TDMA continued service

"DecaturTxCowboy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ZV%[email protected]...
> Jeremy wrote:
>
> Now found at
>
> alt.jermey.I-now-have-better-service_clearer-
> calls_newer-equipment_and-a-lower-monthly-price
>
> newsgroup.
>
You forgot,
I_still_lurk_at_Cingular_newsgroup_newsgroup.
...
bamp

---

› See More: TDMA continued service

Keep in mind, the (1Q '08) TDMA cutoff is a date chosen by Cingular, and
does not include any other carrier...yet. So it's only Cingular TDMA that
is going away then. At that date, they may still have a financial incentive
to keep AMPS going. For the time being, Cingular TDMA service is somewhat
improved with fewer users on it. However, when I travel in rural parts of
the west, beyond Cingular coverage, there is no longer TDMA service. It
appears as though Alltel has turned it off already. My TDMA phone finds
only analog in those areas. Oddly, I did find a couple of carriers that
suddenly started showing up on my phone's SID as providing TDMA I never saw
before.


Bill Radio
Click for Wireless Reviews at:
http://www.mountainwireless.com

"Jerome Zelinske" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Only the amps has the mandate, not tdma. That cingular finds it
> convenient to turn them both off at the same time is all up to cingular.
> But there is no requirement for any carrier to keep tdma up until any
> date.

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 22:58:25 -0700, Karen <[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>On Sat, 03 Jun 2006 13:22:48 -0500, Jer wrote:
>
>> I don't know what you mean by being "bullied" off your current network,
>
>My definition of bullying is that Cingular wants me to sign a new 2 year
>contract if I migrate from TDMA to GSM. I've been off contract for many
>years and it would be more reasonable, IMO, that they let me continue
>month to month on GSM.

The contract is for the equipment subsidy (discount). If you're willing
to take a smaller subsidy, you can get a shorter term.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

"Bill Radio" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
<snip>
> However, when I travel in rural parts of the west, beyond Cingular
> coverage, there is no longer TDMA service. It appears as though Alltel
> has turned it off already. My TDMA phone finds only analog in those areas.
<snip>
You shouldn't see Alltel because they use CDMA, not TDMA.

In article <[email protected]>, ldmnews1
@netassoc.net says...
> "Bill Radio" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> <snip>
> > However, when I travel in rural parts of the west, beyond Cingular
> > coverage, there is no longer TDMA service. It appears as though Alltel
> > has turned it off already. My TDMA phone finds only analog in those areas.
> <snip>
> You shouldn't see Alltel because they use CDMA, not TDMA.
>
>
>
Alltel is a bit of a strange beast. AFAIK they offer CDMA only to their
own customers but, depending on the area, they can also be GSM, TDMA and
analog for roamers. There is/was lots of Alltel TDMA areas in Texas.

They may be turning off TDMA but Bill may be seeing the effect of
Cingular modifying their roaming database due to new GSM roaming
agreements and leaving TDMA sids out causing the phone to not use TDMA
even if it's there.
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

Across northern North Dakota and Montana (US2, BNSF High Line/Amtrak),
there has been TDMA coverage in the towns and by AMPS between towns, if
there was any signal at all, all by Cellular One. I never got a roaming
charge from them. Cingular bought Cellular One in several states. Maybe
that's why. I'll find find out next month if there has been any
deterioration. I expect to go to Sprint later this year, and not wait
for Cingular to put a gun at my head to switch to expensive GSM service.
They will make sure they have zero TDMA customers by Feb 2008.

Bill Radio wrote:
> Keep in mind, the (1Q '08) TDMA cutoff is a date chosen by Cingular, and
> does not include any other carrier...yet. So it's only Cingular TDMA that
> is going away then. At that date, they may still have a financial incentive
> to keep AMPS going. For the time being, Cingular TDMA service is somewhat
> improved with fewer users on it. However, when I travel in rural parts of
> the west, beyond Cingular coverage, there is no longer TDMA service. It
> appears as though Alltel has turned it off already. My TDMA phone finds
> only analog in those areas. Oddly, I did find a couple of carriers that
> suddenly started showing up on my phone's SID as providing TDMA I never saw
> before.
>
>
> Bill Radio
> Click for Wireless Reviews at:
> http://www.mountainwireless.com
>
> "Jerome Zelinske" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Only the amps has the mandate, not tdma. That cingular finds it
>>convenient to turn them both off at the same time is all up to cingular.
>>But there is no requirement for any carrier to keep tdma up until any
>>date.
>
>
>

On Sat, 3 Jun 2006 19:00:02 UTC, Joe Versaggi <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Jer wrote:
>
> >
> > I don't know what you mean by being "bullied" off your current network,
> > but yes, the "must carry" mandate (all providers) for TDMA/AMPS
> > disappears 1Q08.
>
> Ex-AT&TWS customers get a love note in the mail from Cingular saying
> they must upgrade to a new GSM contract for continued service. For the
> same service, that could be $10, $20, or $30 more a month.
>


Or less.

