY 3GiPho what? is right
Thats what happens if you go out of the country and people laugh at you and your iPhone | |
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EPS4 join:2008-02-13 Hingham, MA |
EPS4
Member
2008-May-5 6:22 pm
3G iPhoneOne wonders if the 3G iPhone will have access to the AWS band for HSDPA... certainly could help T-Mobile with their reputation for being more affordable and consumer-friendly than "the new" at&t, though it's not the kind of thing they can publicly advertise. | |
| | Ben Premium Member join:2007-06-17 Fort Worth, TX |
Ben
Premium Member
2008-May-5 6:37 pm
Re: 3G iPhonesaid by EPS4:One wonders if the 3G iPhone will have access to the AWS band for HSDPA... certainly could help T-Mobile with their reputation for being more affordable and consumer-friendly than "the new" at&t, though it's not the kind of thing they can publicly advertise. I don't think so. My understanding is that the 3G iPhone uses 1900MHz for 3G, while T-Mobile's 3G is 1700MHz. This means that short of a new iPhone device, you can't get an iPhone/3G/T-Mobile combination. You'd instead be stuck with EDGE. | |
| | | bobjohnson Premium Member join:2007-02-03 Spartanburg, SC |
Re: 3G iPhonesaid by Ben:said by EPS4:One wonders if the 3G iPhone will have access to the AWS band for HSDPA... certainly could help T-Mobile with their reputation for being more affordable and consumer-friendly than "the new" at&t, though it's not the kind of thing they can publicly advertise. I don't think so. My understanding is that the 3G iPhone uses 1900MHz for 3G, while T-Mobile's 3G is 1700MHz. This means that short of a new iPhone device, you can't get an iPhone/3G/T-Mobile combination. You'd instead be stuck with EDGE. They could add AWS support for roaming purposes... | |
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to Ben
It would make no sense from the cost of manufacturing the phones to not support all the bands, since the Iphone is hitting EU, Asian and Pacific (eventually.. atleast Australia) and the US, making a different phone, while makes sense from apples carrier agreements, makes no real sense from a cost of manufacturing perspective where different radios for different countries would be required..
Now what they may try to do is region code them like DVD's, where if the phone is destined to a region, only that radio for that region or carrier will work (that also solves the retail price being significantly lower or higher in certain countries, to prevent importing of the iphone).
Just some speculation... | |
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PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301 Premium Member join:2005-01-03 |
But what about...Hey, what about their hometown of Bellevue? The Seattle/Bellevue area is a big broadband market (hello, the home of Micro$oft!). Not that I live there, but it would not only make a lot of sense for T-Mo, it would also give me hope that it would be deployed in other areas of Washington! | |
| tim Premium Member join:2005-06-07 Conroe, TX |
tim
Premium Member
2008-May-6 8:03 am
"Searching for Network"And nobody will STILL be able to get a signal. T-Mobile sucks. Get used to it. | |
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Re: "Searching for Network"I get a signal just fine here in rural Florida. | |
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to tim
said by tim:And nobody will STILL be able to get a signal. T-Mobile sucks. Get used to it. That's quite unfair. T-Mobile has focused their build-outs on the heavily populated areas (and corridors between them) where 90% of the population spends 90% of it's time. If native rural coverage is important to you then you don't want to do business with T-Mobile or Sprint. If you spend most (all) of your time within their coverage area though then they have some pretty sweet deals. Can I get 1,000 minutes a month (plus unlimited N&W) for $49.99/mo ($39.99 if you catch one of their occasional promotional deals) from Verizon or AT&T? Didn't think so.... | |
| | | tim Premium Member join:2005-06-07 Conroe, TX |
tim
Premium Member
2008-May-6 5:24 pm
Re: "Searching for Network"I'm in Plainfield, Illinois. 35 miles south of Chicago. Population is ~35,000 people. It's next to Joliet. Never could get a signal in this town. AT&T's worth the extra price... as they say, "You get what you pay for." | |
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to Crookshanks
Sprint roams on Verizon, why wont T-mobile pay up and roam on AT&T. | |
| | | | tim Premium Member join:2005-06-07 Conroe, TX |
tim
Premium Member
2008-May-6 11:21 pm
Re: "Searching for Network"It's cheap crap... what do you expect? | |
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Re: "Searching for Network"said by tim:It's cheap crap... what do you expect? If that 'cheap crap' works well for your coverage needs and happens to be $20-$30 cheaper then everybody else then is it really 'cheap crap'? You seem to be under the impression that your personal coverage needs should dictate why a specific provider sucks. Personally, my T-Mobile phone works 85-90% of the time where I travel. And I don't even live in a major market for them (Binghamton, NY). That's as good as anybody in this area, save for Verizon -- but even they have dead spots around here. I'd like to know why that translates into 'cheap crap' | |
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Re: "Searching for Network"T-mobile DOES roam on at&t. I have been places where I am not getting T-mobile signal and I look at my phone and it would say cingular on it. I specifically remember being in Pidgeon Forge Tennessee and my T-mobile phone had Cingular on it. | |
| | | | | | tim Premium Member join:2005-06-07 Conroe, TX |
to Crookshanks
But if I can't even get service at my HOME, which isn't even a rural area... it won't even roam on AT&T, which is the carrier I currently have, after going through the signal-less hell known as T-Mobile. | |
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Re: "Searching for Network"said by tim:But if I can't even get service at my HOME, which isn't even a rural area... it won't even roam on AT&T, which is the carrier I currently have, after going through the signal-less hell known as T-Mobile. Dude, what's your point? It sounds like T-Mobile isn't a good solution for you. I'm still waiting to hear a justification for why they "suck". Because their network wasn't custom designed with your personal coverage needs in mind? Last year I went to the Outer Banks. In several areas around Cape Hatteras I had one or two bars of signal (T-Mobile) while my friends (AT&T and Verizon) had nothing. Can I now make the pronouncement that AT&T and Verizon suck based on this experience? My girlfriends house is smack dab in the middle of an AT&T deadzone -- that must mean they suck, right? On Interstate-88 in Upstate New York there's a nice two mile deadzone outside of Oneonta where Verizon phones lose signal and drop calls. Ironically enough my T-Mobile phone works just fine (albeit roaming on Cellular One) throughout that same area. Guess that means Verizon sucks, huh? Unless you have some specific bad experience with T-Mobile other than "They have no coverage at my house, they sux0r!" I'm not going to take your pronouncements that they suck very seriously. They have far and away the best customer service philosophy of any of the major carriers, they are the only carrier that will let you sign up without a contract while still getting the same rate plans as everyone else (they call it Flexpay) and their plans are generally a little bit cheaper while including more minutes than the same 'tier' of plan on AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. Yeah, they "suck" alright. If their coverage meets your needs then you should consider doing business with them. If it doesn't then move on and find another provider. This holds true for any cellular provider. | |
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MizzatWill post for thumbs Premium Member join:2003-05-03 Atlanta, GA |
Mizzat
Premium Member
2008-May-6 8:23 am
Good for them...but...Thats great they are launching new services, but they are far behind. They should have skipped 3G. They are starting to launch 3G as other carriers are gearing up to launch 4G. | |
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No DC till the end...Based on the list, if they are bringing up the areas in the order listed.. shows Washington DC towards the end of the roll out.. That sucks, the gov is probably the largest customer of all the carriers in the area, you would think they want to get a slice of the high speed pie as more gov agencies are gearing up for telecommuting and such... | |
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