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  1. #1
    John Wolfe
    Guest
    I'm thinking of giving a relative a Go Phone for Christmas to see if they'd
    like cell service. Anyone have thoughts about the Go Phones and the two
    plans Cingular has. I'm a complete newbie to the world of cell phones. Any
    help appreciated.

    John





    See More: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones




  2. #2
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    John Wolfe wrote:
    > I'm thinking of giving a relative a Go Phone for Christmas to see if they'd
    > like cell service. Anyone have thoughts about the Go Phones and the two
    > plans Cingular has. I'm a complete newbie to the world of cell phones. Any
    > help appreciated.


    Compare the prepaid offerings prior to making a decision. Go look at
    "http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm"

    For GSM, 7-11's "Speak Out" service is usually a better deal, and it
    uses the Cingular network. The cost is 20¢ per minute, versus 25¢ per
    minute on GoPhone, but the bigger advantage is that you only have to buy
    more time once a year. GoPhone can be as low as 10¢ per minute, but only
    if you sign up for the plan where you pay $1 for each day the phone is
    used. You can only purchase 7-11's service at a 7-11 store, but you can
    buy more time from your phone.

    The best prepaid deal remains PagePlus which uses Verizon's network. The
    cost per minute is as low as 10¢, there is no daily fee, and the
    coverage is far better than what you'll get with other prepaid carriers
    (if you travel outside of urban and suburban areas then this may matter,
    inside metro areas the other providers are fine). PagePlus allows
    roaming off of Verizon's network, at extra cost. Make sure the phone
    will be used primarily in an area with Verizon coverage.

    T-Mobile's advantage is that you can buy time once a year once you buy
    $100 worth of time. The downside is that the coverage is very limited,
    as you cannot roam onto Cingular's huge 800 MHz GSM network.

    Be careful not to get a "hybrid" prepaid plan (see
    "http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_hybrid_compare.htm") which often costs
    more than regular postpaid service.




  3. #3

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    > Be careful not to get a "hybrid" prepaid plan (see
    > "http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_hybrid_compare.htm") which often costs
    > more than regular postpaid service.


    Those led me astray on the Cingular site.

    I would like to get a phone for someone who would use it rarely. They
    probably would never place a call, but I would like to be able to call them
    when they are out of town ;-)

    --
    ---
    Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5



  4. #4
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    [email protected] wrote:
    > SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    >> Be careful not to get a "hybrid" prepaid plan (see
    >> "http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_hybrid_compare.htm") which often costs
    >> more than regular postpaid service.

    >
    > Those led me astray on the Cingular site.
    >
    > I would like to get a phone for someone who would use it rarely. They
    > probably would never place a call, but I would like to be able to call them
    > when they are out of town ;-)


    You can look at "http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm" and see
    the lowest cost plans per month are SpeakOut (primary network is
    Cingular) and PagePlus (primary network is Verizon), at $2.08 and $2.50
    respectively. The advantages of PagePlus are lower cost per-minute, and
    better coverage, but if the phone is used very rarely, then the cost per
    minute isn't an issue.

    The complication is T-Mobile, once you buy $100 worth of time, you are
    "gold" status or some such thing, then all minutes you buy in the future
    are good for a year so the cost per month goes way down because you can
    buy just $10 per year in air time, and it's good for a year. So after
    about four years of service, T-Mobile becomes cheaper per month,
    presuming that you never have to do anything to keep your "gold" status.
    The problem with T-Mobile is that the coverage on their prepaid service
    is very poor.



  5. #5
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:31:25 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
    wrote in <[email protected]>:

    >The complication is T-Mobile, once you buy $100 worth of time, you are
    >"gold" status or some such thing, then all minutes you buy in the future
    >are good for a year so the cost per month goes way down because you can
    >buy just $10 per year in air time, and it's good for a year. So after
    >about four years of service, T-Mobile becomes cheaper per month,
    >presuming that you never have to do anything to keep your "gold" status.
    >The problem with T-Mobile is that the coverage on their prepaid service
    >is very poor.


    Generalizations like that are false, misleading and unhelpful. The only
    thing that matters is coverage in the areas where you'll actually use
    your phone. T-Mobile can be quite good depending on where you use your
    phone. No one carrier is best in all areas.

