Cellular Phone Carriers

Yes, I know this has been discussed before (so, please don't just refer me to old posts.....)

I'm thinking of getting off Verizon. I want a phone that is GSM compatible so that I can travel with it and send/receive text messages with my friends in Europe.

Verizon offeres VERY few (read: 3) phones that are GSM and their calling plan rates are worse than the others

Anybody have any opinions on this?

My main concern is really COVERAGE (I know the coverage with Verizon is MUCH better than what I had with AT&T). The GSM is really just a "would like to have" rather than a need. That said, I don't want to jump ship for GSM only to find I have shitty coverage.

Anyone?

Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Carriers

Flexichick wrote: Yes, I know this has been discussed before (so, please don't just refer me to old posts.....)

I'm thinking of getting off Verizon. I want a phone that is GSM compatible so that I can travel with it and send/receive text messages with my friends in Europe.

Verizon offeres VERY few (read: 3) phones that are GSM and their calling plan rates are worse than the others

Anybody have any opinions on this?

My main concern is really COVERAGE (I know the coverage with Verizon is MUCH better than what I had with AT&T). The GSM is really just a "would like to have" rather than a need. That said, I don't want to jump ship for GSM only to find I have shitty coverage.

Anyone?

I've had zero problems with Cingular - I get reception in way more places than with TMobile, which I had for years. and yes, I love GSM because I can txt my way across latin american and europe.

Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Carriers

alafairnadia wrote: I've had zero problems with Cingular - I get reception in way more places than with TMobile, which I had for years. and yes, I love GSM because I can txt my way across latin american and europe.

Don't Cingular and TMobile use the same network?

Thanks for the info!

I'm leaning towards Cingular because of the price plans, availablility of (cheap) GSM phones and decent international rates.

Anybody else want to weigh in on coverage v. Verizon?

Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Carriers

Flexichick wrote: Yes, I know this has been discussed before (so, please don't just refer me to old posts.....)

I'm thinking of getting off Verizon. I want a phone that is GSM compatible so that I can travel with it and send/receive text messages with my friends in Europe.

Verizon offeres VERY few (read: 3) phones that are GSM and their calling plan rates are worse than the others

Anybody have any opinions on this?

My main concern is really COVERAGE (I know the coverage with Verizon is MUCH better than what I had with AT&T). The GSM is really just a "would like to have" rather than a need. That said, I don't want to jump ship for GSM only to find I have shitty coverage.

Anyone?

I've had T-Mobile for a few years now (since they were VoiceStream in fact) mostly because of the GSM thing (family's in Britsville and it's useful to have when I visit). Coverage has become steadily better over the past few years - some blank spots on the Thruway and New Paltz is a dead zone (but I could get perefct reception whilst climbing on the cliifs outside of town - not that I'd climb and talk) but most everywhere in the city is good these days. And T-Mo does have the best text plans if that's what you want it for.

Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Carriers

Carnivore wrote: [quote=alafairnadia]I've had zero problems with Cingular - I get reception in way more places than with TMobile, which I had for years. and yes, I love GSM because I can txt my way across latin american and europe.

Don't Cingular and TMobile use the same network?

nope, not anymore.

Subject: Try this

T-Mobile.
'cause they're a German company (Deutsche Telekom)
maybe they'd have better GSM stuff.
Also Sprint/Nextel, Nextels especially since their phones have removable SIM cards -- you can get one good for GSM.

I'll second the Cingular suggestion. They have been great.

Don't get T-Mobile unless you have a landline. 2 years, 3 different phones and I usually couldn't make calls from inside a building in the Slope - and occasionally outside a building. They always claimed they were improving the network in our area, but I never saw the results - and frankly, it's only going to get harder to do so what with people all up in arms about the OMG DETH WAVES!!1!11!!! from the arrays. I'm sure someone will be chomping at the bit to elaborate on that.

DT's ownership of T-mobile in no way mitigated the lack of network coverage for me.

Thanks for all of the advice. I've heard things about coveage issues w. T-Mobile in PS, so that would be a deal killer for me.

I like the Cingular roll-over concept too. 'bout time you got to keep what you paid for! I wish that would have made Verizon more competitive, but sadly, it hasn't.