I've priced the cost for approximately the same service my father has
over 4 lines of ATTWS TDMA, 3 of which are local plans, one national
digital, with a Family plan using GSM, and he could cut $50/month off
his bill, get Rollover to handle the heavy months.

--

On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 05:58:25 UTC, Karen <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sat, 03 Jun 2006 13:22:48 -0500, Jer wrote:
>
> > I don't know what you mean by being "bullied" off your current network,
>
> My definition of bullying is that Cingular wants me to sign a new 2 year
> contract if I migrate from TDMA to GSM. I've been off contract for many
> years and it would be more reasonable, IMO, that they let me continue
> month to month on GSM.
>
> Karen

Are you positive that the contract isn't for subsidized phones? You
should be able to negotiate a reduced contract if you pay a little
more for the phone (in my case, I gave up $50 in return for a 1 year
contract 18 months ago).

--

"Kevin K" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:KIRoJuEXw9g9-pn2-

>You should be able to negotiate a reduced contract if you pay a little
> more for the phone (in my case, I gave up $50 in return for a 1 year
> contract 18 months ago).
>


Many posters have expressed their frustration over the fact that they are
being asked to agree to new term agreements AT ALL.

Their reasoning is (and I fully agree with them) that this was a MERGER, and
that they are being treated like new customers, rather than loyal existing
ones, many of whom have been customers for years.

Switching out of TDMA is one thing. Being coerced into signing new
contracts, along with having to purchase new handsets and pay new activation
fees in some cases, is something else.

Sprint gave me 3 free phones and charged not one cent to activate them.
When I, as a consumer, evaluate which carrier seems more interested in
courting my business, Cingular is at the bottom pf the heap. I have heard
that Cingular has had millions of us ATTWS customers walk away, rather than
give in to their heavy-handed tactics. It seems like one helluva bad public
relations move for them.

I won't be going back. I've found a new home, as have many others, and
Cingular can go and whistle "Dixie," as far as I am concerned.

Jeremy wrote:
> Sprint gave me 3 free phones

But no roll over minutes.

A little more detail might be helpful. Alltel bought Cellular One/Western
Wireless, which had a significant presence in my area. Cellular One was
100% TDMA/analog, but slowly began to add CDMA to their existing sites.
When most of them had CDMA, they stopped sellng TDMA phones, and sold only
CDMA phones to their own customers. For years after, their own TDMA
customer base remained a steady 20% while Cingular TDMA roamers were quickly
disappearing.

When Alltel purchased C-1/WW, any remaining TDMA customers were offered CDMA
handsets, and, at some some point in the past 6 months, TDMA was turned off
in the ex-C-1/WW network. Being a TDMA roamer (with a fairly old IRDB) I
just hadn't noticed that the phone wasn't in digital any longer since I made
so few calls on it. However, the phone did see TDMA on other
(non-ex-C-1/WW) networks.

It hadn't occured to me that Alltel was dropping TDMA so soon until I
re-read their purchase proposal, and included in the expenses were new CDMA
handsets for all TDMA customers.

-Bill Radio


"L David Matheny" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> <snip>
> You shouldn't see Alltel because they use CDMA, not TDMA.
>

"Jeremy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Gd3ig.7159$Id2.7135@trnddc03...
> "Kevin K" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:KIRoJuEXw9g9-pn2-
>
>>You should be able to negotiate a reduced contract if you pay a little
>> more for the phone (in my case, I gave up $50 in return for a 1 year
>> contract 18 months ago).
>>
>
>
> Many posters have expressed their frustration over the fact that they are
> being asked to agree to new term agreements AT ALL.
>
> Their reasoning is (and I fully agree with them) that this was a MERGER,
> and that they are being treated like new customers, rather than loyal
> existing ones, many of whom have been customers for years.
>
> Switching out of TDMA is one thing. Being coerced into signing new
> contracts, along with having to purchase new handsets and pay new
> activation fees in some cases, is something else.
>
> Sprint gave me 3 free phones and charged not one cent to activate them.
> When I, as a consumer, evaluate which carrier seems more interested in
> courting my business, Cingular is at the bottom pf the heap. I have heard
> that Cingular has had millions of us ATTWS customers walk away, rather
> than give in to their heavy-handed tactics. It seems like one helluva bad
> public relations move for them.
>
> I won't be going back. I've found a new home, as have many others, and
> Cingular can go and whistle "Dixie," as far as I am concerned.
>
>
>
We know all this, you tell us this daily!
...
bamp

