3 questions - lock/unlock - roam/no roam - contract/no con..

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Hello. I very recently opened a personal Cingular Nationwide
plan/account. (I’m still in my 30 day “trial period”). I have an
unlocked, unbranded Razr V3 that I’m happy with overall. Making a
long story short, when I went to the Cingular store to sign up, the
sales folks kept insisting I should have the Cingular branded and locked
model of the phone. Seeing this as an obvious sales and marketing push
and having already found and purchased the unlocked phone, I declined to
buy their phone, which caused quite a flurry of comments and veiled
warnings from the sales staff.

I have three questions.

1.) Given that I’m on a national plan, does anyone know of any danger
of being hit with true “roaming” fees? They did assure me that being
charged with roaming fees is impossible due to the terms of the contract
and I tend to believe that. However, in the area I live, I’m catching a
Cell. One tower and the roaming indicator does activate on my phone
(being that it is unlocked and unbranded). These are supposed to be
shared within the GSM network but coming over from many years of
experience with Bell Atlantic/Verizon regional plans, I’m still quite
sensitized to roaming charges. I’ve also had no experience with
Cingular customer service in terms of their willingness to assist with
such situations.

2.) Does anyone know of any “REAL”, specific advantages of using a
Cingular branded and locked phone vs. the unlocked phone, say in terms
of “roaming databases”, better signal strength while traveling, etc?

I’m not using web, text, or video features. Those are not a concern.
I just want to be as certain as possible I have the best possible
phone features, signal, and can be comfortable with the knowledge that
I’m not running up roaming fees. I am only asking here because I need
to make a final decision before my 30 day trial period is up and my
contract locks in.

3.) When I purchased the unlocked phone (eBay – new) I was told that if
I provided my own phone, I would not have to go under contract. (About
Feb. or March or this year.) Due to illness and a death in the family,
I didn’t make it into the store until June. I was told I had to take at
least a 1 year contract. However, the computer also showed an option
for an 11 month “contract” but the sales person wouldn’t try it and
claimed to not know what that was. Does anyone know if I’m being given
the run around on this issue? As with most everyone, I’m not a fan of
contracts.

Thanks in advance for any advice, comments, and assistance.

John

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"JohnK" <johnkpa@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:7e6dnYkCpf0800ffRVn-hw@adelphia.com...
> Hello. I very recently opened a personal Cingular Nationwide
> plan/account. (I’m still in my 30 day “trial period”). I have an
> unlocked, unbranded Razr V3 that I’m happy with overall. Making a
> long story short, when I went to the Cingular store to sign up, the
> sales folks kept insisting I should have the Cingular branded and locked
> model of the phone. Seeing this as an obvious sales and marketing push
> and having already found and purchased the unlocked phone, I declined to
> buy their phone, which caused quite a flurry of comments and veiled
> warnings from the sales staff.
>
> I have three questions.
>
> 1.) Given that I’m on a national plan, does anyone know of any danger
> of being hit with true “roaming” fees? They did assure me that being
> charged with roaming fees is impossible due to the terms of the contract
> and I tend to believe that. However, in the area I live, I’m catching a
> Cell. One tower and the roaming indicator does activate on my phone
> (being that it is unlocked and unbranded). These are supposed to be
> shared within the GSM network but coming over from many years of
> experience with Bell Atlantic/Verizon regional plans, I’m still quite
> sensitized to roaming charges. I’ve also had no experience with
> Cingular customer service in terms of their willingness to assist with
> such situations.
>
> 2.) Does anyone know of any “REAL”, specific advantages of using a
> Cingular branded and locked phone vs. the unlocked phone, say in terms
> of “roaming databases”, better signal strength while traveling, etc?
>
> I’m not using web, text, or video features. Those are not a concern.
> I just want to be as certain as possible I have the best possible
> phone features, signal, and can be comfortable with the knowledge that
> I’m not running up roaming fees. I am only asking here because I need
> to make a final decision before my 30 day trial period is up and my
> contract locks in.
>
> 3.) When I purchased the unlocked phone (eBay – new) I was told that if
> I provided my own phone, I would not have to go under contract. (About
> Feb. or March or this year.) Due to illness and a death in the family,
> I didn’t make it into the store until June. I was told I had to take at
> least a 1 year contract. However, the computer also showed an option
> for an 11 month “contract” but the sales person wouldn’t try it and
> claimed to not know what that was. Does anyone know if I’m being given
> the run around on this issue? As with most everyone, I’m not a fan of
> contracts.
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice, comments, and assistance.
>
> John
>
John,
I will provides answers in reverse:

3) The contracts are there to cover the subsidised price of the equipment.
If I buy a phone for $300.00 and sell it to you for $200.00 I want you
around for a while so I can recoup my investment. Did you get your service
at a company store or agent location? Agents usually get commission on
contracts. That is why most don't do upgrades. Call customer service and
advise them you want to be converted to no contract or you want to walk.

2) A branded and locked phone does only one thing. It is supposed to
guarantee that it is fully compatible with the providers network. A locked
phone will only work with the providers SIM card. Any other SIM will ask for
the subsidy (unlock) code. If you enter the subsidy code, the phone will
work with any card. A branded phone has special software for extra features
(like the web browser). With an unbranded phone you can access some of the
features by finding the proper information needed. One thing all newer
Cingular phones have is ENS capability. This with a 64K SIM card allows the
phone to work better over the original Cingular and the former ATT networks.
Having a 64K card in a generic phone does you nothing and can actually cause
a problem with some phones. Try putting one in a Motorola T720. It locks up
the phone book. The 'roaming database' is in the card, not the phone. Better
signal strength MAY be possible with an ENS capable phone and card, but not
guaranteed.

1) A Cingular national plan is a national plan is a national plan. If your
GSM phone has service and can make/receive calls, it is included in the plan
up to your included minutes.

Your only real issue is reversing the contract to a month to month deal. Get
that fixed and the rest of your basic phone questions are moot.

Jim