Has GAIT phone production stopped?

In responding to another post I just went to Hawk Electronics website.
They are one of the largest resellers for Cingular in Dallas/Ft Worth.
Big enough to do their own billing and CS (and from what I read here do
it a lot better than Cingular).

Anyway, when you select a GAIT plan, either Texas Statewide Plus or
Nation GAIT, as before you are given a choice of two phones. The Nokia
6340i and the Sony/Ericsson T62u (which I haven't SEEN in a store in
months). However BOTH phones now have a new disclaimer: "While supplies
last..." That would certainly imply that production has now been stopped
on both and when supplies run out that will be it.

I just called a local manager and while he could confirm that on the
T62u he hadn't actually been told that on the 6340i. But someone has
obviously been told something to cause that wording to be added.

Anybody have anything definite?

He did say that they've been told to stop offering the Texas Statewide
Plus GAIT plan to new customers. So anyone coming in off the street
would not be able to get a regional plan that covers all of Texas--the
only GAIT plan will be the National plan and I wonder when that will be
dropped too.

Looking at the current maps for GSM-only versus GAIT coverage it's
obvious that there must be several dozen smaller carriers that haven't
converted yet. Many if not most probably haven't even started yet.
Someone projected a couple of months ago it would physically require two
YEARS for all the carriers to convert if they started then. If Cingular
allows all GAIT phone production to stop now they will run out of supply
long before GSM-only coverage even gets close to the current combined
GSM/TDMA/AMPS coverage.

Is anyone at Cingular THINKING at all these days? If they don't have a
GAIT phone/plan available new customers that need true national or
regional roaming coverage instead of just the GSM areas will have no
choice but to go with someone else, probably Verizon. As will old
customers forced to a new phone or plan. What possible negative would
it be to keep GAIT phones and plans available as long as needed, even
for two years. Is there a major technical hitch making voice mail or
forwarding working for GAIT phones? What would make Cingular shoot
themselves in the foot pulling GAIT this soon?

--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

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› See More: Has GAIT phone production stopped?

Jud Hardcastle <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> I just called a local manager and while he could confirm that on the
> T62u he hadn't actually been told that on the 6340i.

So you are predicating your whole argument on the "while supplies
last" disclaimer that you were just told didn't actually apply to the
6340?

> But someone has
> obviously been told something to cause that wording to be added.

Or perhaps they didn't want to disclaim the two phones separately, or
it's a mistake, or _they_ don't intend to stock the 6340 if the
statewide plan goes away, or... etc, etc.

> Anybody have anything definite?
>
> He did say that they've been told to stop offering the Texas Statewide
> Plus GAIT plan to new customers. So anyone coming in off the street
> would not be able to get a regional plan that covers all of Texas--the
> only GAIT plan will be the National plan and I wonder when that will be
> dropped too.

When it is no longer necessary from a competitive standpoint, or from
a technological one, or stops being cost effective.

> Looking at the current maps for GSM-only versus GAIT coverage it's
> obvious that there must be several dozen smaller carriers that haven't
> converted yet. Many if not most probably haven't even started yet.

So what? The bulk of the Cingular TDMA national coverage came from
Cingular and AT&T, both of whom are well on their way in the
conversion process. I doubt Cingular will still be offering GAIT
until every last bit of TDMA coverage has GSM in place.

> Someone projected a couple of months ago it would physically require two
> YEARS for all the carriers to convert if they started then. If Cingular
> allows all GAIT phone production to stop now they will run out of supply
> long before GSM-only coverage even gets close to the current combined
> GSM/TDMA/AMPS coverage.

True, but raw coverage isn't the be-all end-all, despite Verizon's
"hear me now" ads. The typical urban/suburban customer wants a
service that covers where he/she goes without dropped calls or system
busies. The frankly could care less if coverage is solid in East
Undershirt, Iowa if they'll never go there.

Look at T-Mobile- they cater to the lots of minutes for little money
crowd with virtually no "rural" coverage anywhere.