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



  6. #6
    Paul Hovnanian P.E.
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    John Navas wrote:
    >
    > On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:31:25 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
    > wrote in <[email protected]>:
    >
    > >The complication is T-Mobile, once you buy $100 worth of time, you are
    > >"gold" status or some such thing, then all minutes you buy in the future
    > >are good for a year so the cost per month goes way down because you can
    > >buy just $10 per year in air time, and it's good for a year. So after
    > >about four years of service, T-Mobile becomes cheaper per month,
    > >presuming that you never have to do anything to keep your "gold" status.
    > >The problem with T-Mobile is that the coverage on their prepaid service
    > >is very poor.

    >
    > Generalizations like that are false, misleading and unhelpful. The only
    > thing that matters is coverage in the areas where you'll actually use
    > your phone. T-Mobile can be quite good depending on where you use your
    > phone. No one carrier is best in all areas.


    But SMS has a point. Coverage isn't just based on where your provider
    has towers. It depends on what kind of plan you have. Not just rates,
    but coverage (as in when the phone shows 'No Service') change based on
    the plan you select. And if you can't predict the future and find
    yourself over that magic line at some point, too bad.

    Back when I had a prepaid plan from AT&T days, my phone used to work in
    British Columbia. Even though the roaming rates were exorbitant,
    sometimes its still worthwhile making a call. When I switched the
    account to a GSM phone, it no longer works at all. That's actually a
    pretty weird revenue model if you ask me. My T-Mobile prepaid SIM
    (bought in The Netherlands) works there, even though it costs a bundle
    per minute.

    --
    Paul Hovnanian mailto:[email protected]
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Have a pleasant Terran revolution.



  7. #7
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 11:27:05 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
    wrote in <[email protected]>:

    >It goes beyond that. You often don't know where you might want to use
    >your phone in the future. Having coverage in urban areas is great, but
    >for a lot of people the reason that they get a cell phone is so they
    >have a means of communication when they are off the beaten path. I've
    >been in many places where people ask me what carrier I have, because
    >they have no coverage with their own carrier. This is usually in areas
    >not very far from the urban core, especially in the San Francisco Bay
    >Area, where Verizon coverage is excellent, even in the greenbelt, but
    >where Cingular coverage is not good once you leave the 'burbs.


    In fact Cingular has very good coverage all over the San Francisco Bay
    Area, arguably the best of any carrier, better than Verizon, although
    all carriers of course have places (holes) where some other carrier is
    better.

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



  8. #8
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    At 29 Nov 2006 11:27:05 -0800 SMS wrote:

    > Good points. Look at some of the popular vacation areas where you'd get

    absolutely no coverage with a prepaid service such as T-Mobile, Virgin,
    or any other prepaid carrier that doesn't allow roaming.
    To be fair to T-Mobile, they've opened up vast roaming areas on rural
    carriers in the past year. You can even roam in Canada and Mexico on TMo
    prepaid- a rarity in American prepaid service. Domestic coverage with T-
    Mo prepaid isn't quite as good as for contract/monthly customers, but
    it's getting closer.

    T-Mo also has an excellent, and accurate (if anything, overly cautious!),
    prepaid coverage map with street-level detail, so there should be few
    surprises.

    I'm not knocking Page Plus in any way, but a certain number of potential
    users are simply going to be more comfortable with getting service from a
    major carrier than from a reseller who's life depends on how good a deal
    they can cut with a physical carrier at the next renewal. We've seen a
    lot of good MVNOs go belly up (remember JusTalk with free 800# service
    and no experation dates?) or change (raise) their rate structure with
    little or no notice (STI mobile tacking on daily fees?)

    Note that I'm not trying to scare anyone off of PagePlus- their monthly
    rates are good enough, and refills low enough that even if something
    happened to them in the future you wouldn't be stuck with a high balance
    you couldn't use, but I certainly wouldn't carry a higher balance on any
    prepaid carrier than I have to.

    > This is not because there is no wireless coverage, it's because the

    plan doesn't allow you to use the available networks.

    That's even true of monthly plan users however (or you wouldn't need a
    PRL in your phone!). It almost makes me miss the good old analog days
    where anyone could roam anywhere, albeit at a high price (anyone remember
    $3/day + $1.25/min?)

    >
    > It goes beyond that. You often don't know where you might want to use

    your phone in the future.

