I'm looking at T-Mobile at the moment for my fiancee.

The main killer for her is the monthly fee. The $19.99 plan is a good rate
but only allows 60 minutes during the day per month!!! Thats very low.

Shes after a cell which:

As service in Columbus, Ohio,
As a plan around the $20.00 mark (upto $5)
As a reasonable about of daytime - week day minutes, and,
allows her to send me a text message from Columbus, Ohio to Manchester,
England.

As anyone any good ideas?

Also, I'm looking at the possibility of getting a prepaid phone if a
reasonably price plan can't be found. I noticed Cingular do a prepaid
service, but none of there phones are flips. She wants a flip. So, does
anyone know if I can buy a flip phone and get Cingular to put it on to their
prepaid network (and does Cingular allow international text messaging?).

I'm just trying to get all the facts. Especially if the result is her having
to sign up for 12 months upwards in a plan contract. Money is tight and
getting involved in a phone contract would cause her big problems.

Gavin

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IceC <icecATdsl.pipex.com> wrote:
> I'm looking at T-Mobile at the moment for my fiancee.
>
> The main killer for her is the monthly fee. The $19.99 plan is a good rate
> but only allows 60 minutes during the day per month!!! Thats very low.
>
> Shes after a cell which:
>
> As service in Columbus, Ohio,
> As a plan around the $20.00 mark (upto $5)
> As a reasonable about of daytime - week day minutes, and,
> allows her to send me a text message from Columbus, Ohio to Manchester,
> England.
>
> As anyone any good ideas?

I had a friend in Newark, about 1/2 hour east of Columbus, who didn't like
her T-Mobile (then Voicestream) service. Had some coverage problems.

I've heard Sprint has some major issues in Columbus too.

Cingular, AT&T or Verizon might be better choices. And they all do prepaid.

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Steve Sobol, Proprietor
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On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 16:18:03 -0600, Steven J Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:


>Cingular, AT&T or Verizon might be better choices. And they all do prepaid.

For what it's worth, VZW should be able to SMS with the major cell
companies in England, I believe even with prepaid.

Mike

Mike <inundated9@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 16:18:03 -0600, Steven J Sobol
> <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
>
>
>>Cingular, AT&T or Verizon might be better choices. And they all do prepaid.
>
> For what it's worth, VZW should be able to SMS with the major cell
> companies in England, I believe even with prepaid.

I would hope so, since one of the stakeholders in VZW is Europe's largest
cell carrier. :>

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JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net

"IceC" <icecATdsl.pipex.com> wrote in message news:<3fb94240$0$259$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com> ...
> I'm looking at T-Mobile at the moment for my fiancee.
>
> The main killer for her is the monthly fee. The $19.99 plan is a good rate
> but only allows 60 minutes during the day per month!!! Thats very low.

No cell carrier offers a lot of minutes on a $20 plan. In fact, many
US carriers don't even have $20 plans, instead choosing to start at
$29.99.

> Shes after a cell which:
>
> As service in Columbus, Ohio,

....I realize that the British accent often drops the leading "h" from
speech, but I didn't realize you dropped it in WRITING too! ;-)

> As a plan around the $20.00 mark (upto $5)
> As a reasonable about of daytime - week day minutes, and,

Isn't going to happen for $20/month, unless we have vastly different
definitions of "reasonable!" Also, when budgeting for the monthly
service, remember that taxes and fees will increase a cellphone bill
roughly 15-20%, so a $20 plan will really be $24 or so.

Keep in mind that US mobile customers pay for incoming minutes as
well, so calls to her will use up her minutes just like outgoing.

> allows her to send me a text message from Columbus, Ohio to Manchester,
> England.

These days virtually all US cellphones and carriers can handle that.

> As anyone any good ideas?

Not unless she loosens the pursestrings for a $30 plan. Then she'll
have 300 minutes or so.

> Also, I'm looking at the possibility of getting a prepaid phone if a
> reasonably price plan can't be found. I noticed Cingular do a prepaid
> service, but none of there phones are flips.

In Ohio, IIRC, Cingular prepaid is TDMA, not GSM, so you can't just
swap SIMs around. (The "SIM", or NAM, in a TDMA phome is fixed- it's
not a removable chip.) Having said that, many flips are compatible
with Cingular TDMA service- in fact Cingular sold many in the past few
years. Motorola brand mostly.

> She wants a flip. So, does
> anyone know if I can buy a flip phone and get Cingular to put it on to their
> prepaid network (and does Cingular allow international text messaging?).

Sure, as long as the phone is compatible. In some states Cingular
uses GSM, in some they use TDMA. (Cingular is an amalgam of smaller
cell companies that merged, so their technology is different in
different areas. They are transistioning to the GSM standard
nationwide, but complete conversion will take a few years.)

Not to be a wise arse, by the way, but if 60 minutes isn't enough on a
$20 plan, how is prepaid going to help? Cingular prepaid is 35-cents
a minute (about $20 for 60 min.!) without the free weekends! And, I
know I said (wrote?) this already, but since your system in Europe is
different I bring it up again- remember incoming calls use up time as
well, so you can't stick her on prepaid or a low minute plan and call
her figuring you'll pay for it on your end.

> I'm just trying to get all the facts. Especially if the result is her having
> to sign up for 12 months upwards in a plan contract. Money is tight and
> getting involved in a phone contract would cause her big problems.

US prepaid averages about 25-cents a minute. Best rates, IMHO, are
Virgin Mobile US (25-cents a minute for the first 10 minutes each day,
and 10-cents each additional min. that day, you MUST use their brand
of non-GSM phones, and they do have flips) or Cingular (35-cents/min
days, 10-cents nights and weekends.)

