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Wal-mart Teams With T-Mobile For Wireless
Addsunlimited, postpaid service to growing list of wireless options
Last May Wal-mart launched "Common Cents Mobile," one of many rebranded Sprint prepaid wireless services. Wal-mart also sells Straight Talk service, which runs on the Verizon and AT&T networks. Apparently to ensure T-Mobile doesn't feel left out, Wal-mart's now teaming with T-Mobile to launch a Wal-mart branded postpaid wireless phone service subbed "Wal-Mart Family Mobile." According to a merchandising VP at Wal-Mart, they're launching a postpaid service, in part, because there's "a perception among customers that prepaid service doesn't offer access to the best phones or the best network quality."
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munky99999
Munky
join:2004-04-10
canada

munky99999

Member

Recall

If you remember back. Walmart was also teaming up with tmobile to essentially build towers on the top of walmarts all over for wimax and mobility.

So this "common cents mobile" is basically a way for walmart to get a financial basis in the partnership.
quote:
"a perception among customers that prepaid service doesn't offer access to the best phones or the best network quality."
The only thing... tmobile uses a higher end or better service frequency that means basically they only have a handful of good phones and the rest are your generic phones. It is rumoured the next iphone will support aws. Not many other upcoming phones support it. N900 certainly still on the table I'm sure.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Recall

said by munky99999:

If you remember back. Walmart was also teaming up with tmobile to essentially build towers on the top of walmarts all over for wimax and mobility.
Sprint?
munky99999
Munky
join:2004-04-10
canada

munky99999

Member

Re: Recall

said by openbox9:
said by munky99999:

If you remember back. Walmart was also teaming up with tmobile to essentially build towers on the top of walmarts all over for wimax and mobility.
Sprint?
Quick google verifies this. I guess I just made the assumption because it's odd that they would build sprint towers on their stores and then sell tmobile.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Re: Recall

Unless T-Mobile software has changed, it won't run on Sprint/Verizon, but T-Mobile is very popular in California. Not so much in rural America where Verizon and At&T seem to rule.

When I had At&T pre-paid, it did not roam and was useless unless there was a tower very nearby. It was a secret that cost me $40. The retailer who sold it to me thought it was funny, and I quickly shed my At&T home services, too.

Services are only as good as the capability of the phone.
Bob61571
join:2008-08-08
Washington, IL

Bob61571

Member

Re: Recall

Wow, I predict WalMart to get many returned phones on this one...

T-Mobile has terrible rural coverage in the Midwest!!
Much worse that US Cellular, Verizon, or AT&T.
Please check their coverage map for Illinois, for example..

»www.t-mobile.com/coverag ··· pcc.aspx

Since WalMart got their start in small towns of under 30,000 population, this is really ironic that they would go with the national mobile service with the worst rural coverage.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Re: Recall

No, Sam Walton got his start in Bentonville, Arkansas. By the time Sam retired David Glass was running the operation into the ground with Chinese Products, no customer service, filthy stores, handicapped facilities that didn't work and big idea. It's been a\one-way slide ever since. Sam had standards. Once he died the standards went out the window.

Sam understood rural. He lived in the Ozark Mountains. He understood prairie and town are often 50 miles apart. He understood that Chicago is by far the largest city between NYC and LA. He also understood there are no Walmart near a small town and neither is Lowe's -- except in the small rural areas around Bentonville like Grove and Venita, OK. Carthage, MO and Fayetteville, AR. My nearest Walmart is 40 and 45 miles. The nearest Lowe's is 50 miles in any direction. Neither AT&T pre-pay, nor T-Moblie with national roaming works where I live. IL is a US Cellular state. They have towers in every inch of the state that isn't forest or lake. .

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

tiger72 to Bob61571

Premium Member

to Bob61571
said by Bob61571:

Wow, I predict WalMart to get many returned phones on this one...

T-Mobile has terrible rural coverage in the Midwest!!
Much worse that US Cellular, Verizon, or AT&T.
Please check their coverage map for Illinois, for example..

