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General discussion

AT & T GSM America

Aug 9, 2004 6:33AM PDT

Hi,

I was looking at the new GSM America plans that AT & T has introduced. The Coverage plans included with this plan looks to be decent. Anybody here currently with that plan. I would like to see reviews of their new plan. They have been touting this plan on TV.

How does this compare to Cingular or Verizon ? Some of their phones are cool. NEC 525 for instance.

Would love some suggestions.

Thanks
Karthik

Discussion is locked

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Re: AT & T GSM America
Aug 9, 2004 7:59AM PDT

I would not recommend going w/ ATT Wireless. I worked for this company for over four years in tech support. ATT was a great company up untill about a year ago when they changed CEO's and upper mangmt and they went downhill so fast I ended up quitting and going to work somewhere else. The major flaw w/ ATT when it comes to the customer is a lack of concern. They have been bought out by Cingular and as the acquisiton progresses ATT seems to be concerned only w/ getting the numbers in place instead of providing quality service and supoort. if you do decide to go w/ ATT you can expect billing issues/invalid charges w/o any resolution, poor coverage as roaming agreements on the GSM network get aligned and contracted. A good suggestion as you shop around is to try a company on a pre paid basis for a month or so before committing to a contract. This option however leaves you to provide your own fon ( any freinds w/ old fons they're not using?). Personnally, I would go w/ T mobile...very upfront/ honest and professional...or go w/ Cingular as that is where an ATT customer will end up anyways....goodluck

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Re: on the pro side of AT&T
Aug 9, 2004 9:19AM PDT

I was on Verizon for the last few years. And before that I was on AT&T.

Back then, at the time I switched from AT&T because their service in a particular position in Pasadena (California) was non-existent. It was a position that was important to me, and I found that Verizon did get some reception in that same position. Not great, but some.

The AT&T service, I had back then, was their old CDMA (or was it TDMA? ... whichever). But I NEEDED service in that one place, if I wanted to maintain a healthy relationship with my wife ("she who must be heard").

I actually tried Cingular at that time too. Still poor reception. So, I went with Verizon.

Now, years later, I really wanted to get that new Nokia 6820 phone (smallish, camera, bluetooth, infared, keyboard), plus I really think Verizon phones are just ugly (IMHO).

So, since the 6820 uses the GSM network, I figured I'd give it a try. I did, and it is not great in that same area in Pasadena (a black hole for cell reception, evidently) but it does work. As good as my Verizon did. Plus, now my nifty, new 6820 works in the office building, and labs that I habit.

As for the AT&T management, charge errors, and stuff, I have no opinion ... yet. But, I figure I can work through their errors. The phone service is what needed, and so far it is working.

No bad mouthing here. Just my .02

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Re: on the pro side of AT&T
Aug 10, 2004 3:52AM PDT

I can say where I live in Gary, IN, AT&T has so many towers, but yet people in my area complain their calls get dropped more than those who have Verizon. Pasadena, CA is a different story since there's rugged terrain while northern Indiana is overall flatland. As for Verizon phones being ugly? Not all phones are ugly. I mainly find Kyocera and Nokia phones ugly, though I find Kyocera phones work better in areas that other phones might not work. Nokia especially makes ugly phones and you'll find Nokia phones being used more with AT&T, Cingular, and T-Mobile, where their criteria isn't as stringent as Verizon and Sprint are. Plus if you notice with Verizon and Sprint phones, they all have external antennas of some type while the GSM carriers have a number of phones without external antennas, especially Nokia phones.
I don't know if Cingular will be able to acquire all of AT&T as AT&T and Cingular are in a number of markets, and I believe the Chicago market will be acquired by someone else since Cingular and AT&T overlap the Chicago market.

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Re: AT & T GSM America
Aug 9, 2004 11:06AM PDT

I have had my mobile service since 1986 with the same phone number when phones used to be installed in cars only and they cost $1200 to $1400 each. The mobile service carrier back then was CellularOne and it was bought out by ATT some years ago. The GSM service came out 20 months ago and ATT promised that they were in the process of adding GSM cell sights and the service in time would be the best of all carriers. To my dismay, the GSM service was bad and it has continued to get worse. Recently Cingular bought out ATT and the merger will be finalized sometime next year but in the mean time the service is unbearable. I am in RE sales and drive all over the San Francisco bay area cities. The reception goes from Cingular cell sights to ATT cell sights and you'll get cut off if you are on the phone talking. The service is so horrible and I am leaving them at the end of this year after 18 years of staying with them. ATT used to be a great company and they have fallen mightily through the years and they will probably be out of business like many of the old American companies that did not see the need to take care of their customers or put our good services and products. Just look at how the Detroit auto auto makers lost all their young drivers to Japanese and European car makers. It is sad!

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Re: AT & T GSM America
Aug 9, 2004 5:14PM PDT

Minutes are better and when I used to have analog service and roam on Verizon or Alltel my service sucked. I have great coverage now

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Re: AT & T GSM America
Aug 10, 2004 4:09AM PDT

Most of Verizon's network is all digital (CDMA), so if you have an analog phone, most likely, the call won't be picked up by Verizon. I have a tri-mode phone and when I was around Beecher, IL yesterday, I deliberately put my phone in analog to see what would happen. Once the phone switched to analog, my phone said No Service. I never was impressed with AT&T, Cingular (was CellularOne when I was looking at services), and even worse for coverage, T-Mobile (was VoiceStream when I was looking at services). I almost went with Sprint, but a plan was discontinued I wanted to go with, which made go with Verizon and have been happy with them. I'd like to have more anytime minutes, but the problems with the other services in my area make me glad to have Verizon Wireless. Even my mom and sister are happy with them, unlike when they were with Cingular.

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Re: AT & T GSM America
Aug 11, 2004 4:41PM PDT

I would go with the new plans. They are very competitive with other carriers and AT&T offers a lot of great phones. I work for them now and can honestly say that if I didn't work for AT&T I would still have their service. GSM has definately come a long way from when it started 2 years ago. ONE VERY IMORTANT THING... DO NOT BUY THE NEC 525. Horrible phone, bad battery life, bad reception, so many returns on that model, software issues. I would suggest the Samsung e316 or the Motorola v600. If you need any more help you can email me at hannah.mccarthy@attws.com

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Re: AT & T GSM America
Oct 6, 2004 2:28PM PDT

NO one else can beat verizon when it come to their nationwide america's choice reception. Plus GSM is not strong in the US. Its very weak when Cingular bought ATT.

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Re: AT & T GSM America
Oct 16, 2004 5:50PM PDT

FYI... the sale isn't final. They are still awaiting FCC rulings, although they were close to approving the deal, according to news last week.