Cingular screws over AT&T Free2Go customers after merger

Joseph wrote:

> Please name them.

See earlier post.

> T-Mobile does not and as far as I know cingular
> does not either. How many GSM is many considering that there are only
> two GSM national operators at present T-Mobile and cingular. And how
> do you suppose setting the fee high does not mean that they couldn't
> get screwed?

Because they know the rates that other operators charge, and they set
their own rates high enough to avoid losing money. There are many, many
GSM carriers throughout the country, in areas that are not large enough
for the national carriers to serve, but that you can roam on if your
plan allows roaming.

> You evidently don't really know and are only
> conjecturing,

No offense, but I know far more about this subject than you are ever
likely to know.

You don't realize that Cingular sells time on their network to other
prepaid operators, such as Net10, 7-11, and Locus. These virtual
carriers are free to set their own rates, and their own policies on
roaming. Fortunately for Cingular, these operators are not well-known by
most people, even though they often are better choices.

Steve
http://prepaiduswireless.com

---

› See More: Cingular screws over AT&T Free2Go customers after merger

I was really into old school610 or the 6160i with advanced "text". Then
I picked up a cheap looking 5165 at the local thrift shop...sweet,
includes T9 text input.
Menu 214 does an Email addy search, as these can be entered in the 5165
phonebook.

I don't think this phone uses the web, but does identify and send an
email address to my VZW phone. Just tried it to make sure. It shows up
as an email message in my VZW inbox.

I thought these 5165's were junk but it seems they were some of the
latest feature set series of the 5100/6100. Just the low cost entry ATT
phone.

There's piles of 5165's being sold on ebay right now, some in bulk, but
I'd just like to pick up a couple. Since they use all the 6100
batteries and accessories they're real cheap to outfit. I think many
current TDMA users want the smaller 8265's.


Callplus can send and recieve text and "email" address messages
depending on the phone's features. It just costs one minute of airtime
to SEND but the receiving is free.

-
David

DavNOLindiSPAM At hot mail

"Joseph" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 20 May 2005 01:33:59 -0700, "David L" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I can't tell you how many digital/GSM users I've had to explain why
> >there phone isn't working and mine is, while in the mountains.
>
> Enjoy your 12 year old analog while you can. It will likely be gone
> within the next three years.

It will not be gone. Carriers are _permitted_ to shut down their AMPS
service in 2007, and in urban areas they will probably choose to do so. But
in rural areas, where AMPS is often the only service available, they will
not shut it down. They make big bucks from roaming charges, as well as
selling local service. There are still several AMPS-only carriers in the
U.S. There are still vast areas of the country without digital service (like
most of Alaska, outside the major and minor cities).

I always enjoy explaining to people who see me on the phone in places like
Yosemite, why their phone does not work. That said, I was in Muir Woods in
Marin county a couple of months ago, and I had no coverage at all, not even
AMPS. Yet there was someone talking on their phone. Either they had a TDMA
or a GSM phone. Next time I'll take all three phones, and see which one
works.

"Joseph" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 20 May 2005 02:23:36 -0700, "David L" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I'll have to check out number availbilty in the SF bay area for Beyond
> >wireless.
>
> They don't have any California numbers.

Doesn't really matter. They will issue a number where they do have them, and
since it's free long distance it doesn't matter. Actually it can be better
to have an out of state number since intra-LATA rates are higher than
inter-LATA rates.

Yes things change, but it's going to take a miracle to outfit all those
mom&pop cellco analog towers in the middle of nowhere. And even if they
do... what's that going to do for all the local farmer/rancher/ country
types, who really depend on getting a signal from those towers that
were built out expressly for 3watt/ 1/2 watt analog coverage? I think
there's a snowballs chance that there will be fill in towers built,
since that's a _huge_ cost burden for small carriers.

It's going to be a rude awakening to many rural folks, when their
cellular lifeline gets shut off or at least severely diminished. I just
can't quite envision that scenerio... but that's what's going to
happen, unless there's some major tweaking on the CDMA tower's power
and range, if/when analog gets shut down.

Should be interesting.

-
David

"Steven M. Scharf" wrote:
> "Joseph" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On 20 May 2005 02:23:36 -0700, "David L" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >I'll have to check out number availbilty in the SF bay area for Beyond
> > >wireless.
> >
> > They don't have any California numbers.
>
> Doesn't really matter. They will issue a number where they do have them, and
> since it's free long distance it doesn't matter.

It matters to the people who call you. I wish I'd bothered to make sure that
the number assigned to me was a local call for my local friends and relatives.

> Actually it can be better
> to have an out of state number since intra-LATA rates are higher than
> inter-LATA rates.

--
Cheers,
Bev
*********************************************************
Warning: Objects in mirror appear smarter than they are.