»www.t-mobile.com/coverag ··· pcc.aspx

Since WalMart got their start in small towns of under 30,000 population, this is really ironic that they would go with the national mobile service with the worst rural coverage.
They only get crappy coverage in Illinois in the Midwest. Seriously, their coverage in the rest of the midwest is just fine. Nearly identical to ATT's (again, save for Illinois, which they don't seem to have ANY roaming agreements in for some reason). I travel enough throughout the midwest that i'd know.

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

djdanska

Premium Member

Re: Recall

They do have roaming agreements in Illinois. I roam on At&t, Simmetry, and a few other carriers all the time.

ds5v50
join:2003-01-22
Fremont, OH

ds5v50 to linicx

Member

to linicx
said by linicx:

When I had At&T pre-paid, it did not roam and was useless unless there was a tower very nearby. It was a secret that cost me $40. The retailer who sold it to me thought it was funny, and I quickly shed my At&T home services, too.

Services are only as good as the capability of the phone.
Been there done that. I was able to return my 2 handsets before it was to late. The service was so bad I could have it in the bathroom but not the kitchen.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Re: Recall

I know. Mine was so bad I could call from outside my house and and it would not ring inside,.In the middle of a 100.000 pop town where AT&T pretends to offer service, there are 2 Walmart stores and 1 Sam's Club, I couldn't call across the street with AT&T; I could with my daughter's T-Mobile.

Having said this, I would bet on T-Mobile and Walmart in any Walmart market; I would also bet on Sprint/Verizon in Rural America because they roam together. In the meantime you find AT&T's biggest presence in governemen sites; state, state offices; state departements - which is why I don't get an IPhone or IPad; I'm too far away from an AT&T tower to have dependable signal. .

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

tiger72 to munky99999

Premium Member

to munky99999
said by munky99999:

The only thing... tmobile uses a higher end or better service frequency that means basically they only have a handful of good phones and the rest are your generic phones. It is rumoured the next iphone will support aws. Not many other upcoming phones support it. N900 certainly still on the table I'm sure.
I can't think of a phone that's top-notch which is limited by what spectrum is being used, rather than what underlying network technology is being used. IE the DroidX and Evo can't be used on ATT either... Then again, good luck trying to convince the overlords at Sprint or Verizon to allow you to activate a DroidX on Sprint, or an Evo on VZW.

Not to mention that AWS use is growing, meaning that more unlocked devices will begin having that band. Wind, Videotron and Mobilicity in Canada are also all using AWS for their UMTS networks.
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Common Sense is Nonsense

The reason that Wal-mart should place a Sprint Cell Site on each of their stores would be to make sense out of their Common Cents Mobile nonsense. If you check coverage for the common cents service you will find that it has more holes in it than a round of Imported Swiss Cheese. Wal-Mart should place a tower on the top of each store that is about the same size as the one displayed at the opening of RKO Radio Pictures, if they want their Common Cents Customers to have decent coverage.

A customer can purchase a Common Cents handset in the Mount Dora Wal-mart but cannot use it Three Miles away because Sprint does not have coverage in many areas in Lake County, Florida.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

tmobile is crap

would have liked to see the Verizon backed service become cheaper and offer better phones-- tmobile is crap and not worth $20 a month unlimited everything.
vanheve2
join:2005-12-16
Chicago, IL

vanheve2

Member

Re: tmobile is crap

said by tmc8080:

would have liked to see the Verizon backed service become cheaper and offer better phones-- tmobile is crap and not worth $20 a month unlimited everything.
T-Mobile works great in Chicago and New York City, and I personally have never been in a part of the country that didn't get service (I know there as some, but its always worked great for me in the last 5 years).