I have verizon with great service, but only in the US with my phone. My girlfriend has the same great service with Cingular though, plus since it is SIM based, it can be taken over seas. I'd go to amazon.com and get a phone thru them, it'll be free or WAY WAY WAY cheaper than ANY deal at a Cingular/Verizon/ATT/Sprint store. My friends did that and love their phones.
Also, for anyone with Verizon Razr phones, as you know a lot of features are locked. You can get these features unlocked if you look around the net a bit. If you know what I mean and are curious, PM me and I can send you some helpful links. I'm unlocking mine today. This will not help the OP with overseas usage, this is more of an FYI.

Thanks, Dave.

I just sent you a note

Flexichick wrote: Thanks, Dave.

I just sent you a note

I Did not get one :-(
Maybe it takes a while to go thru...

Subject: cing v verizon

verizon sometimes has coverage in spots that cingular does not.

however, cingular is a unionized company and if you are in a union, you get a 5% discount on your basic monthly charge. If you are a NYC municipal union member, the discount bumps up to something like 20% (but you have to ask for that).

The rollover thing kicks ass, too.

Subject: Re: cing v verizon

wally wrote: verizon sometimes has coverage in spots that cingular does not.

however, cingular is a unionized company and if you are in a union, you get a 5% discount on your basic monthly charge. If you are a NYC municipal union member, the discount bumps up to something like 20% (but you have to ask for that).

The rollover thing kicks ass, too.

Did not know it. Is that just on sign-up or can you mention it any time?

Steve - I used the link that said "email" rather than PM. I can send again.

One thing I will miss is that I used to work for a huge corporation and I got 17% discount from Verizon. They don't seem to check because I haven't worked there in months.

I know that if I worked there still, I'd get a discount from Cingular. Heck, if I worked anywhere, maybe I wouldn't care

I get a 10% discount from Verizon thru work. Might just want to check your carrier or check with your HR department. I think for Cingular you can go to their website and type in your work email address and they can find out if you have a discount set up.

Dave - I don't actually work there any more........Verizon just never caught on ;-)

i like verizon.

and can't you txt or call, for free or close, with skype? all the kids in my studio use it, but i'm too old to understand how it works

Subject: anytime?

Not sure if you can do it at any time or just when you are re-upping your contract? I disagree, by the way, with the "no way to get this by phone" thing. Last time I spoke with them, they had a specific union rep on the phones.....

From the unionplus website:
Union members can receive a special 5% discount on service from Cingular Wireless, the only wireless company that can, and does, proclaim that it is "Proud to Be Union." The 5% discount is available off the regular monthly rate for any Cingular individual or family plan.

The union discount is ONLY available at Cingular stores, NOT available through the phone, at any authorized Cingular dealer or kiosk. (If you call any Cingular customer service phone number, they cannot apply the discount.) You can find a Cingular store location near you here.

To get the Cingular discount, union members need to bring the following to a Cingular store:

1. Acceptable union identification:
* a union membership card
* a Union Plus Credit Card
* proof of payment of union dues


Cingular Union Discount FAN number is: 00113662. (there's a coupon you can down load but it reads like you can just give them this number).

I went T-Mobile with Blackberry.

I wanted to go Cingular, and their voice plans were very well-priced. But throw in blackberry and it's $25 more/month.

Should arrive tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

My Verizon contract is up, so I don't have to pay to break it.

BP - you can't text with Europe, Latin America, Asia or Japan with Verizon. The US is on a differnt phone system. Verizon has very few phones that are tri- or quad-band (meaning their phones only work within the US. Europe, Latin America and most of the rest of the world (except Japan) is GSM).

I am a big Skype fan. But you have to be home and in front of your PC to use it. And so does the person you're calling (unless you've paid to use extra features like voicemail) - and THEY have to have Skype too.

Now I (should) have a phone that I can travel with, text wherever I want and also read my emails (I do this now via my Palm Pilot - which I love, but relies on wi-fi signals, is "pull technology" and means I carry 2 things).

If you don't understand technology, your head might be ready to explode now

Flexichick wrote: I went T-Mobile with Blackberry.

I wanted to go Cingular, and their voice plans were very well-priced. But throw in blackberry and it's $25 more/month.

Should arrive tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

My Verizon contract is up, so I don't have to pay to break it.

BP - you can't text with Europe, Latin America, Asia or Japan with Verizon. The US is on a differnt phone system. Verizon has very few phones that are tri- or quad-band (meaning their phones only work within the US. Europe, Latin America and most of the rest of the world (except Japan) is GSM).

I am a big Skype fan. But you have to be home and in front of your PC to use it. And so does the person you're calling (unless you've paid to use extra features like voicemail) - and THEY have to have Skype too.

Now I (should) have a phone that I can travel with, text wherever I want and also read my emails (I do this now via my Palm Pilot - which I love, but relies on wi-fi signals, is "pull technology" and means I carry 2 things).

If you don't understand technology, your head might be ready to explode now

Good luck. Let us know how it works out.

I love, love, love it. Then again, I'm a bit of a techno gadget addict and I missed my BB from my corporate days.

Had one initial problem with the sync software, fiddled with it for a LONG time and finally got it working.

Got the BB itself for a cost of NEGATIVE FIFTY BUCKS. Yep! That's right! Kosher Dave gave me a hot tip that if I bought via Amazon.com they had great prices (that is IF you are eligible to switch carriers and are not just upgrading phones - although they probably have good prices for that, too). I am eligible for two refunds totalling $125, which means I'll get 50 bucks extra returned to me

No problems with T-Mo so far. I have 4-5 bars (pretty much full strength) in my apt. in WT. Was a bit spotty on 5th Ave. around 11th St, but stuff still came through.

The blackberry itself is cool (8700g), the pricing plan was very competitive (I compared Verizon, Cingular and T-Mo).

They claim to be able to port your number over in less than 24 hours. It took about 2 hours for calls to start coming thru on my new phone (switching from Verizon).

I found that blackberryforums.com and howardforums.com (thanks to Dave for that one) to be great sources of info on both choosing a model (and customizing add-ins, etc.) and carriers (true coverage maps, complaints, ratings, etc.) to be a huge help.

I was surprised to see that T-Mo won JD Powers awards for coverage and service in the mid-Atlantic states against all other major carriers (I think they tied with Verizon for coverage and won for service....but don't quote me! all of the info started to swim around in my head after a while ).

Only downside so far is there is no Vindigo client for Blackberry. I love Vindigo on my Palm Pilot....esp. since they added Brooklyn info.

Any suggestions for alternatives for restaurants/bar listings + shopping info (nearest ATM, drug store, etc.).

Or, you can (all) be pals and flood Vindigo with requests for Blackberry-compatible software ;-)

So, it's one month later, and I'm reporting back.

All is well in T-Mo land.

There's a dead spot on 5th Ave. near 11th Street (ironically, it's right near their store), but it's not too bad.

I had some issues with my blackberry and AOL but those are really problems with RIM (who makes blackberries) and AOL and not a T-Mo issue.

Not missing Verizon as I was afraid I would be

Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Carriers

Carnivore wrote:
Don't Cingular and TMobile use the same network?

They use the same technology, GSM,but different networks LIke Sprint and Verizon use the same technology, CDMA, but they networks are different

Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Carriers

Flexichick wrote:
I'm thinking of getting off Verizon. I want a phone that is GSM compatible so that I can travel with it and send/receive text messages with my friends in Europe.

Do you mean you want your friends in Europe to be able to text you while you are i nthe US or are you going to be in the Europe yourself? If you will be in Europe how much time will you bespending there? I might be better just to get a pre-paid phone while you are in Europe

Both options.

I have a cell phone when in Spain, but it's not really a great solution (too long and boring to detail it here)

Subject: Re: cing v verizon

wally wrote:
however, cingular is a unionized company and if you are in a union, you get a 5% discount on your basic monthly charge. If you are a NYC municipal union member, the discount bumps up to something like 20% (but you have to ask for that).

The rollover thing kicks ass, too.

Verizon give discounts too, 20% to city employees, 19% to SUNY and CUNY emplpoyees, UBS, Chase, and I think HSBC employees get 20% and citibank employees get 25%

The Citi discount from Verizon is not that high - it's 17%
Lots of other big firms have arrangements with the main carriers