David L wrote:
> Yes things change, but it's going to take a miracle to outfit all those
> mom&pop cellco analog towers in the middle of nowhere. And even if they
> do... what's that going to do for all the local farmer/rancher/ country
> types, who really depend on getting a signal from those towers that
> were built out expressly for 3watt/ 1/2 watt analog coverage? I think
> there's a snowballs chance that there will be fill in towers built,
> since that's a _huge_ cost burden for small carriers.

If they do go digital, it will almost certainly be to CDMA, since you
need a lot less CDMA cells than GSM cells to cover a given area.

But there really is no reason for them to go digital. They are not
required to turn off AMPS in 2007, they are merely permitted to do so. I
visited Alaska two years ago. No GSM at all, mostly TDMA and AMPS, with
CDMA in moderate size cities. AMPS coverage was excellent, even far from
cities. They were still selling new Motorola 3W AMPS phones, though now
they're down to refurbished ones, see
"http://www.acsalaska.com/shoponline/PhoneDetail.aspx?intEquipId=14204"

I roam onto AMPS a lot, even in California. Just drive to Yosemite from
San Francisco. On the outskirts of Oakdale you switch to Golden State
Cellular on CDMA. In the park, you can get Golden State Cellular AMPS.
There is no GSM or TDMA coverage.

The Real Bev wrote:

> "Steven M. Scharf" wrote:
>
>>"Joseph" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>On 20 May 2005 02:23:36 -0700, "David L" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I'll have to check out number availbilty in the SF bay area for Beyond
>>>>wireless.
>>>
>>>They don't have any California numbers.
>>
>>Doesn't really matter. They will issue a number where they do have them, and
>>since it's free long distance it doesn't matter.
>
>
> It matters to the people who call you. I wish I'd bothered to make sure that
> the number assigned to me was a local call for my local friends and relatives.

It often matters less than you think.

For example, for relatives that live 35 miles away from us (San Jose-San
Bruno), if they call a San Jose number from their landline, it will cost
6 cents per minute. If they call an out-of-state number, using a good
long distance service it will cost about 4 cents per minute. Or they can
use something like OneSuite, and all the calls will be 2.5 cents per
minute. I realize that in some areas, the local calling area is much
larger than what it is where I live, so YMMV.

The other thing you can do is to tell your friends and relatives to call
you, and you won't answer, but you'll call them back (as long as they
don't have Caller-ID blocking). Or they can send you a text message to
call them, since on BW, incoming messages are free.

Since prepaid users are frugal, they keep the number of minutes to a
minimum, and the caller paying for a few LD minutes isn't a big deal.

"Joseph" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...

> Steve, it doesn't matter if they charge $5 a minute. They won't do it
> and they don't do it for reasons I've stated previously.

As has been explained to you, with references, is the fact that they do do
it. What you stated previously is incorrect. No one will think badly of you
if you simply acknowledge your error, rather than continue to state what is
not so.

> Prepaid GSM
> does not allow for off network roaming in the US. I asked you to
> provide an answer on which GSM network allows roaming with prepaid and
> you never answered. By your non answer we can assume that it
> doesn't exist in the US.

Do not use "we" in your responses. It is perfectly clear that you are the
only person that is unable to comprehend the facts. Using "we" implies that
there are other individuals that are as obstinate, as yourself.

Both Marcio and I explained to you which prepaid plans offered roaming on
GSM and CDMA prepaid. Not sure what your comprehension problem is.

There are links to all of the plans at http://prepaiduswireless.com, and you
can see that all of the GSM plans, except those offered directly by Cingular
and T-Mobile, allow roaming on prepaid, at an extra charge (or in the case
of Net10, at no extra charge). I also added a section that explictly stated
which plans do, and do not, allow roaming, for GSM, CDMA, TDMA, and iDEN.

>>No offense, but I know far more about this subject than you are ever
likely to know.

>OK why should anyone believe this?

All they have to do is to go to the websites of each GSM provider. Each one
explicitly states whether roaming is allowed or not, and if it is allowed,
what it costs.

Steve
http://prepaiduswireless.com

On 5/6/05 11:42 AM, in article [email protected],
"Jonathan Kamens" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Before Cingular merged with AT&T wireless, subscribers to the
> AT&T wireless "Free2Go" prepaid calling plan could keep a
> prepaid account active by paying only $10 every 90 days.
> This was perfect for my wife, who rarely uses her cell phone
> but occasionally finds it useful to have one.
>
> After the merger, I can't add $10 to the account at all, $15
> expires in 30 days rather than 90 days, and I have to add at
> least $25 to the account to keep it active for 90 days.
>
> In short, after the merger the prepaid account costs 150% more
> than it did before the merger.
>
> I see other postings about this, but I don't see anything
> which makes it perfectly clear just how badly they've screwed
> over occasional users with this change. Outrageous!
>
> Yes, sir, these mega-mergers sure do benefit the consumer! If
> you believe that, I've got some nice land in Florida I'd like
> to sell you.

Maybe one of these would be better:

http://www.wirelessflatrate.com/


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