iLive4Fusion
Premium Member
join:2006-07-13

iLive4Fusion

Premium Member

Re: tmobile is crap

said by vanheve2:

said by tmc8080:

would have liked to see the Verizon backed service become cheaper and offer better phones-- tmobile is crap and not worth $20 a month unlimited everything.
T-Mobile works great in Chicago and New York City, and I personally have never been in a part of the country that didn't get service (I know there as some, but its always worked great for me in the last 5 years).
You have never been to Alabama have you?
vanheve2
join:2005-12-16
Chicago, IL

vanheve2

Member

Re: tmobile is crap

said by iLive4Fusion:

said by vanheve2:

said by tmc8080:

would have liked to see the Verizon backed service become cheaper and offer better phones-- tmobile is crap and not worth $20 a month unlimited everything.
T-Mobile works great in Chicago and New York City, and I personally have never been in a part of the country that didn't get service (I know there as some, but its always worked great for me in the last 5 years).
You have never been to Alabama have you?
God no

iLive4Fusion
Premium Member
join:2006-07-13

iLive4Fusion

Premium Member

Re: tmobile is crap

said by vanheve2:

God no
Well then your one of the lucky one's

anonIL
@cat.com

anonIL to vanheve2

Anon

to vanheve2
May I suggest a drive into rural Illinois, more than 10 miles off an interstate?

ds5v50
join:2003-01-22
Fremont, OH

ds5v50

Member

Re: tmobile is crap

said by anonIL :

May I suggest a drive into rural Illinois, more than 10 miles off an interstate?
How about from Ohio to indiana. say... Route 6 into Fort Wayne.
MADx
join:2005-05-25
Richmond, IN

MADx

Member

Re: tmobile is crap

I didn't know TMobile was so terrible in the Midwestern states. I need to do more research, I was about to sign a contract.

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

djdanska to anonIL

Premium Member

to anonIL
said by anonIL :

May I suggest a drive into rural Illinois, more than 10 miles off an interstate?
I do all the time in western illinois around galesburg and the quad cities. Can only think of a handful of places i get no service. (Avon, IL for instance.) The only difference between my tmobile phone and my buddy's verizon phone is i don't get dropped calls ever and pay like a LOT less than he does. Much more coverage in that area than actually shown on the coverage maps. It's all just roaming. Can't just go by the coverage maps for actual coverage. (Hell, where i stay in abingdon, IL has had coverage for like 4-5 years and it was JUST in the last 3 months shown up on the coverage maps.)
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to tmc8080

Member

to tmc8080
here we go again. all carriers bow down to the oh' mighty VZW!


Ben
Premium Member
join:2007-06-17
Fort Worth, TX

Ben

Premium Member

Not Perception, it's Fact.

quote:
According to a merchandising VP at Wal-Mart, they're launching a postpaid service, in part, because there's "a perception among customers that prepaid service doesn't offer access to the best phones or the best network quality."

     I've yet to see a prepaid offering that includes the latest, highest end mobile phones.  There's still many phones that aren't available on a prepaid basis.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Not Perception, it's Fact.

you must have seen TMO's offers ALL of their phones are prepaid. You just have to pay full retail of the phone; the same as you would with any other option.

Also everyone offers that option without contract. month to month if you pay full retail of the phone; but TMO takes it a step further and offers discounted monthly services.

Ben
Premium Member
join:2007-06-17
Fort Worth, TX

Ben

Premium Member

Re: Not Perception, it's Fact.

said by hottboiinnc4:

you must have seen TMO's offers ALL of their phones are prepaid. You just have to pay full retail of the phone; the same as you would with any other option.

Also everyone offers that option without contract. month to month if you pay full retail of the phone; but TMO takes it a step further and offers discounted monthly services.
     Are you talking about T-Mobile's "Even More Plus" plans?  Pay the full cost, but get a $10-$20/mo. discount and no yearly or biyearly contracts.

     I guess that in a way, that's kind of like prepaid.  But not exactly.  You still have to pay the exact same amount every month, and you can still get hit with overage charges.  So to me, that's not quite like prepaid.

     To me, prepaid could mean paying only $10 in one month, potentially $80 the next month (if you had to talk a lot), and then maybe $20 in the month after that, and so on.
WA_Resident
join:2009-12-12

WA_Resident

Member

Re: Not Perception, it's Fact.


