So yesterday I got the email from sprint,followed the link and it took me to a "comming soon" page....WTF. So I call sprint, rep asked someone else in the room and said aug. 20. Then I figured I Might as well confirm contract pricing and stuff. She said that the $10/mo. Fee allows higher speed/wider bandwidth connection even on 3g network locations. Can evo owners confirm or deny this?
She also seemed to hint that we might get some sort of pre-notification/pre-order email if your on that list or whatever, I think its all just some sort of bass aackwords social media campain to keep us talking about it...........epic 4g..epic 4g..epic 4g..epic 4g,can I have my phone now?
Evo 4g still is only at select locations "due to unprecidented demand" WTF. Sprint you better pull your head out of your bass and hook an "early adoptor" up.
ummm, what?
radar5 said:
ummm, what?
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That's what I would've said.
Anyway does anyone know if the Epic 4g is gonna cost that $10 extra a month? It's not really all that big of a deal but I still wanna know.
I'd bet 10$ it will. Its here to stay on 4g phones.
Yes its going to cost the extra 10.
I can assure you that they are no faster on 3g than we are. 3g is '3g' is "3g" is EVDO RevA. The technologies don't allow for one device to be different than than other one. The towers don't give an EVO a priority over a Hero, its just not how things work. If the EVO does get a better speed test its because it can process the data faster, so if a website feels like it loads faster - it probably does - but its all in rendering not in the network.
And yes, the $10.00 fee will be there. I am not sure what everyones big deal is with it. It gives you the ability to hit 4G if you can, its a lot easier for sprint to tell you that you can connect to 4G regardless of where you live than for them to keep track of 4G users and non 4G users.
Given I do think they need a 3g super phone for those of you who are complaining.
All about the fee...
Try out explainthefee dot com
Kcarpenter said:
I can assure you that they are no faster on 3g than we are. 3g is '3g' is "3g" is EVDO RevA. The technologies don't allow for one device to be different than than other one. The towers don't give an EVO a priority over a Hero, its just not how things work. If the EVO does get a better speed test its because it can process the data faster, so if a website feels like it loads faster - it probably does - but its all in rendering not in the network.
And yes, the $10.00 fee will be there. I am not sure what everyones big deal is with it. It gives you the ability to hit 4G if you can, its a lot easier for sprint to tell you that you can connect to 4G regardless of where you live than for them to keep track of 4G users and non 4G users.
Given I do think they need a 3g super phone for those of you who are complaining.
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Ok so I kind of accepted what she said ( I don't argue with children or uninformed people),but I asked "sooo the fee makes me somekind of priority user?" She replied "yes" I said "ummm ok". Please understand that I'm not saying she was right or truthful. Also when I went into the sprint store to ask about coverage in my little 3 stoplight town they had multiple overlapping signal strength maps on their terminal (3 I think). They were telling me yes your in 3g coverage area, yes your in area for cell modem, hotspot at home etc. Its my understanding all of these devices operate on the same network, but at differant speeds usually, isn't a cell modem plan more than adding data coverage and also faster? IDK maybe cell modem users do have priority.
The reason makes sense to me is because I use to move pretty often and I had a blackberry pearl that I bought when it first came out specifically for use as usb tether modem. Whenever the local high school let out for the day my connection would take a dump, so I would call T-mobile and explain my problem," is there anything you can do, this is a really important work project? They'd say hold on ill try to boost your network priority. I did this 2-3 times a week and it seemed to work, every time I called in I got the same response,T-mo RIM support had their own dept. Back in the day and they were actually quite good. This took place from 4-2 years ago.
Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer, don't play one on tv, and didn't sleep in a holiday inn express lastnight.
harrybozack said:
Try out explainthefee dot com
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You could just choose not to have Sprint. You always have that choice. They aren't adding the fee to current subscribers without possibly using the service. Unlike the other carriers with similar products, the user experience IS very different. I don't know if its your website, or a website you're just fond of. But if you really want to make Sprint pay for their $10 fee, then don't use them. Even with the $10 fee, they still sold out on the Evo, maybe its because their service isn't half-bad for what you do pay for.
Would you complain to the BBB about AT&T just announcing tiered data plans? No, because there is nothing you can do about it. Want an Iphone 4, pay for your extra data you'll use. VZW will go this way soon enough.
They are charging $10 extra a month on all of their 4G phones now. They charge evo $10 extra for the chance to use 4G if you can find it.
Ok so I went to explainthefee.com read the transcript and some other stuff. My guess is that some mid level exec. business school graduate got his hot little hands on a evo, flexed its muscles and decided that they "could/should" charge more. Keep in mind 2 things, firstly these guys running the companies don't understand/care about "fringe users like us" their personal phones are not rooted/overclocked/themed they have no idea!,they may have never bothered using youtube etc. On a smaller screeen device. Secondly the new CEO of sprint turned the company around and wanted to offer the lowest priced plans available with the most everything. They want it both ways and that's why they can't answer a simple question "what am I paying for".
I guess the 10$ is for..........Ummm well were not going to restructure our entire rate plan menu because of one device are we? I mean we signed a contract for 1.5m rate plan pamplets, and those little signs in all the stores.........etc.
I say after the epic is released we start a serious email/bbb campain they don't seem to have any firm ground to stand on. They will raise all rate plans $10 or more and allow us our legacy plans without the $10 fee.
Remember AFTER epic release............... Say 10 days?
Indeed, as far as I know, what they're doing is essentially unheard of in the US. I wasn't into phones as much back in 2002 or so when 3G first got started, but I do know that nowadays you don't have to pay an extra surcharge for EDGE over GPRS, or HSPA over EDGE (apologies for the GSM examples). You pay for Internet on other carriers, plain and simple. It would be slightly easier to take if they at least gave you the choice to not use their 4G Internet, especially since it might not be available where you live anyway, and they may have no plans to make it available.
BTW Thank You harrybozack for explainthefee.com
All future epic owners and sprint customers should be aware of
explainthefee.com and their efforts.
explainthefee.com
Epic4g...epic4g...epic4g...epic4g...epic4g...epic4g...epic4g...epic 4g...epic 4g...epic 4g...epic 4g......
Can I purchase my phone now?
gophergun said:
Indeed, as far as I know, what they're doing is essentially unheard of in the US. I wasn't into phones as much back in 2002 or so when 3G first got started, but I do know that nowadays you don't have to pay an extra surcharge for EDGE over GPRS, or HSPA over EDGE (apologies for the GSM examples). You pay for Internet on other carriers, plain and simple. It would be slightly easier to take if they at least gave you the choice to not use their 4G Internet, especially since it might not be available where you live anyway, and they may have no plans to make it available.
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You do realize that when the iPhone 3G came out, they jacked up the cost of the internet plans on AT&T right? I THINK it was $20 for the 1st gen, and $30 for the 3G.
reply
entropism said:
You do realize that when the iPhone 3G came out, they jacked up the cost of the internet plans on AT&T right? I THINK it was $20 for the 1st gen, and $30 for the 3G.
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Firstly we are Android users, and as such I don't drink from the kool-aid cup of at&t/steve jobs/apple. Secondly at&t aplies their rates evenly on all users. Would I pay more per month
For a i4 vs i3gs?
And in conclusion what product or service is being provided for $10/mo. Or $120/yr Or in my case $240/yr? Am I renting a big screen/fast processor/whatever, in addition to paying for the device and service?
I'm sorry but I'm so tired of reading about the $10 fee, (Did a lot of lurking on the EVO forums before it released)
The $10 sucks, but it does allow you to access 4G in various locations around the country. Out of the 5 or 6 Cities I'm visiting in the next year, 4G is everywhere but Wichita so I won't be missing out.