I use T-Mobile myself, but carry an AMPS/TDMA prepaid in the glovebox
as backup, and have not yet needed it!

Everybody's coverage has holes. If Cingular grows some new ones, a
very small number of potential customers might choose Verizon instead-
Cingular will have to determine if keeping that small number is worth
the cost of continuing to offer GAIT phones and service plans.
Cingular might not mind losing those customers- anybody who roams off
network are the iggest liability anyway.

> Is anyone at Cingular THINKING at all these days? If they don't have a
> GAIT phone/plan available new customers that need true national or
> regional roaming coverage instead of just the GSM areas will have no
> choice but to go with someone else, probably Verizon.

True- but if Cingular prices their "national" GSM plans attractively
enough, customers will have to decide if extra coverage in rural
Montana is worth an extra $xx/month, just like the game T-Mo plays.

> As will old
> customers forced to a new phone or plan.

I suspect Cingular won't "force" changes anytime soon. We've been
through all of this before in the analog-to-digital transition-
Cingular didn't "force" anybody off analog- they just made it
financially lucrative to migrate (better plans, more features, etc.)
Same will happen with the existing TDMA customers- better GSM-only
plans, data services, snazzier phones, etc. will get most to migrate
"naturally", while the diehards who need TDMA coverage will tough it
out, much like the rural farmers who wouldn't give up their 3-watt bag
phones in spite of the far better rates offered to digital customers.

> What possible negative would
> it be to keep GAIT phones and plans available as long as needed, even
> for two years.

I'll bet they will, but eventually the remaining GAIT phones will
probably be reserved for customers with "special needs" for TDMA, and
require some sort of "exception" (this too happened in the
analog-to-digital transition as well- customers in known weak signal
areas were allowed to keep their 3-watt analog phones but get digital
rate plans with special permission from an account manager. It
happens today on the west coast where Cingular GSM customers can
request GAIT phones for special circumstances even though Cingular has
never been TDMA there.)

> Is there a major technical hitch making voice mail or
> forwarding working for GAIT phones? What would make Cingular shoot
> themselves in the foot pulling GAIT this soon?

To you they're shooting themselves in the foot- 95% of potential
customers won't care- most of them are probably passing on GAIT
already because they can't get a GAIT camera phone with built-in MP3
player and Game Boy... ;-)

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> > Looking at the current maps for GSM-only versus GAIT coverage it's
> > obvious that there must be several dozen smaller carriers that haven't
> > converted yet. Many if not most probably haven't even started yet.
>
> So what? The bulk of the Cingular TDMA national coverage came from
> Cingular and AT&T, both of whom are well on their way in the
> conversion process. I doubt Cingular will still be offering GAIT
> until every last bit of TDMA coverage has GSM in place.
>
BULK? If that was true then the current GSM-only map would be MUCH
closer to the GAIT map since all of Cingular & AT&T GSM conversion *IS*
nearly if not completely done. Looking at the GSM-only map at least 50%
of the country is without GSM coverage -- therefore 50% of the TDMA/AMPS
coverage comes from the dozens of smaller carriers who haven't
converted, and may not for a year or two. Even if 20% of that 50% is
from AMPS only sites the problem with GSM-only is still there since
there aren't any GSM/AMPS phones available.

> "hear me now" ads. The typical urban/suburban customer wants a
> service that covers where he/she goes without dropped calls or system
> busies. The frankly could care less if coverage is solid in East
> Undershirt, Iowa if they'll never go there.

Oh I agree there -- for sure the urban and large population centers are
what's driving the GSM market. I'm just saying that it's the OTHER
people, the ones that AREN'T in those areas, either because they happen
to live in an area served by a small carrier or they have to roam into
those areas, who are going to "get the shaft" if Cingular drops GAIT
without waiting until all carriers have converted. Roamers will be back
like we were 10 years ago--having to hop from pocket to pocket with no
service in between. Only this time there is NO reason for it since GAIT
would be so easy to keep alive.
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA