Decision Time is Near (Cingular or TMobile?)

As we get closer to the month of March when my last contract expires
with ATT WS, it is time to begin to figure out when I am going to do. I
now have the following services:
One ATT TDMA phone with a local plan and a local (Atlanta) area code
and number at a cost of $46
One ATT TDMA phone with a national plan and a foreign (Chicago) area
code at a cost of $35
One ATT GSM pre pay phone my son uses with a Chicago Area Code (he
resides there with his mother 9 months out of the year and here in
Atlanta in the summertime). I pay about $30 a month for this so he can
have unlimited N&W.
As you can see I am currently paying about $115 a month just for
service. Here is what I would like to do:
Get a NATIONAL family plan with about 1000 minutes to be shared between
3 GSM phones. I would like to pay less than I am paying now for the 3
phones. I also want free mobile to mobile nationwide (deal killer),
free nights and weekends (deal killer). I would prefer that my son be
able to keep his Chicago area code but I am willing to give up on that
if I have to have all the phones in the same area code( not a deal
killer). I would also prefer free incoming text messages but that is
not a deal killer either (I have that now on ATT with 10 cents to
send). I will be happy to buy my own phones BUT I will absolutely NOT
sign anything over 1 year.
Where do you think my best deal is to be found?

---

› See More: Decision Time is Near (Cingular or TMobile?)

on 2/24/2005 12:03 PM Kev said the following:
> if I have to have all the phones in the same area code( not a deal
> killer). I would also prefer free incoming text messages but that is
> not a deal killer either (I have that now on ATT with 10 cents to
> send). I will be happy to buy my own phones BUT I will absolutely NOT
> sign anything over 1 year.
> Where do you think my best deal is to be found?

I switched to a new Cingular Nationwide Family plan in December.

For about $113/month (Including tax, title, dealer prep, destination
charges and doc fees<g>) I get

FOUR GSM Nokia phones

850 Anytime Minutes with Rollover
Unlimited Nights and Weekends
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Expanded
All the bells & whistles of the Digitalpak Features such as
Detailed Billing
Caller ID
Call Waiting
Call Forwarding
Three-way Calling
Basic Voice Mail


Basically, it's $73.14 for that package with one phone and then
$13.37 (including taxes) for each add'l phone on the family plan.

I've been with Cellular One/Cingular One/Cingular since 1987. I've
looked and looked hard but find it hard to beat them in this market area
(Chicago).

Your mileage may vary.

with t-mobile for $80 you get 3 lines/1000 minutes, for $110 you can
get 3 lines with 1600 minutes, mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and
weekends.

SMS is $.05 in and out (Cingular is .10 in and out)

All the Cingular plans require 2 year activation, but a very similar in
price.

Any particular reason you're not simply going to the websites yourself
to find this stuff out?

s


In article <[email protected]>, Kev
<[email protected]> wrote:

> As we get closer to the month of March when my last contract expires
> with ATT WS, it is time to begin to figure out when I am going to do. I
> now have the following services:
> One ATT TDMA phone with a local plan and a local (Atlanta) area code
> and number at a cost of $46
> One ATT TDMA phone with a national plan and a foreign (Chicago) area
> code at a cost of $35
> One ATT GSM pre pay phone my son uses with a Chicago Area Code (he
> resides there with his mother 9 months out of the year and here in
> Atlanta in the summertime). I pay about $30 a month for this so he can
> have unlimited N&W.
> As you can see I am currently paying about $115 a month just for
> service. Here is what I would like to do:
> Get a NATIONAL family plan with about 1000 minutes to be shared between
> 3 GSM phones. I would like to pay less than I am paying now for the 3
> phones. I also want free mobile to mobile nationwide (deal killer),
> free nights and weekends (deal killer). I would prefer that my son be
> able to keep his Chicago area code but I am willing to give up on that
> if I have to have all the phones in the same area code( not a deal
> killer). I would also prefer free incoming text messages but that is
> not a deal killer either (I have that now on ATT with 10 cents to
> send). I will be happy to buy my own phones BUT I will absolutely NOT
> sign anything over 1 year.
> Where do you think my best deal is to be found?
>

I went to both websites but they are confusing as hell. For example,
the Cingular site touts its $69 for 1100 minutes "family" plan but does
not make clear whether that $69.99 is for only the 1st line or for the
first 2 lines. It would seem that a "family" plan would start with 2
lines but I was told by a dealer that the price is only for a single
line whereas the same amount on T-Mobile will get you 2 lines of
service. Then, if you look at mobile to mobile minutes, you see this
little line: " Mobile to Mobile Minutes: Mobile to Mobile Minutes may
be used when directly dialing or receiving calls from any other
Cingular phone number from within your calling area". So what the hell
does that mean? If I have a M2M conversation with somebody in Kansas
City and I am in Atlanta, is it free or not free? Look at how clear the
T Mobile web site is on the subject: "Mobile-to-mobile minutes are
directly dialed calls between T-Mobile phones in the T-Mobile USA
digital coverage area." That is quite clear to me. I would actually
prefer Cingular for their superior coverage but I can live with T
Mobile's coverage if the price is alot better.

In article <[email protected]>, Kev
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I went to both websites but they are confusing as hell. For example,
> the Cingular site touts its $69 for 1100 minutes "family" plan but does
> not make clear whether that $69.99 is for only the 1st line or for the
> first 2 lines. It would seem that a "family" plan would start with 2
> lines but I was told by a dealer that the price is only for a single
> line whereas the same amount on T-Mobile will get you 2 lines of
> service. Then, if you look at mobile to mobile minutes, you see this
> little line: " Mobile to Mobile Minutes: Mobile to Mobile Minutes may
> be used when directly dialing or receiving calls from any other
> Cingular phone number from within your calling area". So what the hell
> does that mean? If I have a M2M conversation with somebody in Kansas
> City and I am in Atlanta, is it free or not free?