Even then, paying $79.99 for a plan is still cheaper than what you would pay with AT&T and Verizon.
If you're too upset to pay the fee, it's not that hard to switch to another company that offers a comparable high level android phone and not have to pay that $10. Maybe if you and enough like minded people don't sign up for the 4G phones, it'll make a difference to Sprint.
I just get so tired of seeing these same old complaints from people and then they turn around and get the phone anyway!
So let me explain the fee:
With Comcast/Charter you have different levels of speed you are able to get - you pay more for faster speed. They cannot guarantee that you will get 25 mb/s but - you pay for it any way...theres your explanation. You don't want the fee, don't buy the hardware.
I don't understand the drama.
kgold708 said:
Ok so I kind of accepted what she said ( I don't argue with children or uninformed people),but I asked "sooo the fee makes me somekind of priority user?" She replied "yes" I said "ummm ok". Please understand that I'm not saying she was right or truthful. Also when I went into the sprint store to ask about coverage in my little 3 stoplight town they had multiple overlapping signal strength maps on their terminal (3 I think). They were telling me yes your in 3g coverage area, yes your in area for cell modem, hotspot at home etc. Its my understanding all of these devices operate on the same network, but at differant speeds usually, isn't a cell modem plan more than adding data coverage and also faster? IDK maybe cell modem users do have priority.
The reason makes sense to me is because I use to move pretty often and I had a blackberry pearl that I bought when it first came out specifically for use as usb tether modem. Whenever the local high school let out for the day my connection would take a dump, so I would call T-mobile and explain my problem," is there anything you can do, this is a really important work project? They'd say hold on ill try to boost your network priority. I did this 2-3 times a week and it seemed to work, every time I called in I got the same response,T-mo RIM support had their own dept. Back in the day and they were actually quite good. This took place from 4-2 years ago.
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There is a priority on the network, and it would probably allow you to drop less calls. I think priority 0 is reserved for emergency departments use - but speed would not be affected by it. Just how often you can poll the tower and how likely you are to be bumped off in high traffic.
1: I'm ok with paying $10 extra for decreased latancy/higher network priority. Not ok with "enhanced user experience" BS
2: I am going to sign a contract for @$3840-4000, 2 devices 2yr contract, that $10 fee is $480. If I pay over $500 (after tax) for something, don't you think I should know what it is?
3: Sprint fanboys/employees,how about next time they charge $20/mo (Android 3.0 provides an enhanced-enhanced experience).
Related
When I bought my Epic few Sprint sales rep told me that we will be getting 4G in Buffalo NY in october,here comes january still no 4G.
Well I went to sprint store and asked why they chargin me for 4G when we dont have it yet(and most times im getting 2g speed on 3g,lol).This is what they said "We are charging you for the fastest cpu,even though we dont have 4g speed the cpu pulls information so fast that its considered 4g"lmfao!So I told the dude "listen you can tell that to a child that was born yesterday" but he insisted that he knew what he was talking about,lol,in other words I dint get anywhere.Speaking to a different rep she told me something like that also,lol.And a third rep said some differet but equally outrageous sht.
So my question is:Is this legal for them to be bullshitng us like that?Because im thinking about going back to sprint store and recording that conversation,but what can I do with it?Sprint promised me 4G and on that bassis I droped Tmobile which was way faster than Sprint(5-7mbps vs sprint's 1-2mbps) and now Tmobile is even faster.So I droped my beloved tmobile and got Epic instead of Vibrant on a 4G promise and now im being charged for 4G that I dont have,lol.
Anyone have any advice?Can I return my Epic and can i be tooken off the contract and get my money back?
lots of threads online for it..basicly your SOL. its a "premium data" charge cuz your phone can do more is their recent quote. The sad thing is they are going after clearwire (which they own a major share of) because only like 10% of epic and evo owners live in 4g areas and they dont want to pay clear wire for every evo/epic. but they have no plans on removing the charge from us. So either ***** enough to get out of your contract and move to another carrier or deal with it. Also you could set you phone into roam only mode and talk non stop and DL on verizon and sprint will break the contract for you =)
Yes its legal, you signed the contract. They are being sued, so while its obvious they are charging you for 4g, they now describe the fee as paying for the advanced hardware and not actually the 4g.
muyoso said:
Yes its legal, you signed the contract. They are being sued, so while its obvious they are charging you for 4g, they now describe the fee as paying for the advanced hardware and not actually the 4g.
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For "advance hardware"lol,it says charges are for 4G.And how can they charge me for any hardware?I bought my Epic and its mine so how can they charge me for it?This is like telling a grown man about santa claus being real,lol.So they have a lawsuit already?If so how can I help.
Another question is it possible to flash my Epic to Verizon and use their LTE 4G or is it different frequency from WiMax?
lviv73 said:
For "advance hardware"lol,it says charges are for 4G.And how can they charge me for any hardware?I bought my Epic and its mine so how can they charge me for it?This is like telling a grown man about santa claus being real,lol.So they have a lawsuit already?If so how can I help.
Another question is it possible to flash my Epic to Verizon and use their LTE 4G or is it different frequency from WiMax?
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Lte and wimax are completely and utterly incompatible.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
lviv73 said:
For "advance hardware"lol,it says charges are for 4G.And how can they charge me for any hardware?I bought my Epic and its mine so how can they charge me for it?This is like telling a grown man about santa claus being real,lol.So they have a lawsuit already?If so how can I help.
Another question is it possible to flash my Epic to Verizon and use their LTE 4G or is it different frequency from WiMax?
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Click to collapse
How can you help? Call up sprint and cancel your contract. Make it clear to them that you will not pay for a service you cannot use.
Otherwise, just pay the fee and realize that even without 4g you are getting a better deal than you would on any other wireless provider.
Darkstriker said:
Lte and wimax are completely and utterly incompatible.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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I know that I can flash Epic to Verizon,so I assume that only Verizon's 3g will function and no 4g?
lviv73 said:
I know that I can flash Epic to Verizon,so I assume that only Verizon's 3g will function and no 4g?
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The only way to do that is illegal. There is no "flashing" to verizon, as verizon does not offer the Epic. The only way to do it is by fuddling with ESN's and that is not legal.
Also, wait until you see the prices Verizon will put on its 4g service. Think they are gonna offer it for free? LOL.
lviv73 said:
For "advance hardware"lol,it says charges are for 4G.And how can they charge me for any hardware?I bought my Epic and its mine so how can they charge me for it?This is like telling a grown man about santa claus being real,lol.So they have a lawsuit already?If so how can I help.
Another question is it possible to flash my Epic to Verizon and use their LTE 4G or is it different frequency from WiMax?
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Yes they are charging you for the Premium Data Addon which all of their top end phones require...the Addon includes 4g, unlimited data, telnav gps, "honor of using a better phone on their network", "cool tax" and a few other things...its like when hotels have "Resort Fees" and include some things only 1% of the people use anyways...
Either way I personally don't mind the fee anymore..don't get me wrong I'm not exactly thrilled about it and find it dumb too..but I would rather have a $10 fee then tiered data like the other guys >.>
And yes FDD-LTE used on verizon and AT&T will be 700mhz, Wimax is 2.5ghz...
muyoso said:
How can you help? Call up sprint and cancel your contract. Make it clear to them that you will not pay for a service you cannot use.
Otherwise, just pay the fee and realize that even without 4g you are getting a better deal than you would on any other wireless provider.
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Yeah we do get best deal but not on internet speed,sometimes my 3g speed is only 70kbs and my 2g speed on ATT iphone 3g(2 years ago) was 80kbs,lol.
So yeah its the best deal unless your girfriend spends hours downloading movies feom megaupload.
Yeah I might go back to tmobile and get Vibrant,damn I realy did have high hopes for WiMax 4g but the way its lookin it might be another year or two before upstate NY gets it.
muyoso said:
The only way to do that is illegal. There is no "flashing" to verizon, as verizon does not offer the Epic. The only way to do it is by fuddling with ESN's and that is not legal.
Also, wait until you see the prices Verizon will put on its 4g service. Think they are gonna offer it for free? LOL.
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People that have sprint 4g dont pay extra for it.
OMG NOT AGAINNNNNNNNNNNN
gTen said:
Yes they are charging you for the Premium Data Addon which all of their top end phones require...the Addon includes 4g, unlimited data, telnav gps, "honor of using a better phone on their network", "cool tax" and a few other things...its like when hotels have "Resort Fees" and include some things only 1% of the people use anyways...
Either way I personally don't mind the fee anymore..don't get me wrong I'm not exactly thrilled about it and find it dumb too..but I would rather have a $10 fee then tiered data like the other guys >.>
And yes FDD-LTE used on verizon and AT&T will be 700mhz, Wimax is 2.5ghz...
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Tmobile dint have a data cap,i downloaded over 50gb one month,its unlimited.Sprint have 3 or 5gb data cap on their 3g but no data cap on 4g(convinient for them since almost nobody have 4g).
lviv73 said:
Tmobile dint have a data cap,i downloaded over 50gb one month,its unlimited.Sprint have 3 or 5gb data cap on their 3g but no data cap on 4g(convinient for them since almost nobody have 4g).
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T-mobile had a data cap of 5gb..but they dropped it in favor of throttling...aka if they see you having too much data multiple months they will throttle you...
As for sprint..they have unlimited 3g and 4g data..the data cap limits are on wireless cards..not cellphones....
They do now have a cap. All carriers have a "soft" cap, but Sprint if you have 4G doesn't have a cap. 3G has a soft cap.
bleh...
I sell phones for an indirect agent and we get grilled about that all the time. The fact of the matter is, you're usually going to pay less with Sprint, even with the Premium Data Add-on. It's for the 'big screen, fast processor, and access to the 4G network' is what I tell customers. You can look at it one of two ways- 1) They're charging you a mandatory fee for a hardware feature- not a network feature- so it's bogus. Without 4G you have no 'Premium Data' experience. 2) These two phones are far superior to any other offerings on Sprint- even the Optimus S doesn't really even come close. You're going to have a lot better internet experience than someone with one of the other phones- it will be measurably faster even on 3G.
What you have to ask yourself is- would you have a problem with them charging a lower rate for someone with a flip-phone to have unlimited internet than someone with an Android phone? If that doesn't seem to unreasonable, then realize that this isn't too much different.
In regards to the legality of it- you signed a contract, and that contract did not guarantee you would ever have WiMax in your area. The sales rep might have told you that, but it wasn't part of your contract. You can try really hard to be let out of your contract, and they might let you, but their position is (legally) sound.
Sprint doesn't have a cap for 4g because they don't know how much you use. This may have changed (doubt it), but they can't even look it up. I worked at sprint tech support for a year back when wimax was introduced to the networkm
Sprint doesn't have a cap for 3G or 4g.
blakerboy777 said:
I sell phones for an indirect agent and we get grilled about that all the time. The fact of the matter is, you're usually going to pay less with Sprint, even with the Premium Data Add-on. It's for the 'big screen, fast processor, and access to the 4G network' is what I tell customers. You can look at it one of two ways- 1) They're charging you a mandatory fee for a hardware feature- not a network feature- so it's bogus. Without 4G you have no 'Premium Data' experience. 2) These two phones are far superior to any other offerings on Sprint- even the Optimus S doesn't really even come close. You're going to have a lot better internet experience than someone with one of the other phones- it will be measurably faster even on 3G.
What you have to ask yourself is- would you have a problem with them charging a lower rate for someone with a flip-phone to have unlimited internet than someone with an Android phone? If that doesn't seem to unreasonable, then realize that this isn't too much different.
In regards to the legality of it- you signed a contract, and that contract did not guarantee you would ever have WiMax in your area. The sales rep might have told you that, but it wasn't part of your contract. You can try really hard to be let out of your contract, and they might let you, but their position is (legally) sound.
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And you have a tech job,lol.Cpu speed or ram amount dont have nothing to do with internet speed.No disrespect to you becuse youre probably reading this of sprint's manuscript.But anyone that has knowledge of electronics knows that this is bs that dont even makes sense to human brain.
I owned Behold 2 and MTS3gs with 600mhz cpu(phones half as powerful as Epic) and they both were almost as fast as sprint's 4g on tmobile's hsdpa network.You mean to tell me that sprint is charging me for 4G addon hardware inside Galaxy S Pro(Epic) that I bought and own?At least they can come up with a better sounding scam,and if sales rep promised a 4g that never came that should give a consumer a right to get out of contract.
Processor speed does affect Internet speed. You can load pages cached faster with a faster processor.
With the announcement of AT&T buying T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom, I am for sure going to switch back to Sprint as soon as I can.
Who's else is going to bail, or are you going to stick out or wait and see what happens?
Please take the poll above, and if you have something to say about this, head over to the already ongoing thread about this merger/buyout.
I for one will probably be sticking with Att/Tmobile. I have to use wifi calling in my apartment, and this will eliminate the need for that. Not to mention they will probably have to grandfather in all plans they acquire for the time being.
WHy would you bail? Once they merge Tmobile and ATT with me sharing the same towers hence HUGE coverage gains on both ends. ATT/Tmobile will pass-up verizon's coverage likely and data coverage will be alot better. It's just ironic alot of the iPhone users have migrated to Verizon for better coverage.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-03-20-att-deal_N.htm
jeffokada81 said:
WHy would you bail? Once they merge Tmobile and ATT with me sharing the same towers hence HUGE coverage gains on both ends. ATT/Tmobile will pass-up verizon's coverage likely and data coverage will be alot better. It's just ironic alot of the iPhone users have migrated to Verizon for better coverage.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-03-20-att-deal_N.htm
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Never had a problem with signal when I was on Sprint before, sure I don't do much traveling, but my area is covered well, and the trip from St. Louis to Nashville that I take a couple of times a year is covered very well also. So I'm not worried about coverage.
What I don't want to deal with is AT&T monopolistic ways. The things that they are doing now is going to cause the government to have to come back in and start regulating again, just as happened in the past with them. Expensive plans, locked down phones, data caps, crappy customer service. Not very customer oriented, but very line-their-own-pockets oriented instead. I can't blame a company for wanting to make money, that's the purpose of a business, but when it increases what they charge and takes away services, then I don't want anything to do with them.
If the merger is eventially aproved (antitrust gov), then I'll just wait & see in about 12 months where we stand.
How does upgrading phones work when you're under a contract with Sprint?
Can you just buy your own phone and activate it?
erikikaz said:
How does upgrading phones work when you're under a contract with Sprint?
Can you just buy your own phone and activate it?
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However you get the phone, weather from Sprint, a private party or another reatailer, you will need to either call Sprint or go to a Sprint store to get the phone activated. If you call, you can't use the phone that your about to upgrade, you'll have to use another phone such as a land line or a friends phone. Sure it's not as convenient as just swapping your SIM card, but still pretty easy, phone call usually only take a few minutes anymore. They instruct you step by step what to enter on the new phone and, in my experience, it's usually working withing minutes. In the case of going to a Sprint store to have them activate it, it's usually working before I get to my car, which is only a minute walk at the store in my area.
I've had all kinds of problems with at%t/Cingular. I'm bailing and going to sprint. Not all the towers will be shared anyway & say goodbye to tethering w/o paying 14.99 and unlimited data plans.
Sure, as long as you dont upgrade or change your plan you will be ok, but it would only be a matter of time until you switch sometime.
I can only hope Google releases the next series of nexus on sprint also. I'd hate to give up my nexus
Sent from my Nexus One
Every news outlet has it wrong......
Read the press Releases people !
Why have all sites gotten the interpretation of the Press Release incorrect???
"T-Mobile USA continues to operate as an independent company."
"T-Mobile USA remains an independent company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months."
In BOTH cases, the statements are PRESENT tense, not future tense. There is ZERO indication that TMobile WILL BE an independent entity after the acquisition has been completed. Has people's understanding of grammar become THAT incomplete and incorrect that EVERYONE in the news can't differentiate between a statement of PRESENT and one of FUTURE tense ?
Pay attention people. This is nothing but BAD for current TMobile customers.
I have no idea what to do. I was planning on selling my N1 to go the route of either the G2X or some other dual core phone, but now this changes everything.
There is no point in buying a TMO phone now if it'll be without provider support in a year. Even if there is scant support, the value of whatever phone I purchase will drop like a rock by the time the merger nears completion.
The value of phones drop 2 months after you buy them nowadays :/ (ok i'm exaggerating XD).
I only want to know if they will keep both companies type of GSM so I can still buy a phone in the US and use it when I travel to Europe at it's full potential.
Dude !! You stole my mind!
erikikaz said:
I have no idea what to do. I was planning on selling my N1 to go the route of either the G2X or some other dual core phone, but now this changes everything.
There is no point in buying a TMO phone now if it'll be without provider support in a year. Even if there is scant support, the value of whatever phone I purchase will drop like a rock by the time the merger nears completion.
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That is PRECISELY the decision process I was going through......I figured...ok...get the G2X and keep the N1 as a spare.......Now...why the F would I want it ? It's ridiculous.....
galaxys said:
If the merger is eventially aproved (antitrust gov), then I'll just wait & see in about 12 months where we stand.
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My thoughts as well. It will be sometime down the road if we see any changes if it even gets approved. So in the mean time let your contracts run out lol
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0b5.1.1 using Tapatalk
It's a shame that TMO is being bought out. I've had them for over 7 years and I've loved them. Great service, the best prices, and the best Android devices. I hate AT&T with a passion (I used to work for em so my hatred runs VERY deep). Their network is congested, slow, and under-developed. There is a real lack of Android devices, their prices suck, and there is no unlimited data. My wife and I are checking out Sprint and Verizon right now but Sprint is winning thus far. I'd rather get crappy service from a small company that has good devices with better plans and lower prices than get crappy service from either one of the 2 giants that I'd pay too much for and have a poor selection of phones.
DBBGBA said:
The value of phones drop 2 months after you buy them nowadays :/ (ok i'm exaggerating XD).
I only want to know if they will keep both companies type of GSM so I can still buy a phone in the US and use it when I travel to Europe at it's full potential.
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Nope, all current T-Mobile phones would not get 3G.
Ive had Vzw and at&t for at least 2 years each. Vzw had the best coverage then at&t (in my area) but call one of them and dispute a charge on your bill. Good luck.
I deployed to Iraq, sent at&t a letter stating that I was breaking my contract as per a congressional order. Not only did they not, they charged me for 2 lines which I was never signed up for. After I came back, I found I owed nearly 1500$ in late charges and it had been sent to collections. Call them up and after nearly 30 hours, numerous certified letters sent in and faxed, it took nearly 9 months for it to be removed. Call Tmo service, you get a English speaking representative every time. Screw at&t, and any one believing nothing will change, go ahead and sign up for 2 more years and find out the hard way
Sent from my Nexus One
Im in no rush to figure it out... but ultimately my company will decide. We arent too happy with Tmobile's support for us and might be swapping to Verizon, but that also depends on signal strength at our office (in the mountains). They pay for my phone, so I go along for the ride (although i buy my phones outright so that cost stings).
if tzones keeps working i am in. if not metro pcs
Been with Tmo since Voicstream and I will indeed miss Tmo's support in the coming years. I have ATT for DSL and for the most part is ok comparing it to Verizon Fios back in NY.
I for one will let ATT and Tmo do it's thing. ATT has its towers here as well as Tmo so I think I'll get decent coverage for now. Because of my wife's corp discount, we had to sign up for another 2yr contract about 3 months ago so we'll be grandfathered for a spell. If not, ATT better let us out of any ETF's if we do decide to go elsewhere.
But in the future, we may get a bigger corp discount with conjunction of bundling our dsl and wireless. We'll see.
It just really depends on what types of policies ATT will enforce on former T-Mobile customers and how quickly they switch things over postmerge. I have been a happy T-Mo customer for years and I was just thinking recently how much I enjoy the Nexus One and would probably not need to get a new phone for a long time. However, this clearly changes things.
I think it's highly likely that my grandfathered "perks" from being with T-Mo forever such as my $49.99 two-line family plan, $10/month @Home VOIP landline service, $10/phone web2go unlimited internet, and maybe even my 12% AAA discount will all disappear shortly after the merger is completed. Additionally, I don't tether much but I like having the option built into my N1, and ATT is going after "unauthorized" tethering on their network.
Another thing that concerns me is that I can see the "new" ATT offering some discounts to former T-Mo customers down the road when T-Mo's "old" 3G phones become useless as that spectrum is swiched over to LTE... however, I am sure that will not include N1 customers since we did not buy the phone through T-Mobile.
All in all it will have been a great ride with T-Mobile and I am sad to know that it will likely be ending. I am just going to have to see how things shake out. The increased coverage of ATT+T-Mobile would certainly be welcome, but I am concerned about pricing. I get a work discount through Sprint and they have pretty good coverage in my area - I've just never seriously considered them due to the great deal I've been getting through T-Mo. Sprint has also shown a very strong commitment to Android which I think is a positive. As the merger approaches I will definitely be re-evaluating my options.
Some of the things Sprint now offers which, in my oppinion, sets the company apart from other cariers:
1. $125 credit for any new number ported to sprint. If you’re on a contract this will help you with that termination fee. I’ve gotten $150 for one of my friends who switched.
2. Truly unlimited data. Few months ago sprint removed their 5GB throttle and is now advertising it while others are limiting their users. This may not be true with their data devices but it’s true with all phones.
3. Free port of your sprint phone number to Google Voice. It used to cost $20 and you had to be off contract to avoid termination fees to be able to port it to Google Voice. Sprint is the first telecom company to partner with Google and offer this.
4. 30 return/cancel contract no questions asked. Again, Sprint was the first one to offer this. If you don’t like the service, they’ll take you off contract after you return the phone with no questions asked.
5. Switch plans without signing up for new contracts. Once again, another dumb rule got thrown out the window and now you can switch plans all you want.
6. Recent change in policy will now require all Sprint service stores to service rooted phones.
7. Recent change in policy will now allow you to remove some or all Sprint pre-installed apps.
And no, I’m not working for sprint.
True 4G? No, I don't think so.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
But they do charge an extra 10 dollars for 4g,and if T-Mobile does get gobbled up by att, who's to say if Verizon doesn't turn around and do the same to sprint...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Great post, will definitely help inform people about sprint. Few things though. As far as unlimited data, the 5 gb cap still exists on 3g data, only 4g is uncapped. Also, nobody in USA has true 4g, not even Verizon's amazing LTE is true 4g. Wimax only pulls 10 Megs on average, thats about it. I think true 4g is like 4-6 x's that, or something. Either way, Sprint is not true 4g. You should also tell people the downside of sprint 4g, i.e., it really only works in cars/outside/or buildings with lots of windows. The bandwidth for Wimax doesnt penetrate at all.
I'm in Pittsburgh, so coverage isn't an issue with T-mobile, but let just say a couple things:
1. True 4g? Come on, lets be honest. If you're gonna pull that bull then Verizon is the only one with it.
2. If I remember correctly, Sprint's "4G" is actually slower than T-mobile's "3.5G", so it doesn't matter what it's called. I don't care if something's 10G if it provides lower speeds than 3G.
3. Sprint costs $40 for 4g, while right now I'm paying $20 for 4g (yeah I have a 3g phone, but that's not the point here).
4. Overall pricing is generally lower on T-mobile, so I think that's why several of us will stay. Once my contract is up 2 years from now, then I'll think about it (since a new contract would cost a lot more. Thanks AT&T&T)
That being said, I know sprint's coverage in other areas may be better, so experiences may differ. I thought I'd just offer my 2 cents
I prefer GSM phones
Sprint 4g is only $10 a month, their plans include data so its not 30 + 10. And I have to disagree with tmobile being cheaper. Sprint has unlimited plan starting at 69, add 4g you have unlimited evrything for less than 80 a month. Last time I was with tmobile I think unlimited plans were like 89 or 99. I am a huge fan of tmobile though and if they had a nexus s 4g also, I would go with them over sprint any day.
tsunami1609 said:
I'm in Pittsburgh, so coverage isn't an issue with T-mobile, but let just say a couple things:
1. True 4g? Come on, lets be honest. If you're gonna pull that bull then Verizon is the only one with it.
2. If I remember correctly, Sprint's "4G" is actually slower than T-mobile's "3.5G", so it doesn't matter what it's called. I don't care if something's 10G if it provides lower speeds than 3G.
3. Sprint costs $40 for 4g, while right now I'm paying $20 for 4g (yeah I have a 3g phone, but that's not the point here).
4. Overall pricing is generally lower on T-mobile, so I think that's why several of us will stay. Once my contract is up 2 years from now, then I'll think about it (since a new contract would cost a lot more. Thanks AT&T&T)
That being said, I know sprint's coverage in other areas may be better, so experiences may differ. I thought I'd just offer my 2 cents
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Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Some valid points. Except that unlimited cap. The 5GB is gone. I'm not sure where you get that info.
I agree with the 4G being slow but wimax can be definitely faster than t-mobile 3.5G it's just, as I mentioned, sprint has been offering that for over a year now and has many devices on it. When a bunch of people access the same tower speeds go down. Hopefully they can expand and improve over time. So I disagree that it's all about speed. I think it's all about the technology which, with enough hardware/$$ can create a faster speeds.
As far as pricing goes... it changes from day to day but they are both competitive and offer low prices compared to the other two giants. But I think sprint's coverage all around is better. I guess it depends where you live.
Also, gsm is better in many ways but one thing it doesn't do well in contrast to cdma is switch between towers. Drive 70mph on a state highway while talking on a gsm phone and find out.
obsanity said:
Some valid points. Except that unlimited cap. The 5GB is gone. I'm not sure where you get that info.
I agree with the 4G being slow but wimax can be definitely faster than t-mobile 3.5G it's just, as I mentioned, sprint has been offering that for over a year now and has many devices on it. When a bunch of people access the same tower speeds go down. Hopefully they can expand and improve over time. So I disagree that it's all about speed. I think it's all about the technology which, with enough hardware/$$ can create a faster speeds.
As far as pricing goes... it changes from day to day but they are both competitive and offer low prices compared to the other two giants. But I think sprint's coverage all around is better. I guess it depends where you live.
Also, gsm is better in many ways but one thing it doesn't do well in contrast to cdma is switch between towers. Drive 70mph on a state highway while talking on a gsm phone and find out.
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It appears you are correct sir, 3g is not capped anymore either. Funny, it only lasted a few months. And it appears it was rarely enforced anyway.
I have to say I like sprint a lot. I bought the nexus s on T-Mobile after being lied to by their customer service that it was excellent cell and data coverage in my area. But after getting the phone, I had absolutely no coverage in my home....well to be honest I had 1 bar to none. Then the data was a joke...it was 2G.
I personally don't mind paying the $10 extra fee.
Sprint's plans is nice...and the 1500 minute family share plan is basically unlimited everything because you get free mobile to mobile minutes. I got ridof our house phone and got my wife and my daughter a cellphone....sprint is becoming a strong company...but this is all my opinion.
I'm sure people feel the total opposite and like T-Mobile, but to each their own.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
My biggest problem with sprint is the 3g speed ...wimax is fast but using it all the time sucks down battery...so most of the time you are using sprints slow 3g ....contrast that with T-Mobile where the speeds don't impact battery life or signal strength...on my nexus s I average 3mb down ...on sprint 3g I would be lucky to see 800kb down
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
well for sprint users a reason to change to the nexus s could be to get away from the rude evo community
Something I don't understand is why people will stay in a contract for 2 years because they do not want to pay the early termination fee. I can understand if you do not have the money right now. Simple math tells you what the cheapest answer is. I will make up some fictitious numbers for my example. Which is cheaper, paying 300 dollars for the early termination fee, or paying your cellphone bill of let's say 50 dollars a month for the next 24 months. Now granted when you change carriers, your first months bill is going to be pretty high. The reason behind that is, you are paying for a phone, a prorated month, a regular month, and all the fees associated with starting a new account.
But all that added together is still cheaper than paying 1200 dollars for 2 years of service. I do understand the differences between long term and short term cost. I also understand that many people may not have enough money to make the switch now. Regardless of you switching now or later, you will still pay the same amount of money when starting a new line of service with a new carrier.
mikeyinid said:
Great post, will definitely help inform people about sprint. Few things though. As far as unlimited data, the 5 gb cap still exists on 3g data, only 4g is uncapped. Also, nobody in USA has true 4g, not even Verizon's amazing LTE is true 4g. Wimax only pulls 10 Megs on average, thats about it. I think true 4g is like 4-6 x's that, or something. Either way, Sprint is not true 4g. You should also tell people the downside of sprint 4g, i.e., it really only works in cars/outside/or buildings with lots of windows. The bandwidth for Wimax doesnt penetrate at all.
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As far as I know, no one in the world has true LTE yet. LTE theoretical shared rate is ~320 Mbit/s or ~172 Mbit/s in download and ~90 Mbit/s for upload, usually the "merchandised 4G" is a HSPA++ at 48 Mbit/s (where it can reach that rate) or some "early stage" 4G implementation as the entire standard involves deep core network changes.
At the moment it is... merchandise
Can someone explain if sprint is a mobile operator or another version of Nexus S.
I have nexus S bought with T-mobile, is it possible for me to get 4G on my phone? does it support 4G ?!?! If so, its Superb news, since we have 4G everywhere soon in Sweden.
mikeyinid said:
Sprint 4g is only $10 a month, their plans include data so its not 30 + 10. And I have to disagree with tmobile being cheaper. Sprint has unlimited plan starting at 69, add 4g you have unlimited evrything for less than 80 a month. Last time I was with tmobile I think unlimited plans were like 89 or 99. I am a huge fan of tmobile though and if they had a nexus s 4g also, I would go with them over sprint any day.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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Sprint's 69.99 is 450 minutes and unlimited data, + the $10 fee which they swear is not for 4g (and technically it's not since they slap it on all smartphones), so really their cheapest plan is 79.99 for 450 minutes and unlimited data.
T-mobile has basically the same plan for the same price, 500 minutes, unlimited data (yes you're throttled after 5gig but you're not cut off), 79.99 if you're on contract.
If you're NOT on contract (ie; you bought your phone outright), you can get the same package for 59.99 with an Even More Plus plan (basically if you aren't subsidizing your phone, and thus are not on a contract, your plans are $20 cheaper across the board). Sprint doesn't do this. Even if you finish your full contract time on sprint, you'll still pay the same 79.99 per month.
You really don't want to try and claim that Sprint is cheaper than Tmo, they are not. They're about the same if you're on a contract, and Tmo is about $20 cheaper if you're not on contract.
Ultimately in the end it boils down to who has better service in your particular area as to which carrier you prefer.
In my case, I had sprint, the voice service in my area was good, but the data speeds were terrible, so I switched to Tmo, who has excellent voice and data service where I live, and I pay less per month since I own my nexus-s.
all depends on who your calling sprint offers any mobile any time with that 450..
also for sprint family plans its 20 bucks a line +10 bucks if they are smart phones.. how much are they for tmobile?
Raver27 said:
But they do charge an extra 10 dollars for 4g,and if T-Mobile does get gobbled up by att, who's to say if Verizon doesn't turn around and do the same to sprint...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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Sprint no longer has the $10 fee
Tapa tapa tapa
mlin said:
Sprint no longer has the $10 fee
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That is completely and totally false. Sorry.
Hey netarchy....
I thought tmo did away with off contract prices being 20 bucks cheaper? I can't find that anywhere on their site and I could have sworn that when I bought my nexus s the tmo reps telling me that buying it off contract won't save me on my monthly bills.
And yes sprint still hits you for the ten bucks a month.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Just got a letter from Sprint, telling me control my internet usage within 10 days.... Otherwise they will kick me out. Sprint MOD EDIT: WATCH YOUR LANGUAJE, don't advertise as unlimited and then send these threatening letters to your customers.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Thats why I left sprint...they crippled...errr completely removed tethering from my Palm device. I used to be able to tether via bluetooth, then one day was greeted with a message to contact CS. when i called to inquire about the loss of functionality, they told me that they now only offer that service functionality for their new top of the line devices (at the time was the Evo 4G). I told them that they need to change the name of the "Simple Everything Data" Plan, to the "Almost Everything Data" Plan. I was so angry I broke contract and canceled service right then and went to TMO. I 2nd what you say about sprint.
They only send that letter if you abuse roaming (which is outlined in your ToS) they do not send the letter if you overuse sprints network
Thanks for trying, stop trying to sound innocent and making sprint look like the bad guy
Have you ever heard of a fair use policy?
Sprints network has very little bandwidth 3G wise due to using outdated tech, so if your a heavy user on 3G it affects their other users.
This is the easiest way out of any contract download several gigs of data (while roaming) in a few days on your phone and they will gladly kill your contract for you.**
Personally I bought roam control (for CDMA only) for my phone just so I could force it to roam (in my valley sprint service sucks) so while I'm home I force it to use Verizon's network which as you might guess makes Sprint real happy
-Ice
**I suppose I should add that I do not endorse this method for getting out of your contract & trying this method may end badly (500 page long multi-thousand dollar bill) if they catch on to what your doing.
lol, you must be using a lot of data!
MrLadoodle said:
Have you ever heard of a fair use policy?
Sprints network has very little bandwidth 3G wise due to using outdated tech, so if your a heavy user on 3G it affects their other users.
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Fair use means that if i am sold something as unlimited i should use it in that way.
That so call fair use policy is only fair on Sprint and T-mobile not on customers which are the ones that pay the monthly fee,and the reason why those companies exist,without me and you and the other sprint is just a bunch of empty useless antennas.
Is not my fault that they use outdated tech,in fact when i bought my Epic 4G touch 2 days ago no one from Sprint told me their network was as slow as 1998 DSL connections,and that their tech was outdated and that their wimax network is nothing but fake crap that only very few people can take advantage of.
They told me the phone was great and that the network was fast,not to mention the whole 4G crap hipping.
The only problem i see here is Sprint fault not his fault,is not his fault that Sprint used outdated tech i am sure no one when he bough the phone told him,hey we have and old crappy network so don't use it to much,even that is the only one advertised as ""Truly"" Unlimited and uncapped.
pretty lame company, offer you "unlimited" then complain you are downloading too much WTF
I don't understand why 'unlimited' is supposed to be Sprint's big selling point. Their 3G speeds are pathetic in most places, and even when the coverage map shows you squarely under 4G, you probably won't get it--especially if you're inside any sort of building, or God forbid, in a car.
I personally wanted 5GB of fast, reliable bandwidth than all you can eat crap, so I left.
I worked in a Sprint store before, and even before that, I received one of these letters. As someone stated above, it only applies to roaming, which costs them a lot of money once you pass your allowed amounts. They have an agreement with Verizon and roaming (and Verizon has one with Sprint). The rules are:
- 300 MB of roaming
- More than half of your minutes used for 3 consecutive months are roaming minutes
- Most of your text messaging (although I'm not sure on this one)
Chances are, you're either using a PRL hack, Roam Control (which is now off the Market I believe), or you just live in an area with ****ty Sprint signal. If the latter is the case, just save yourself the trouble and switch to another provider.
Haven't had any problems with sprint other than hitting their bandwidth throttle. Seemed to limit my down rates to 300Kb/s at first then just cripple to a trickle after that.
Did you have a high spike in usage? Did you move into a highly populated area?
These could be why. For example; 25GB, 41GB, 33GB, 44GB; Those are my usages for the last 4 billing cycles. I transfer a lot of data over wifi, my home network, and other networks. Along with solely high quality video and audio [MOG, Rhapsody] streams. I've never received a letter or complaint.
Just got a letter from sprint saying exactly what the OP said. Not roaming but "unlimited data" usage. I'm always on 4g and I used about 109gb of data this month. They said if I don't control it they will terminate my contract. That's a lot of data I know but unlimited is unlimited!!! F them!
inflewence said:
Just got a letter from sprint saying exactly what the OP said. Not roaming but "unlimited data" usage. I'm always on 4g and I used about 109gb of data this month. They said if I don't control it they will terminate my contract. That's a lot of data I know but unlimited is unlimited!!! F them!
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Even I would argue against you dude. 109GB is an insane amount. They mean unlimited to a reasonable amount. My friend goes to 60GB and doesn't get warned. You must've went crazy with your data to make them warn you.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
If it does happen, just start up a prepaid number somewhere and port it out. Then port it back into Sprint. They have no say then.
just to clarify, as I work for sprint currently:
Updating your PRL does nothing, other than tell the phone which towers have lower roaming costs. (on sprint)
Verizon doesn't roam on any network. (I was a verizon manager as well) If you have a vzw phone, you won't roam at all.
If your using 109 gb's a month and complaining about sprint saying something to you, I would reccommend getting an actual home internet connection instead of using it for tethering so much.
As far as the roaming stuff, yes, if you roam a ton while with sprint, they can release you from the contract, but its not an automatic thing. A lot of times you will have to call cs a few times (because sprint CS sucks, and are a bunch of morons usually) and have them pull the account and see how much you are roaming and how many dropped calls, ect, are.
jman42028 said:
just to clarify, as I work for sprint currently:
Updating your PRL does nothing, other than tell the phone which towers have lower roaming costs. (on sprint)
Verizon doesn't roam on any network. (I was a verizon manager as well) If you have a vzw phone, you won't roam at all.
If your using 109 gb's a month and complaining about sprint saying something to you, I would reccommend getting an actual home internet connection instead of using it for tethering so much.
As far as the roaming stuff, yes, if you roam a ton while with sprint, they can release you from the contract, but its not an automatic thing. A lot of times you will have to call cs a few times (because sprint CS sucks, and are a bunch of morons usually) and have them pull the account and see how much you are roaming and how many dropped calls, ect, are.