    Then you're obviously suggesting T-Mobile, because you might end up in
    Toronto or Cozumel... ;-)

    > Anyway, the bottom line is that for low cost prepaid, with the best

    coverage, PagePlus is the optimal choice. You can find a lower cost per
    month, but a higher per-minute cost, with Speak Out, but paying the extra
    50 cents per month for PagePlus is well worth it, especially if you're
    going to actually make more than five minutes of calls per month.

    Again, there is no blanket solution right for everyone. Heck, even
    Verizon and Cingular do not work at my house, and they're the two largest
    carriers in the country. Every phone doesn't work somewhere, so I'd
    recommend a service that works where you live, work, and play most of the
    time, rather than pick t e wrong option because carrier XYZ doesn't work
    in Vail, where you might vacation the winter after next.

    Having said that, PagePlus, Speakout and T-Mobile would certainly make my
    short list if I were hunting for a new prepaid carrier...







  9. #9
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:12:48 -0700, Todd Allcock
    <[email protected]> wrote in <[email protected]>:

    >At 29 Nov 2006 11:27:05 -0800 SMS wrote:
    >
    >> Good points. Look at some of the popular vacation areas where you'd get

    >absolutely no coverage with a prepaid service such as T-Mobile, Virgin,
    >or any other prepaid carrier that doesn't allow roaming.
    >To be fair to T-Mobile, they've opened up vast roaming areas on rural
    >carriers in the past year. You can even roam in Canada and Mexico on TMo
    >prepaid- a rarity in American prepaid service. Domestic coverage with T-
    >Mo prepaid isn't quite as good as for contract/monthly customers, but
    >it's getting closer.
    >
    >T-Mo also has an excellent, and accurate (if anything, overly cautious!),
    >prepaid coverage map with street-level detail, so there should be few
    >surprises.
    >
    >I'm not knocking Page Plus in any way, but a certain number of potential
    >users are simply going to be more comfortable with getting service from a
    >major carrier than from a reseller who's life depends on how good a deal
    >they can cut with a physical carrier at the next renewal. We've seen a
    >lot of good MVNOs go belly up (remember JusTalk with free 800# service
    >and no experation dates?) or change (raise) their rate structure with
    >little or no notice (STI mobile tacking on daily fees?)
    >[SNIP]


    FYI, it's not worth arguing about in any detail. Steven just has a hard
    on for GSM, trolling here to try to put it down whenever he can, facts
    and truth be damned. It all dates back to when his wife couldn't get
    GSM coverage in her workplace. He's been waging a silly (and tedious)
    one man war against GSM ever since. Best not to feed the trolls.

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



  10. #10
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    Todd Allcock wrote:
    > At 29 Nov 2006 11:27:05 -0800 SMS wrote:
    >
    >> Good points. Look at some of the popular vacation areas where you'd get

    > absolutely no coverage with a prepaid service such as T-Mobile, Virgin,
    > or any other prepaid carrier that doesn't allow roaming.
    > To be fair to T-Mobile, they've opened up vast roaming areas on rural
    > carriers in the past year. You can even roam in Canada and Mexico on TMo
    > prepaid- a rarity in American prepaid service. Domestic coverage with T-
    > Mo prepaid isn't quite as good as for contract/monthly customers, but
    > it's getting closer.


    They claim that there is no 800 MHz roaming with their prepaid plan. If
    this is actually true, then it really limits the coverage in a lot of area.

    > T-Mo also has an excellent, and accurate (if anything, overly cautious!),
    > prepaid coverage map with street-level detail, so there should be few
    > surprises.


    Yes, they really go out of their way to be forthright about their coverage.

    > I'm not knocking Page Plus in any way, but a certain number of potential
    > users are simply going to be more comfortable with getting service from a
    > major carrier than from a reseller who's life depends on how good a deal
    > they can cut with a physical carrier at the next renewal. We've seen a
    > lot of good MVNOs go belly up (remember JusTalk with free 800# service
    > and no experation dates?) or change (raise) their rate structure with
    > little or no notice (STI mobile tacking on daily fees?)
    >
    > Note that I'm not trying to scare anyone off of PagePlus- their monthly
    > rates are good enough, and refills low enough that even if something
    > happened to them in the future you wouldn't be stuck with a high balance
    > you couldn't use, but I certainly wouldn't carry a higher balance on any
    > prepaid carrier than I have to.


    That's basically how I feel. If something happened to them, it's not
    like I'm losing hundreds of dollars. I have my daughter on PagePlus, and
    it's worked out well. The only down side is that her friends are
    constantly borrowing her phone in places where their own phones don't
    have coverage. It's only about 14 cents per minute, so it's not a big deal.

