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I've been an AT&T cell customer for about 5 years now. I'm off contract, and I never moved to Cingular because they always wanted me to pay reconnect fees for my family's three phones. I went into the store to find out about the new plans and told them I might want to get an iPhone.
What they said was that my phones [which are GSM] are running on ATT's old cell towers and old network which will be "dismantled" some day [didn't say when] and that I could move for $18 reconnect fee per phone but I'd need to get all new phones w/ the new contract. I've used our gsm phones in Europe and never had any problem w/ them. Is his giving me some kind of line about the old cell antennas? [or, antenni]
I'm grumbling because I don't think I should have to pay to "reconnect;" as a longtime customer, you would think they would want to keep me????
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That's BS. They're just trying to get you to buy new phones and sign on to a new contract. GSM is GSM.
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>>GSM is GSM.
Not exactly. There are different bands. I do believe that Cingular started putting up 850 band towers which won't work with older phone.
That said, yeah, they just want you to part with more money.
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Had same problem. They said there was no way to reconnect my old service. Of course, if I were still paying for it, I'd still be connected. What a bunch of BS.
Apple's exclusive contract with ATT is a dealbreaker for me on the iPhone. I was planning to get one but no dice until they open it up. It's a nice toy but hardly a necessity when they are going to connect you to the "old" Edge network rather than the newer faster service. What a bunch of BS. How did dear leader get sucked into this crap?
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I have been with AT&T for years and have a TDMA phone and they are pounding on me to get a new phone and sign a contract. They said they are gradually cutting back on TDMA and the whole system in February.
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Unless your SIM is mega-old(Which is the blue sims) then it is 100% BS.
An AT&T Wireless phone can access the same network in the same way(Even with the same billing system) as an at&t phone can.
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abevilac's issue is that he has AT&T Wireless(AWS) SIMs. They work with Cingular/at&t mobility's entire GSM network with no problems. The only difference is that you are in a different HLR and have different settings for voice mailbox number, GPRS access point and so on.
The only way to "upgrade" you would be to give you new SIM and go into their database and change the IMSI linked to you account. (Which is pretty damn easy to do)
I also have an old AWS SIM and I have no problems with any of the couple of dozen phones I've used in last few years.
So, in other words, that guy at the AT&T store is full of crap.
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I'd like to answer the question of "how did Dear Leader get sucked into this exclusivity deal" with AT&T.
There was nothing "sucker" about it. AT&T agreed to do the following things:
1. Co-develop the "visual voicemail" technology and other aspects of the interface
2. Upgrade their entire network (in stages, both voice and data, no it's not all done -- in fact they've barely begun)
3. Create a special plan that a) is reasonably priced, b) includes AYCE data and c) integrates with iTunes
And this is just the parts we know about. OF COURSE they get an exclusive deal for five years. The above list represents a MULTI-BILLION $$ INVESTMENT. Hello.
Does anybody here actually think that if Apple had signed an agreement with, instead, let's say Verizon, that we wouldn't be flooded with people saying "forcing me to use Verizon is a dealbreaker. THEY SUX0R!!" ad nauseum. Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
Spare me.
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Abe,
Ridiculous. Yes, the old network will be dropped in the future. No doubt of that. However, it's easy enough to switch to the Cingular configuration. Get a new phone, new service contract. No muss, no fuss. No reconnect fees.
Or, if you like your existing phones, just unlock them and get Cingular to give you a new chip. That's what I did with my old Nokia 3620. The phone might be old by current standards but it is still better than many of the newer phones.
So, while I have my new Sony W810i which is an awesome phone - I wholeheartedly recommend it - If necessary, I can take the chip out of it, pop it into the Nokia and continue my normal cell phone usage. I think of the Nokia as a backup phone in the event something happens to the Sony.
Robert