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I was a technician at both Sprint and Verizon and I can tell you Verizon roams on Sprint. It happens a lot on my campus.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Oh, sweet. This argument again. Please read the 'unlimited' agreement you have with Sprint. Please note the conditions which apply. Please note what specific data activities you are permitted in the agreement. Note also the prohibited activities. Finally, pay close attention to the bottom of this contract where you electronically signed and acknowledged/agreed to all the conditions which they are well within their rights to enforce.
109gb of data is quite a bit. How does one's handheld use that much data in a month?
Imaginos said:
Oh, sweet. This argument again. Please read the 'unlimited' agreement you have with Sprint. Please note the conditions which apply. Please note what specific data activities you are permitted in the agreement. Note also the prohibited activities. Finally, pay close attention to the bottom of this contract where you electronically signed and acknowledged/agreed to all the conditions which they are well within their rights to enforce.
109gb of data is quite a bit. How does one's handheld use that much data in a month?
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Tethering, obviously. I'm ok with tethering to a reasonable amount (ie to browse the web for a little while when there's no connection), or even to download a couple of gigs (on 4G) but 109GB is ridiculous and I side with Sprint in this case.
Verizon throttled me for using 89GB ONE time, and then throttled me at 12gb. Now I have only used 5GB on my verizon phone so they don't come down with the throttle hamer of doom. Just giving a heads up that verizon is not true unlimited.
Proof:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCbvDEewcJU&feature=channel&list=UL
That is all
Ok, so here's the deal. US subscribers are in a pickle as far as unlimited data plans are concerned with tethering. Our plans suck (comparatively).
Some of it has to do with wording of contracts by carriers. Some of it has to do with the entitlement we feel when we purchased our respective unlimited data plans. Either way, we all feel hurt by this. As consumers, we want it our way. We want our unlimited data plans to cover our 2GB months to our 200GB months. We don't want to be told about limits on plans labeled and sold as unlimited.
Here's where you come in. How would you change the terms of the agreement as an AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, or other carrier's customer if you were in charge? Keep in mind that you may have limited network resources, funds, or staff to carry out the extreme plans. You still need to generate income for your investors. What would you do to make your customers happy as well as the investors? Is it possible? Is there any sort of reform that is possible in our wireless industry?
Ban contracts all-together. The bundling of phones with network vastly distorts both markets; phones are no longer truly competing on price (e.g. apple's strong position with the iPhone allows them to dictate high carrier subsidies, whose costs must be paid off by effectively taxing everyone else on the network) while carriers are instead competing on phones (rather than the quality of their service).
On the other hand, without subsidies (which essentially hide the costs for the average person who doesn't think it through), manufacturers would have to actually worry about choosing a price low enough to be attractive. This is something that is sorely missing under the current regime.
Not to mention, contracts themselves are effectively anti-competitive, locking in users who don't really know how to properly evaluate their choices. The way to ensure the best service for the user is to allow them to quit at a moment's notice.
Now, I notice you might be thinking more specifically about how the service agreements can be modified, rather than the "contracts" per se. Do the above, and this woud automatically happen. The carriers will have to actually compete for better service (rather than just drawing in people with new shiny phones in order to lock them in). If their service is not up to par with their advertisements, people would just quit the next month. Hence, no more random throttling of plans, etc.
thebobp said:
Ban contracts all-together. The bundling of phones with network vastly distorts both markets; phones are no longer truly competing on price (e.g. apple's strong position with the iPhone allows them to dictate high carrier subsidies, whose costs must be paid off by effectively taxing everyone else on the network) while carriers are instead competing on phones (rather than the quality of their service).
On the other hand, without subsidies (which essentially hide the costs for the average person who doesn't think it through), manufacturers would have to actually worry about choosing a price low enough to be attractive. This is something that is sorely missing under the current regime.
Not to mention, contracts themselves are effectively anti-competitive, locking in users who don't really know how to properly evaluate their choices. The way to ensure the best service for the user is to allow them to quit at a moment's notice.
Now, I notice you might be thinking more specifically about how the service agreements can be modified, rather than the "contracts" per se. Do the above, and this woud automatically happen. The carriers will actually have to compete for better service, rather than just ensure that people are locked in longer than they can think about. If their service is not up to par with their advertisements, people would quit the next month. No more throttling plans with nothing the users can say about it.
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I understand your position, but I have doubts that this would be possible to implement in our market. T-Mobile's CMO made a statement about device subsidies contorting what the devices actually cost. T-Mobile actually has a line of Value plans that are kind of on par with what you're thinking about. The rate plans are considerably cheaper than the ones with a device subsidy. The real problem is convincing the other carriers to follow suit.
See, by doing this, it put investors at risk. It's all a money making game. If an idea isn't profitable, then it generally never sees the light of day. What about a sales model similar to what T-Mobile is offering? Could you see a way to make this model profitable to both carriers and consumers alike?
I think it should be handled like the european networks handle their service agreements. You sign up for service when you buy a phone, and you pay full retail price for the phone. Then you pay a relatively lower price for service. Instead of paying say, 59.99 for a phone that retails for 399.99 and then paying 100$ give or take a little each month, you pay full price for the phone, and then get your bill for 50ish a month. Which one sounds better?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
leo321 said:
I think it should be handled like the european networks handle their service agreements. You sign up for service when you buy a phone, and you pay full retail price for the phone. Then you pay a relatively lower price for service. Instead of paying say, 59.99 for a phone that retails for 399.99 and then paying 100$ give or take a little each month, you pay full price for the phone, and then get your bill for 50ish a month. Which one sounds better?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
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I agree that this would benefit us more as consumers, but we would need to come up with a marketable solution to the current situation that would be agreeable to the carriers as well.
cajunflavoredbob said:
If an idea isn't profitable, then it generally never sees the light of day.
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This.
Blaming carrier greed is easy but really doesn't solve anything. Carriers want to make more money and contracts make them more money - I can't fault them for that.
I don't see the US market becoming like Europe's. Although T-Mobile USA is trying to change things, I can think of two things in the way:
-Americans are too stupid to save money~~ Everyone thinks short term savings, hence the persistence of contracts.
-Carrier incompatibility~~ Verizon and Sprint are CDMA. T-Mobile and AT&T run on (mostly) different 3G bands. Buy a phone for full retail and you're probably going to be stuck with one carrier anyway.
luftrofl said:
This.
Blaming carrier greed is easy but really doesn't solve anything. Carriers want to make more money and contracts make them more money - I can't fault them for that.
I don't see the US market becoming like Europe's. Although T-Mobile USA is trying to change things, I can think of two things in the way:
-Americans are too stupid to save money~~ Everyone thinks short term savings, hence the persistence of contracts.
-Carrier incompatibility~~ Verizon and Sprint are CDMA. T-Mobile and AT&T run on (mostly) different 3G bands. Buy a phone for full retail and you're probably going to be stuck with one carrier anyway.
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The incompatibility is changing this year, at least with AT&T and T-Mobile. T-Mobile is currently refarming their spectrum to rollout a network on the 1900MHz PCS spectrum. This will be used for their HSPA/+ network, while the existing 1700MHz network will be used for LTE. This move makes their network inter-operable with AT&T devices.
Other than that, I agree with your points. I don't feel that T-Mobile is going to make contracts as we know them go away. I admire the bold move, but I doubt it will ripple the waters much. That being said, I'm hoping we can come together and brainstorm a bit to think of a way to benefit carriers and customers alike. Our market NEEDS to change.
Pentaband unlocked handsets for everybody! Then you can choose whatever retarded WCDMA bands you like!
A list of things I would do:
1) Bring back the unlimited data plans, but only for LTE. (bandwith limits 3g unlimited plans)
2) Have them start rolling out LTE v10 or LTE advaned right now.
3) Voice over LTE.