    > That's even true of monthly plan users however (or you wouldn't need a
    > PRL in your phone!). It almost makes me miss the good old analog days
    > where anyone could roam anywhere, albeit at a high price (anyone remember
    > $3/day + $1.25/min?)


    Yeah, and it's why I won't give up my old Americas Choice plan on
    Verizon, since they worsened coverage on their newer plans. I can't wait
    to see the 2007 Consumer Reports issue on wireless. I think that Verizon
    may no longer be top-rated in every metropolitan area, not because the
    other carriers got better, but because they got worse. Fewer and fewer
    AMPS capable phones, and more and more customers on plans that have
    decreased coverage.

    > Then you're obviously suggesting T-Mobile, because you might end up in
    > Toronto or Cozumel... ;-)


    Yeah, well I'd buy a prepaid SIM card for my old 900/1800/1900 phone if
    I was outside the U.S. for any length of time.



  11. #11
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:

    > But SMS has a point. Coverage isn't just based on where your provider
    > has towers. It depends on what kind of plan you have. Not just rates,
    > but coverage (as in when the phone shows 'No Service') change based on
    > the plan you select. And if you can't predict the future and find
    > yourself over that magic line at some point, too bad.


    Good points. Look at some of the popular vacation areas where you'd get
    absolutely no coverage with a prepaid service such as T-Mobile, Virgin,
    or any other prepaid carrier that doesn't allow roaming. This is not
    because there is no wireless coverage, it's because the plan doesn't
    allow you to use the available networks.

    It goes beyond that. You often don't know where you might want to use
    your phone in the future. Having coverage in urban areas is great, but
    for a lot of people the reason that they get a cell phone is so they
    have a means of communication when they are off the beaten path. I've
    been in many places where people ask me what carrier I have, because
    they have no coverage with their own carrier. This is usually in areas
    not very far from the urban core, especially in the San Francisco Bay
    Area, where Verizon coverage is excellent, even in the greenbelt, but
    where Cingular coverage is not good once you leave the 'burbs.

    Anyway, the bottom line is that for low cost prepaid, with the best
    coverage, PagePlus is the optimal choice. You can find a lower cost per
    month, but a higher per-minute cost, with Speak Out, but paying the
    extra 50 cents per month for PagePlus is well worth it, especially if
    you're going to actually make more than five minutes of calls per month.



  12. #12
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    At 29 Nov 2006 11:25:19 -0800 SMS wrote:

    > They claim that there is no 800 MHz roaming with their prepaid plan. If

    this is actually true, then it really limits the coverage in a lot of area.


    The "no 850 roaming" blurb on the site seems to be a legacy quote. The
    current map shows 850 coverage in some areas, and many on HoFo have
    reported roaming on 850.

    > Yes, they really go out of their way to be forthright about their

    coverage.

    Agreed. They brought out the detailed maps a year or two ago when they
    had a "if we don't cover where you live, we'll let you out of your
    contract" ad campaign. That campaign is long gone, but the maps remain!
    ;-)

    > That's basically how I feel. If something happened to them, it's not

    like I'm losing hundreds of dollars. I have my daughter on PagePlus, and
    it's worked out well. The only down side is that her friends are
    constantly borrowing her phone in places where their own phones don't
    have coverage. It's only about 14 cents per minute, so it's not a big deal.


    I may have to get a PagePlus phone as my backup when Cingular kills TDMA
    and my Beyond Wireless phones go dead, but to be honest, I've rarely
    needed them since T-Mo added a lot more roaming- I do the Denver to Omaha
    and Denver to Kansas City drive a few times a year along I-80 and I-70,
    and this year T-Mo has covered me the whole way (as opposed to a few
    years ago where there were several hundred miles of dead space!) I still
    lose T-Mo on I-70 west of Denver in the mountains so TDMA/analog makes a
    nice backup (as would PagePlus, of course.) The great thing about Beyond
    Wireless as opposed to a "real" Cingular/AT&T prepaid TDMA phone is that
    Beyond lets you roam on Verizon or Alltel, albeit at 4x your regular
    minute rate.