You can use any of T-Mobile's phones on their prepaid plans just as you can use any unlocked GSM phone and i do mean prepaid and not the "Even More Plus".

There's people that are using iPhones on TMO's prepaid plans.

I tend to use quite a few cell phones on TMO prepaid, from a Blackberry to Nokias to a Moto Z6.

I don't pay anything monthly but rather by the year (or whenever i need minutes). $10 gives me a few minutes with an expiration of a whole year!
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to Ben

Member

to Ben
it is prepaid as you pay your first month up front and if you do not pay for your plan on that due date- or before- your phone is shut off. so yes. that is prepaid.

overages only if you have that money available in your "bucket" no money available, no going over. So yes you do pay the same amount each month. The Even More Plus is basically their old "FlexPay" Month to month service.

Bahamut X
Premium Member
join:2000-12-09
Fort Worth, TX

Bahamut X

Premium Member

Re: Not Perception, it's Fact.

said by hottboiinnc4:

old "FlexPay" Month to month service.
Actually, you can get Even More Plus in two variants.

Flexpay - (yes, it's still around) which doesn't allow you to have ANY overage charges. Does not require a credit check to activate, but have to pay first months bill up front. Does not have an activation fee though (since first months bill is due at activation).

Postpaid - Allows overage charges, but also gives you a warning when you're about to run out of minutes. At this point you can either slow usage, or if you realize that "hey, this plan doesn't have enough minutes for me", you can up the plan and have more minutes available.
Does have the $35 activation fee, but usually the first months bill is prorated downward quite nicely depending on billing cycle (ymmv).
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Here in Hooterville!

In South Florida I had great service with Sprint and a friend of mine had great service with T-Mobile, formerly Voice Stream formerly Omnipoint, in South Florida. We both found that here in Hooterville AKA Lake Country, Florida both wireless carriers provide inconsistent service. Can you hear me now = say again.

SNT
Premium Member
join:2002-07-17
Satellite Beach, FL

SNT

Premium Member

Re: Here in Hooterville!

Eustis = South Florida???
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Re: Here in Hooterville!

NO!

Camaro
Question everything
Premium Member
join:2008-04-05
Westfield, MA

Camaro

Premium Member

Fine by me

As long as they throw a 3g tower on top of my local wally world,i would get awesome speeds.

SLD
Premium Member
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA

SLD

Premium Member

Why even discuss this?!?

Why even discuss this?!? Its Walmart. Are you guys going to join the race-to-the-bottom just to save a few cents again?
WA_Resident
join:2009-12-12

WA_Resident

Member

Re: Why even discuss this?!?

said by SLD:

Why even discuss this?!? Its Walmart. Are you guys going to join the race-to-the-bottom just to save a few cents again?
So why did you even bother to post if it's just about Walmart?

SLD
Premium Member
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA

SLD

Premium Member

Re: Why even discuss this?!?

I'm not discussing the merits of the system. You seem to have missed the point.

i1me2ao
Premium Member
join:2001-03-03
TEXAS

i1me2ao

Premium Member

tower on

wallie worlds would help a lot of us obtain decent reception.

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: tower on

Except if the building just so happened to be made of that stuff that interferes with wireless signals like that.

Oh, the irony.
vt
join:2010-09-21
Carrollton, TX

vt

Member

Sprint Common Cents Mobile

Watch out for 7 cents. It is a deceptive advertised. I have an account with them for one month, they charged me 15 cents/text and 18 cents/min for voice. I have complaint to customer service in the last 4 days, and they fixed my account history on the webpage, but not the balance. I'm still losing about $15. I should stay with T-Mobile prepaid instead for 10 cents/min. If you don't have access to internet, you won't be able to check your calls history.
I found out after my account balance almost ran out the $30 with only under 110 minutes of usage. The customer now changed the calls history to reflect the 7 cents/min, but not the balance. I am going to call them again until they fix the issue.
Few dollars there and here from every customer, it is accumulated to millions for Sprint.