Does Cngular have an answer to Voicestream in CA?

[KSJ]

I am a cingular customer and very tempted to switch to voicestream in CA.
For $39.99 Voicestrem is offering 1000 any time national minutes compared to
Cingular's 500. I checked their website and they also have cheaper
international calling and directory assistance rates among other things.
Does anybody know whether Cingular is planning to somewhat match
voicestream's offer? Voicestream does not offer night minutes but still
their offer is very very tempting!!

For those who know more about the network/service, is there any reason to
stay with Cingular? (e.g. merger talks with ATT??--assuming that's a good
thing) Or any reasons to switch to Voicestream???

Thanks.

[Spence F. Burton]

I just "jumped ship" from Cingular to T-Mobile in the SF bay area. I'm
waiting for my new V60g from Amazon for FREE after rebates. Cingular
offered to reduce my $39.99 to $29.99 (500 anywhere minutes), but would
not even discuss any real discount on the V60g... just their $249 price
minus a $50 rebate... It was just not worth staying with them... they
have done nothing over the last 3 years to expand their network in the
northbay, and they have no plans to do so... I am HOPING that T-Mobile
will push them to expand, but if they don't...... 29 cents a minute to
call Europe (T-Mobile) vs $1.29 for Cingular..... roaming in Europe for
99 cents a minute (T-Mobile) vs $2.49 for Cingular... 75 cents(?) for
411 (T-Mobile) vs $1.25 for Cingular... I could go on and on.....

I will "hang on" to GSM for a while longer with the hope that somebody
(maybe ATT) will build out north of Marin County. All dead space from
Cloverdale to the Oregon border, and most of the coastline from the
GoldenGate bridge to Washington...

Just my humble opinions....

Spence

[Michael Thaler]

I have swwitched 3 of 4 Cingular lines to VS. I was able to give up a
NY VS line i maintained mainly for intl. roaming and some roaming on the
east coast.
Cingular still charges $4/min. to roam overseas, i believe. I will
pay 29 cents in many countries since i have an old VS account. Even new
subscribers pay $1/min. vs. $4.
Another reason is 3000 minutes for $50 for my personal phone. 3000
anytime min. on Cingular would be over $200, i believe.
Another reason is is i set up several 4 lines on the8 900 min. family
plan, i will pay $99/mo. With Cingular for 1000 minutes it would now be
$130.00.
Another reason is VM can be accessed from a land line. Cingular now
has this feature incl. on national plans but charges about $5 from local
plans. (I won't make much use of this feature, but its nice.)
CS is open 24/7. Cingular (and PacBell before it) is only open
about12-14 hours weekdays, a few hours Sat. and closed Sun.

Advantages of Cingular are almost unlimited night minutes (which i
may use 50-75 mo.) and the option to pay $5/mo. to have FIMF. I added
that feature to my personal Cingular line.) Also, you can add family
plan members to virtually any plan, albeit for $20/mo. I believe they
may be flexible on the pricing on that - judging by the half hearted
attmept to keep me. I have been w. them since the first day they went
on line.

...mike

[KSJ]

My thoughts exactly. Like I said, everything seems to be so much cheaper
with Voicestream.
The only thing that holds me back is a possible merger between Cingular and
ATT which would expand GSM & TDMA coverage (with the right phone of course).
Also, ATT already has GSM network up and running in CA which we can't access
yet--very good reception too.

I also heard that voicestream may merge with ATT, so....go figure.
Nevertheless, I am also leaning toward switching...just wish I could take my
number with me.

"Spence F. Burton" <sfbu...@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:3D3E2EF8...@attbi.com...

[Steven Scharf]

Thanks for posting that. I'm going to add your deal to
retention plans for Cingular when I get back home.
Those Voicestream rates are awesome.

In Florida, the V60 is being advertised for $28 after
rebate, but I guess free is even a better deal!

As far as coverage, AT&T's conversion to GSM is definitely
going to solve the GSM coverage issues in the next few
years. The question is what plans are going to be available
from each provider once GSM coverage is pervasive. If
AT&T is providing most of the coverage, you can be sure
that the present roaming plans from Cingular and T-Mobile
are not going to continue. Of course by the time GSM
coverage is pervasive there are almost certainly going to
be fewer GSM providers than there are now. Someone is
going to pick up Voicestream, but the feds may not allow
Cingular and AT&T to merge.

I expect to go back to a GSM provider around 2005. By that
time the number portability will be in place, and it will be very
little hassle to change carriers.

BTW, you can see rate comparisons for all the carriers
on the San Francisco Bay Area Cellular Carrier Comparison
website at:

"http://nordicgroup.us/cellcomp/"

Even if you don't agree with the information about coverage,
the rate plan tables are still useful.

"Spence F. Burton" <sfbu...@attbi.com> wrote in article
<3D3E2EF8...@attbi.com>:

> I just "jumped ship" from Cingular to T-Mobile in the SF bay area. I'm
> waiting for my new V60g from Amazon for FREE after rebates. Cingular
> offered to reduce my $39.99 to $29.99 (500 anywhere minutes), but would

<snip>

[posted via phonescoop.com - free web access to the alt.cellular groups]

[John Navas]

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <ahll5g$t2a$1...@siamese.noc.ucla.edu> on Wed, 24 Jul 2002 00:28:20
-0700, "KSJ" <ksh...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Also, ATT already has GSM network up and running in CA which we can't access
>yet--very good reception too.

Only in some areas. For example, GSM coverage in the SF Bay Area won't
be up until mid-September.

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/> HELP PAGES FOR
CINGULAR GSM + ERICSSON PHONES: <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

[Malcolm W]

"Michael Thaler" <michael...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:3D3E3D9B...@mindspring.com...

> I have swwitched 3 of 4 Cingular lines to VS. I was able to give up a
> NY VS line i maintained mainly for intl. roaming and some roaming on the
> east coast.
> Cingular still charges $4/min. to roam overseas, i believe. I will
> pay 29 cents in many countries since i have an old VS account. Even new
> subscribers pay $1/min. vs. $4.

By the way, did you see the rates they are offering their NYC customers?
Really competitive.

[Michael Thaler]

Malcolm - I have been unable to get any roaming info off the Cingular
site for weeks. When I click on "roaming" all i get is an error message
that no such page exists.
Could you give me an example of NYC Cingular intl. roaming rates?

Thanks.

...mike

Malcolm W wrote:
>
> "Michael Thaler" <michael...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
> news:3D3E3D9B...@mindspring.com...

> By the way, did you see the rates they are offering their NYC customers?
> Really competitive.

[Chuck Martin]

I stopped by the local T-Mobile store in Mountian View the night it opened.
I told the sales rep that buy.com was selling the V60g for $100, and he
offered to give it to me for that right then. I stopped by the same store at
lunch yesterday to ask a few more questions, and I confirmed that the offer
would still be good.

T-Mobile is offering a $100 rebate through Aug 31, so it'd be free after
rebate (and fewer $$$ in sales tax than buying through amazon.com, although
amazon.com might not charge sales tax). So it comes down to how much do you
want out of your account while you wait for the rebate(s).

"Spence F. Burton" <sfbu...@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:3D3E2EF8...@attbi.com...