In addition, AT&T has a new semi-prepaid plan called Go-Phone that
uses GSM, has no contract, and rates starting at $20/month. It works
like a post-paid phone, but has no contract. They don't sell a flip
model, but since it's GSM you could swap the SIM into a GSM flip
phone.

I'm sorry I couldn't answer the most important part of your question-
who has good coverage in Columbus- because I've never been there.
Hope I helped a little, tho'.

Good luck!

Todd Allcock <elecconnec@aol.com> wrote:
> Sure, as long as the phone is compatible. In some states Cingular
> uses GSM, in some they use TDMA. (Cingular is an amalgam of smaller
> cell companies that merged, so their technology is different in
> different areas. They are transistioning to the GSM standard
> nationwide, but complete conversion will take a few years.)

GSM coverage is in the former BellSouth DCS areas, and the former Pacific
Bell Wireless areas. That'd be California, perhaps Nevada, and a couple
states in the south. The rest of the former BellSouth cellular properties,
the former SBC-owned CellularONE markets, and the other SBC cellular divisions
- in other words, most of the country - are TDMA and in the process of c
converting to GSM.

AT&T should have GSM in Columbus; I know they have it up in Cleveland.

> In addition, AT&T has a new semi-prepaid plan called Go-Phone that
> uses GSM, has no contract, and rates starting at $20/month. It works
> like a post-paid phone, but has no contract. They don't sell a flip
> model, but since it's GSM you could swap the SIM into a GSM flip
> phone.
>
> I'm sorry I couldn't answer the most important part of your question-
> who has good coverage in Columbus- because I've never been there.
> Hope I helped a little, tho'.

I know Verizon's coverage is good, and that T-Mobile's and Sprint's aren't
so hot. I have no idea how AT&T is in Columbus. T-Mobile and AT&T would be
the GSM carriers down there. Cingular, as mentioned, probably isn't - not
yet.

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22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:58:29 -0600, Steven J Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:

>GSM coverage is in the former BellSouth DCS areas, and the former Pacific
>Bell Wireless areas. That'd be California, perhaps Nevada, and a couple
>states in the south. The rest of the former BellSouth cellular properties,

Former BellSouth DCS areas: NC, SC, northeastern TN (Knoxville,
Gatlinburg, Tri-Cities, etc.) and eastern GA (Augusta, Savannah, St.
Simons Island, Statesboro, etc.)

Seattle was also GSM from day one -- SBC/Cingular acquired GTE's
system there (GTE had to sell it when they became part of Verizon
Communications because of spectrum cap rules; VZW held on to the
former Airtouch property in that market and every other market where
there was an Airtouch property and either a BAM or GTE property:
Cleveland, Phoenix, Cincinnati, etc.) and switched it from CDMA to
GSM.

Cingular uses T-Mobile's network in NYC, much like T-Mo uses
Cingular's in CA/NV (and apparently in Knoxville TN and parts of SC,
where T-Mo has relatively small amounts of spectrum but does *not*
sell service, too.)

-SC
--
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....
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"IceC" <icecATdsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:3fb94240$0$259$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com.. .
> I'm looking at T-Mobile at the moment for my fiancee.
>
> The main killer for her is the monthly fee. The $19.99 plan is a good rate
> but only allows 60 minutes during the day per month!!! Thats very low.

That's about as good as a $20 monthly rate gets, especially since it also
includes 500 weekend minutes (even if you don't need extra weekend minutes,
it lets you save the 60 anytime for during the week).

At this price point you will probably end up doing better with some of the
prepaid deals.


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That doesn't prove anything. One of the largest stake holders in ATT is NTT
DoCoMo and they still don't have any roaming agreements or SMS agreements.
Now that GSM SIMs will work in select J-Phone phones, you finally might be
able to roam there, but only on the competitor's network.

Stu

"Steven J Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
newsY6dnen1CccSNSSiRVn-iw@lmi.net...
> Mike <inundated9@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 16:18:03 -0600, Steven J Sobol
> > <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Cingular, AT&T or Verizon might be better choices. And they all do
prepaid.
> >
> > For what it's worth, VZW should be able to SMS with the major cell
> > companies in England, I believe even with prepaid.
>
> I would hope so, since one of the stakeholders in VZW is Europe's largest
> cell carrier. :>
>
> --
> JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
> 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
> Steve Sobol, Proprietor
> 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net

In article <3IOdndexU5doGieiRVn-hQ@lmi.net>,
Steven J Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
>Todd Allcock <elecconnec@aol.com> wrote:
>> Sure, as long as the phone is compatible. In some states Cingular
>> uses GSM, in some they use TDMA. (Cingular is an amalgam of smaller
....
>I know Verizon's coverage is good, and that T-Mobile's and Sprint's aren't
>so hot. I have no idea how AT&T is in Columbus. T-Mobile and AT&T would be
>the GSM carriers down there. Cingular, as mentioned, probably isn't - not
>yet.
....
>Steve Sobol, Proprietor

Cingular does have GSM in Columbus OH now. On 850 mhz.
I know several people who have the service already.
I have no idea if they offer prepaid on GSM in Columbus;
the people I know have postpaid accounts.

Just for fun, I did an experiment and put a Cingular SIM into an unlocked
1900 mhz phone. It came up and registered on VoiceStream (T-Mobile)
but I was not able to make any calls.
The T-Mo SIM wouldn't even power up in the cingular phone: the phone
was simlocked.

Franco

--
Franco Barber
feb AT febsun DOT cmhnet DOT org