4) Unlimited voice and text added to a data plan like this:
Plan1) Unlimited voice and text+2gb of data for $
plan2) Unlimited voice and text+5gb of data for $$
plan3) Unlimited voice and text+10GB of data for $$$
plan4) Unlimited voice and text+Unlimited data for $$$$ (LTE only)
They are just ex and I hope the pricing is better than that, but I am trying to be real here.
And verizon needs to fix this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDxJoGv3FLA&feature=player_embedded
4ktvs said:
A list of things I would do:
1) Bring back the unlimited data plans, but only for LTE. (bandwith limits 3g unlimited plans)
2) Have them start rolling out LTE v10 or LTE advaned right now.
3) Voice over LTE.
4) Unlimited voice and text added to a data plan like this:
Plan1) Unlimited voice and text+2gb of data for $
plan2) Unlimited voice and text+5gb of data for $$
plan3) Unlimited voice and text+10GB of data for $$$
plan4) Unlimited voice and text+Unlimited data for $$$$ (LTE only)
They are just ex and I hope the pricing is better than that, but I am trying to be real here.
And verizon needs to fix this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDxJoGv3FLA&feature=player_embedded
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This isn't really a plan. It's more of a wish list. I was hoping that some of the people around here might actually have better ideas of how to do things than the carriers. This isn't a wish list thread. I intended it more as a brainstorming thread.
Well, before anything I want to happen will even be possible, we'd have to see real net neutrality laws in this country...
I would like to see wireless carriers charge for internet access the same way that most ISPs charge. You pay for speed and have unlimited data. Say I have an LTE device. I can pay $50 for unlimited data at 10 Mbps or $100 for 20 Mbps. This makes much more sense to me.
Also, carriers need to be dump pipes. That's just how it has to be. I know they all fear that and will do everything in their power to stop it but I think it's inevitable.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
cajunflavoredbob said:
This isn't really a plan. It's more of a wish list. I was hoping that some of the people around here might actually have better ideas of how to do things than the carriers. This isn't a wish list thread. I intended it more as a brainstorming thread.
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#2 was more of a wish, but the rest of it is not. Let me try to put it in a better way:
1) give 4G LTE users a higher cap/unlimited data, becuase there is more bandwith. They could charge a bit more for the new Data plans, but over all save $ for the buyers. In turn, this would likely help the push for LTE and kill 2g and 3g sooner, so that the bandwith can be used for 4G.
2) Voice over LTE( 3 will be why)
3) When Voice over LTE is done, then make voice/text/data all one plan, Like:
1) 2GB for $60. ( Voice and text would use data)
2) 5GB for $80.
3) 10GB for $100.
4) 20GB/unlimited for $120.
Any way I am not a CEO and I don't have the # for everything, so this "plan" of mine may not work/be good, but I tryed.
I have both AT&T and verizon unlimited data plans and don't like the low bar they have set of 2-5gb plans, but really most don't use more than about 5GB. Now I bet they would if they used a crap load of voice at 50mb per 60 min. ( If you used 900min per bill then you would use about 750mb or about bit less 1/2 of the 2GB plan and then a few e-mails, some text and bam over the limit.)
Mobile voice is surely not 50Mb for 60 minutes. That'd be close to 128kbps MP3 quality, which our phones certainly are not!
I read that on verizon, that voice would be about 45mb per hour. I don't know all the #, but think it may work. They may up the voice quality to make this work and I think it's one of there goals with voice over LTE.
4ktvs said:
#2 was more of a wish, but the rest of it is not. Let me try to put it in a better way:
1) give 4G LTE users a higher cap/unlimited data, becuase there is more bandwith. They could charge a bit more for the new Data plans, but over all save $ for the buyers. In turn, this would likely help the push for LTE and kill 2g and 3g sooner, so that the bandwith can be used for 4G.
2) Voice over LTE( 3 will be why)
3) When Voice over LTE is done, then make voice/text/data all one plan, Like:
1) 2GB for $60. ( Voice and text would use data)
2) 5GB for $80.
3) 10GB for $100.
4) 20GB/unlimited for $120.
Any way I am not a CEO and I don't have the # for everything, so this "plan" of mine may not work/be good, but I tryed.
I have both AT&T and verizon unlimited data plans and don't like the low bar they have set of 2-5gb plans, but really most don't use more than about 5GB. Now I bet they would if they used a crap load of voice at 50mb per 60 min. ( If you used 900min per bill then you would use about 750mb or about bit less 1/2 of the 2GB plan and then a few e-mails, some text and bam over the limit.)
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That's actually a much better way of saying it. It's not a bad idea. Going all data would seem to be the way to go for the future. That problem is going to be getting carriers to realize this and make adjustments accordingly. They keep saying that they don't have enough bandwidth to service everyone, but this plan makes exclusive use of data. It requires a nationwide "4G" footprint. Verizon is the closest to this right now. T-Mobile is close behind with its HSPA+ rollout. AT&T has a large HSPA+ footprint as well, but it's not any/much faster than their 3G in my testing. We won't even go into Sprint's "4G" services....
I think that Verizon and T-Mobile would be the biggest players in this. T-Mobile currently has the bandwidth and lower customer base to make this a reality. Verizon may still have quite a way to go, though. CDMA technology really needs to hurry up and die already.
In any case, this is any interesting plan, that would indeed be beneficial to both parties. The biggest hurdle is that their are still large parts of the country that do not have high speed wireless access. Within the next three years, I can see this being put into play.
EDIT: Also, GSM networks use the G.729 codec (as far as I recall) for voice calls which compress the call to roughly 6-8Kbps. This makes it about 3.6MB per hour on a normal, non VoIP GSM call. I have no idea what CDMA uses.
4ktvs said:
They are just ex and I hope the pricing is better than that, but I am trying to be real here.
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... you're not trying hard enough
Seriously though, that list is unrealistic. "I want more advanced tech and I want it released and working now." is not a useful answer for "How would you change the wireless market?"
As for me, I want American cell networks to be more compatible with other networks - right now AT&T and T-Mobile are the only carriers with anything close to this. Maybe there's hope for this with LTE developments, but I don't know.
If this happens, maybe cheaper postpaid plans will be available - I really like this - it's why I'm on T-Mobile. I wish AT&T would have discounted plans if you're not on contract - it's not like they need to subsidize a phone.
luftrofl said:
... you're not trying hard enough
Seriously though, that list is unrealistic. "I want more advanced tech and I want it released and working now." is not a useful answer for "How would you change the wireless market?"
As for me, I want American cell networks to be more compatible with other networks - right now AT&T and T-Mobile are the only carriers with anything close to this. Maybe there's hope for this with LTE developments, but I don't know.
If this happens, maybe cheaper postpaid plans will be available - I really like this - it's why I'm on T-Mobile. I wish AT&T would have discounted plans if you're not on contract - it's not like they need to subsidize a phone.
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You're answer is similar to the one you jest about. How would such a move benefit the carriers? If it is not beneficial to them, it will not happen. What would be their motivation to make their networks or devices interoperable? Customer loyalty, or doing it to make customers happy isn't a reason, unfortunately. Generally, there needs to be financial motivation to make changes to the market.
cajunflavoredbob said:
EDIT: Also, GSM networks use the G.729 codec (as far as I recall) for voice calls which compress the call to roughly 6-8Kbps. This makes it about 3.6MB per hour on a normal, non VoIP GSM call. I have no idea what CDMA uses.
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Thank you, I couldn't remember the exact bitrate but I knew it was really very low.
Adaptive Multi-Rate Speech (AMR) is the codec used by WCDMA voice and it tops out at 12kbps.
Now I know were I got 45mb/hour. I read it in the mobile broadband part of a verizon mag.
It list Voice call(VoIP) as 45MB/hour over 4G LTE.