It's not that complicated, Kev. If you have a national plan then your
calling area is where ever that plan is valid.

> Look at how clear the
> T Mobile web site is on the subject: "Mobile-to-mobile minutes are
> directly dialed calls between T-Mobile phones in the T-Mobile USA
> digital coverage area." That is quite clear to me. I would actually
> prefer Cingular for their superior coverage but I can live with T
> Mobile's coverage if the price is alot better.
>

T-mobile's been great for me, I came from ATT. I have no complaints.

s

The websites could be part of your problem. Try a good reseller.

I've been with tmo for five years with no complaints, but that's not
the story here. I wanted a particular phone that tmo didn't have, and
$200+ on ebay was a bit rich for my blood.

I started a new attws plan with a reseller, www.letstalk.com

I got:

--free phones, including two 6820s (deals change, and that one isn't
there anymore)
--two MA area codes; one OH area code
--free N&W from 7PM
--free m2m throughout attws and cingular
--1000-ish minutes (may be 850 or 1150--don't have my bill handy) for
59.99+9.99+9.99
--who knows what else; it's on the website

plus, if anything goes wrong, you have a bit of a get-out-of-jail free
card, in that you can switch to cingular anytime, without an early
termination fee from attws.

I suppose if you were a schemer, you could sign up with attws, then
turn around and switch to cingular--and get 2x the number of free
phones.

Of course, you won't find any of this on the cingular or attws website.
They'll tell you that you can't get new attws service.

"Kev" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As we get closer to the month of March when my last contract expires
> with ATT WS, it is time to begin to figure out when I am going to do. I
> now have the following services:

I'm curious why you think you need to do anything? Not being in a contract
sounds like the best option to me. I want the option to bolt if I don't like
something new or a better offer comes up somewhere else. Why do you feel you
need to be under a contract? The contract only benefits the service
provider.

I have both T-Mobile and Cingular family plans. (I'm in transition
mode).

If coverage is sufficient, T-Mobile is objectively better. It costs
less, has shorter contract requirements, has much lower cost GPRS data
(unless you use an unsupported mode & even then Cingular costs more),
includes CSD data (which can use "free" minutes), sms, etc....

Best of all, T-Mobile has true 24/7/365 quickly answered support with
reps who know what they are talking about; if you persue a data problem
you'll actually have experts from England calling you back when they
said they would! Incredible!

Cingular's support is available about 1/2 the time. Getting beyond the
first level requires long, long waits. Getting to an expert is a rare
event.

I had very few T-Mobile coverage problems in cities & on the
Interstates.

However, Cingular's rural coverage is much more extensive. T-mobile's
great features are not much value when you are out of coverage.

Dave

PS Your one year requirement will put Cingular out of the picture I
think.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> However, Cingular's rural coverage is much more extensive. T-mobile's
> great features are not much value when you are out of coverage.
>
>
Much? Meaning larger footprints around cities and more coverage along
freeways? True rural coverage on both C and TM comes from roaming on
third party carriers and both should be similar unless you have a Gait
phone on Cingular. Equally non-existent--most of the smaller rural
carriers are still TDMA and AMPS. In fact the ONLY non-Cingular GSM
carrier I've found in central TX is TM!
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

Jud,

My "much more extensive" statement was based on comparing Cingular's
and T-mobile's GSM coverage maps. I asked on this and the voicestream
(i.e. alt.celullar.... ) newsgroups for personal exeperence. I
received little comment that'd indicate much deviation from the
published maps.

I raised the question because I originally assumed they'd both really
have about the same GSM coverage. Not so according to Cingular CS and
the news groups (little info in conflict with the maps).

See:
http://onlinestore2.cingular.com/htm...on_GSM_map.htm
http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/Def...class=coverage

I'd sure like to hear conflicting data before finalizing a two year
committment!

Dave

Jud Hardcastle wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>
>>However, Cingular's rural coverage is much more extensive. T-mobile's
>>great features are not much value when you are out of coverage.
>>
>>
>
> Much? Meaning larger footprints around cities and more coverage along
> freeways? True rural coverage on both C and TM comes from roaming on
> third party carriers and both should be similar unless you have a Gait
> phone on Cingular. Equally non-existent--most of the smaller rural
> carriers are still TDMA and AMPS. In fact the ONLY non-Cingular GSM
> carrier I've found in central TX is TM!
> --
> Jud
> Dallas TX USA

Western Wireless, AFAIK has a GSM network in *Texas*, which could be
850, 1900, or a combination of the two. In many markets, however,
Cingular has rural GSM coverage in the 850 mHz band, in which T-Mobile
customers cannot roam. Cingular also has many roaming partners that
operate in the 850 mHz band of GSM, in which T-Mobile customers cannot roam.

Thanks. The 850/1900 thing clears it up a bit.

Dave

I already have the phones I wish to use and they are all unlocked and
can be used for either ATT, Cingular or T Mobile. That is why I have
limited my choice to those carriers. I cannot use Sprint, Verizon, US
Cell or Metro with GMS phones.

I want to change because right now with 3 lines of service costing me
about $140 a month being different accounts, I want to combine them all
on one family account and migrate from TDMA to GMS on the 2 accounts
that are TDMA. Looks like I could save $40 a month doing this.

The coverage thing is the only advanatage Cingular has for me. When I
go to Grand Lake some summer weeks, Cingular works there. ATT WS works
there. I doubt T Mobile does.