    > Yeah, and it's why I won't give up my old Americas Choice plan on

    Verizon, since they worsened coverage on their newer plans. I can't wait
    to see the 2007 Consumer Reports issue on wireless. I think that Verizon
    may no longer be top-rated in every metropolitan area


    Sure they will- first, they bought that perception true or not with their
    "can you hear me now" ad campaign, and secondly, anytime I go anywhere
    where coverage is sketchy, it's always the person (like your daughter!)
    with Verizon who's able to make a call while the rest of us are staring
    at our missing bars! ;-)

    > not because the other carriers got better, but because they got worse.

    Fewer and fewer AMPS capable phones, and more and more customers on plans
    that have decreased coverage.

    I think your experience in the Bay Area may be atypical, however. In
    many areas digital coverage mirrors analog completely, or at least close
    enough. Verizon's mother didn't raise any stupid children, as the saying
    goes- they waited until their digital system was fully mature before
    phasing out analog plans and phones (yet keeping a few analog capable
    phones around for the small percentage of customers who still need/want
    them)...

    ....unlike some Orange-colored carriers who shall remain nameless! ;-)


    Seriously, though, the fact that Cingular and T-Mo are doing just fine
    prove the point that analog backup is either not as necessary as it was a
    few years ago, or that most customers don't find it important enough to
    be a deal breaker. My guess (and experience) is the answer is a little
    of column A and a little of column B.





  13. #13
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    At 29 Nov 2006 18:05:50 +0000 John Navas wrote:

    > FYI, it's not worth arguing about in any detail.


    Who's arguing- Steven and I were having a discussion, and I appreciate
    his input and point-of-view, as I do yours.

    > Steven just has a hard
    > on for GSM,


    As an aside, are you sure you're using that phrase correctly? When I was
    a teen, the expression "had a hard-on for" meant you were _attracted_ to
    something/someone enough to have an erection, i.e. Loni Anderson, Pam
    Anderson, hell, any large-breasted Anderson (except maybe comedian Louie
    Anderson...) Using my high-school definition, you should Be arguing
    Steven has anything BUT a hard-on for GSM!

    > trolling here to try to put it down whenever he can, facts
    > and truth be damned.


    Many say the same about you, as you well know. I prefer to believe that
    both of you, like most of us including myself, have your objectivity
    clouded by your experiences.

    > It all dates back to when his wife couldn't get
    > GSM coverage in her workplace.


    GSM coverage, or Cingular coverage. There's a difference, you know.
    Steven has always struck me as a "technology doesn't matter as long as it
    works" type, although he seems to believe, IIRC, that CDMA is a superior
    technolgy, all else being equal. I'm not sure I'd disagree, frankly,
    although I personally am a GSM user, more because that's what the carrier
    I choose to use uses, not because I'm religiouly devoted to it, or any,
    wireless technology.

    > He's been waging a silly (and tedious)
    > one man war against GSM ever since. Best not to feed the trolls.


    Again, I disagree with your assessment. Steven has been fighting a war
    in defense of analog fallback and it's necessity even in this day and age
    because _he_ relies on it, and you think it's an anachronism and
    completely unnecessary because _you_ don't. IMHO, you're both wrong, but
    he's probably less wrong than you are on that point. Personally, I like
    having analog roaming, but I'm not willing to spend any significant money
    for it- I'll take my $45/month, 600 anytime minutes, 500 SMS, and
    unlimited data plan w/T-Mo without analog over a more expensive less
    featured plan with analog. That's an economic decision I've made, but I
    won't pretend analog is unnecessary justbecause I'm unwilling to pay for
    it.

    For me, my current use of Beyond Wireless TDMA service (with analog
    fallback) fills the gaps in T-Mo coverage (although honestly I've only
    had to use it for a total of maybe two-dozen minutes all year, and only a
    few of those were on analog.)

    After Cingular shuts down TDMA/analog I'll revisit the issue and
    determine if a bargain-basement CDMA MVNO is necessary for backup or if I
    can manage with T-Mo as my only carrier (which is possible given their
    ever-increasing roaming coverage.)

    I'm with T-Mobile because after weighing the factors important to ME-
    value, coverage, customer service, equipment choices, reliability, e-mail
    and data capabilities, etc. T-Mo is hands-down the winner. I don't
    presume, however, that that means they're the right choice for everyone
    else!