"Karen" <[email protected]> wrote in message

> If I provide my own phone, signing any new contract would unreasonable,
> IMO.
>
> Karen

My understanding is that Cingular has been trying to get all ATTWS
"upgraders" to sign new term agreements. There may be exceptions, but it
appears that Cingular is insisting upon new contracts, at least in the
initial negotiations with the ATTWS customers.

I switched out because I have a particular dislike for manipulative vendors,
and because my modest needs could be met by virtually any cellular carrier.
It wasn't that I was opposed to turning TDMA off, just that the process
should not have cost me my preferential rates that were then in effect, nor
should it have required me to sign a new contract just to get another
handset. After all, it was not I that was initiating the network changes.

But the cloud ended up having a silver lining. I'm extremely pleased with
my Sprint experience, the call quality is far superior to anything I ever
had with TDMA, the billing has been dead accurate, the CSRs have been
helpful and polite, they gave me free phones, free shipping and free
activation and, best of all, I was not made to feel as though I had to
grovel at anyone's feet just in order to get a fair shake.

I don't miss Cingular one bit. Not one bit . . .

"Jeremy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Bihig.41$db5.28@trnddc03...
> "Karen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
>> If I provide my own phone, signing any new contract would unreasonable,
>> IMO.
>>
>> Karen
>
> My understanding is that Cingular has been trying to get all ATTWS
> "upgraders" to sign new term agreements. There may be exceptions, but it
> appears that Cingular is insisting upon new contracts, at least in the
> initial negotiations with the ATTWS customers.
>
> I switched out because I have a particular dislike for manipulative
> vendors, and because my modest needs could be met by virtually any
> cellular carrier. It wasn't that I was opposed to turning TDMA off, just
> that the process should not have cost me my preferential rates that were
> then in effect, nor should it have required me to sign a new contract just
> to get another handset. After all, it was not I that was initiating the
> network changes.
>
> But the cloud ended up having a silver lining. I'm extremely pleased with
> my Sprint experience, the call quality is far superior to anything I ever
> had with TDMA, the billing has been dead accurate, the CSRs have been
> helpful and polite, they gave me free phones, free shipping and free
> activation and, best of all, I was not made to feel as though I had to
> grovel at anyone's feet just in order to get a fair shake.
>
> I don't miss Cingular one bit. Not one bit . . .
>
Us Cingular folks wouldn't miss you either, if you'd just leave!!!!
...
bamp

Across northern North Dakota and Montana (US2 & Amtrak) the last 2
summers, on Cingular/TDMA, I would roam onto Cellular One where there
was AMPS or TDMA (between the High Line towns - no coverage at all), but
apparently they had a roaming agreement and I never got charged.
Cellular One in NJ was sold to Cingular in New Jersey a few years ago.
Maybe that has something to do with the roaming agreement.

Are you saying that with Alltel and CDMA, much of that TDMA coverage may
now be gone ? I'll find out next month anyway.

Bill Radio wrote:
> A little more detail might be helpful. Alltel bought Cellular One/Western
> Wireless, which had a significant presence in my area. Cellular One was
> 100% TDMA/analog, but slowly began to add CDMA to their existing sites.
> When most of them had CDMA, they stopped sellng TDMA phones, and sold only
> CDMA phones to their own customers. For years after, their own TDMA
> customer base remained a steady 20% while Cingular TDMA roamers were quickly
> disappearing.
>
> When Alltel purchased C-1/WW, any remaining TDMA customers were offered CDMA
> handsets, and, at some some point in the past 6 months, TDMA was turned off
> in the ex-C-1/WW network. Being a TDMA roamer (with a fairly old IRDB) I
> just hadn't noticed that the phone wasn't in digital any longer since I made
> so few calls on it. However, the phone did see TDMA on other
> (non-ex-C-1/WW) networks.
>
> It hadn't occured to me that Alltel was dropping TDMA so soon until I
> re-read their purchase proposal, and included in the expenses were new CDMA
> handsets for all TDMA customers.
>
> -Bill Radio
>
>
> "L David Matheny" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
>><snip>
>>You shouldn't see Alltel because they use CDMA, not TDMA.
>>
>
>
>