Changing Devices With AT&T: Not So Fast
29/01/12 16:52 Filed in: Wireless Carriers
The swappable SIM card was one of the original attributes of GSM trumpeted by users and operators as an advantage over CDMA. The logic went that a removable SIM allowed users to swap hardware without needing to contact their operator and made the address book portable. This was particularly useful for corporate clients managing break/fix and hardware migrations as well as anyone who suffered equipment failure or was upgrading devices. CDMA carrier customers on the other hand had to call customer care and manually make the switch with a customer service representative; deally no digits were misread, typed incorrectly, and the over the air provisioning (OTA) was successful. These were simpler times and data services were just coming online around the late 90s and the beginning of the next decade. Read More...
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Ting Launches "Mobile That Makes Sense"
16/01/12 17:26 Filed in: Wireless Carriers
Last week I received my beta invitation from Ting; Tucow's entry into the competitive mobile services market. Tucows is following closely on the heels of the recent Republic Wireless launch by bandwidth.com. Neither company possesses a history in the mobile space and instead come from the Internet hosting, services, and platform world. Both are seeking to address what they perceive as fundamental flaws in the wireless industry: pricing, service and support, contracts, and billing transparency. Read More...
Cricket WIreless: A Niche Play To Serve Only The Underserved?
06/01/12 08:25 Filed in: PrePaid services
I like the idea of prepaid wireless service and companies like Cricket Wireless. They are a facilities based operator covering markets across the country ranging in size from Houston or Chicago down to Macon and Columbus, Georgia. Their investments in infrastructure make them vested in their markets and communities in a way that a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) simply won’t be. Finally they bring simplified, no contract, and high-value hardware and service options to their customers. This is exactly what attracted me to originally purchase a Huawei Ascend II from Cricket in August and just this week the Huawei Mercury. In a perfect world this article should be a product and service review but that will have to come later. Read More...
Cricket Wireless and Google Voice
04/01/12 22:32 Filed in: PrePaid services
Ever since Google relaunched GrandCentral as Google Voice I have relied on the single number service for all my voice calling and SMS across several mobile devices. It is particularly convenient for the delivery of SMS (actually over the data network) when traveling internationally on local prepaid SIM cards. I have used the service simultaneously with phones from Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, and MetroPCS. Several months ago the Cricket Ascend II from Huawei was added to this list without any difficulty. Read More...
Rural Wireless Coverage Overview: Part I
16/09/11 18:43 Filed in: Wireless Carriers | Roaming
Expanding LTE coverage to rural America keeps hitting the headlines as one of the justification for AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile. AT&T’s point about rural coverage raises many questions about wireless service today including who actually provides it and what types of service exist? A review of the major national coverage maps from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint would lead one to believe that in one form or another national coverage has already been achieved. Behind these marketing machinations lies a different and more convoluted truth.
(AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel respectively) Read More...
(AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel respectively) Read More...