  14. #14
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    Todd Allcock wrote:

    > Sure they will- first, they bought that perception true or not with their
    > "can you hear me now" ad campaign, and secondly, anytime I go anywhere
    > where coverage is sketchy, it's always the person (like your daughter!)
    > with Verizon who's able to make a call while the rest of us are staring
    > at our missing bars! ;-)


    They couldn't just buy that perception, there has to be something to
    back it up. Cingular tried to buy the same sort of perception with their
    "fewest dropped calls" ad campaign, but it flopped because there was
    nothing to back it up, and they admitted as much by refusing to disclose
    the data behind their ads.

    > I think your experience in the Bay Area may be atypical, however. In
    > many areas digital coverage mirrors analog completely, or at least close
    > enough. Verizon's mother didn't raise any stupid children, as the saying
    > goes- they waited until their digital system was fully mature before
    > phasing out analog plans and phones (yet keeping a few analog capable
    > phones around for the small percentage of customers who still need/want
    > them)...


    I'm not sure how atypical the Bay Area is. Verizon topped the survey
    results in every metro area. It's true that in the Bay Area you have the
    topography, the mountains and hills, and the greenbelt which give
    Verizon a big advantage, especially if you have an analog capable phone.
    I spend a lot of time up in the Santa Cruz mountains, where you're SOL
    without an AMPS capable phone on a lot of the roads.

    As to the reason that Verizon phased out the plans that allow analog
    roaming, it was because of customers disputing roaming charges, at least
    according to Verizon CSRs.

    > Seriously, though, the fact that Cingular and T-Mo are doing just fine
    > prove the point that analog backup is either not as necessary as it was a
    > few years ago, or that most customers don't find it important enough to
    > be a deal breaker.


    LOL, I'd say that 95% of customers have no idea of what analog even is.
    And they don't know that it's unimportant until they are out in the
    boonies with no coverage, and even then they assume that no one else has
    coverage either. The people that realize what they've lost are the ones
    that get a new phone without AMPS, and suddenly don't have coverage in
    places that they had coverage before.



  15. #15
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Seeking thought on prepaid Go Phones

    On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:25:07 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
    wrote in <[email protected]>:

    >Todd Allcock wrote:
    >
    >> Sure they will- first, they bought that perception true or not with their
    >> "can you hear me now" ad campaign, and secondly, anytime I go anywhere
    >> where coverage is sketchy, it's always the person (like your daughter!)
    >> with Verizon who's able to make a call while the rest of us are staring
    >> at our missing bars! ;-)

    >
    >They couldn't just buy that perception, there has to be something to
    >back it up. Cingular tried to buy the same sort of perception with their
    >"fewest dropped calls" ad campaign, but it flopped because there was
    >nothing to back it up, and they admitted as much by refusing to disclose
    >the data behind their ads.


    It fact it's been successful, and is still featured on
    http://cingular.com

    >> I think your experience in the Bay Area may be atypical, however. In
    >> many areas digital coverage mirrors analog completely, or at least close
    >> enough. Verizon's mother didn't raise any stupid children, as the saying
    >> goes- they waited until their digital system was fully mature before
    >> phasing out analog plans and phones (yet keeping a few analog capable
    >> phones around for the small percentage of customers who still need/want
    >> them)...

    >
    >I'm not sure how atypical the Bay Area is. Verizon topped the survey
    >results in every metro area. It's true that in the Bay Area you have the
    >topography, the mountains and hills, and the greenbelt which give
    >Verizon a big advantage, especially if you have an analog capable phone.


    Cingular actually has coverage there as good or better.

    >I spend a lot of time up in the Santa Cruz mountains, where you're SOL
    >without an AMPS capable phone on a lot of the roads.


    You're SOL even with AMPS in many of those areas.

    >As to the reason that Verizon phased out the plans that allow analog
    >roaming, it was because of customers disputing roaming charges, at least
    >according to Verizon CSRs.


    Actually according to you, no one else.

    >> Seriously, though, the fact that Cingular and T-Mo are doing just fine
    >> prove the point that analog backup is either not as necessary as it was a
    >> few years ago, or that most customers don't find it important enough to
    >> be a deal breaker.

    >
    >LOL, I'd say that 95% of customers have no idea of what analog even is.
    >And they don't know that it's unimportant until they are out in the
    >boonies with no coverage, and even then they assume that no one else has
    >coverage either. The people that realize what they've lost are the ones
    >that get a new phone without AMPS, and suddenly don't have coverage in
    >places that they had coverage before.


    Assumes facts not in evidence.

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



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