How to beat Cingular ¡V will this work?

[goalshot]

Having heard about all these bad things about Cingular¡¦s service in California, I am quite hesitant to switch to Cingular. However after Cingular rolled out the new Nation 250 plan ($30 for 250/3500 w/ loads of features plus free LD and roaming), I decided to jump on the deal. Also I have made a carefully designed plan to beat Cingular.

First of all I assume that most of the troubles of Cingular in CA come from the fact that Cingular is new in town and is still building up their network, which is GSM. Another assumption is that ATT & Verizon are better in CA and they don¡¦t use GSM. So nhere¡¦s the deal:

1. I currently live in Nashville, TN. We have Cingular here but it uses TDMA here so I can buy a Nokia 3360, which is a tri-mode phone and you won¡¦t get it in CA with Cingular.
2. I will also sign a contract for one year for the Nation 250 here.
3. Then I move to CA after a while and I will be able to roam my 3360 in CA on either ATT or Verizon¡¦s network which at least now is far better than Cingular;
4. Because Cingular has free roaming so I don¡¦t care whose network I will be on so basically I am paying the good rate (Cingular) while also getting the good services (ATT & Verizon);
5. Another nice thing is that because I signed the contract in Nashville, TN which is central time and thus the nights and weekend plan will also begin at 9PM CENTRAL TIME even when I am in CA, which means I will get my night minutes starts at 7PM PACIFIC TIME.

Now the question is: will this work?
I have been asking around and here¡¦s the comments I¡¦ve got (thanks Kevin James for your help):
1. I might not be able to remain on Cingular¡¦s plan once I am permanently in California: There is a little-known clause in most carriers' contracts that says if you roam off their network more than x-percent of the time, I will be disconnected. (Is it really so? Anyone has experience on this? It doesn¡¦t seem to make sense for them to have this on the contract because otherwise what¡¦s the point of having roaming service?)
2. I will not be able to roam at all: Unless Cingular provides the unlock code for the phone, ATT will not be able to activate on their network (Do I need to activate the phone in CA after I have activated it here in Nashville just to roam?)
3. I will not get some of the features, such as wireless internet & caller ID when I am roaming;
4. The nights hours start at local time, which means, e.g. when I roam in CA the night will start from 9PM PACIFIC TIME rather than 9PM CENTRAL TIME.
5. They will hunt me down and kill me for mercilessly abusing their policy (no I was just kidding).

Any comments suggestions are welcome.

[TNDan21]

You can always buy Cingular there, and then when you come over to Cali they can switch you to a GSM phone and give you a local number. I'm pretty sure Cingular will do that. Another thing you might want to think about is getting Sprint PCS, you can get them in Nashville, TN with the phone that you like then when you arrive in California just have them switch you over to a local number.

[Jack]

You can also continue to use your tdma phone in california and you would just be roaming off att/cell one towers

Jack

[goalshot]

<< You can always buy Cingular there, and then when you come over to Cali they can switch you to a GSM phone and give you a local number. I'm pretty sure Cingular will do that. Another thing you might want to think about is getting Sprint PCS, you can get them in Nashville, TN with the phone that you like then when you arrive in California just have them switch you over to a local number. >>



TNDan, you might have misunderstood what I've said. The whole point of the plan is to NOT let Cingular change my phone and NOT let them switch me to a local number so I can get:
1. roaming on ATT & Verizon rather than using the pathetic GSM service of Cingular
2. get my nights start at Central time rather than Pacific time

[aiwapro]

Well I'm sure once everything gets set in place a couple of years down the line, then both AT&T and Cingular will stop TDMA coverage because they will have 100% GSM. That 3360 is only for TDMA and analog, not GSM.

You would have been better off getting Sprint PCS or getting Voicestream Wireless. Voicestream's roaming and long distance is free aswell, but they don't give extra night minutes though, only UNLIMTED weekends. Besides not having night minutes, Voicestream's nationwide rate plans are alot better than Cingular's. With Voicestream, you get 500 anytime minutes for $39.99. With Cingular you get 350 anytime minutes for $39.99.

[Dukedog]

Hey Goalshot, you think that you are smarter than the carriers ( I don't think so, buddy), as for you buying Cingular service in Nasville,TN and move to Cali, that's cool. Cingular might let you stay with a Nashville number in Cali without you changing over or getting disconneted ( it is possible), and as for your post.


5. Another nice thing is that because I signed the contract in Nashville, TN which is central time and thus the nights and weekend plan will also begin at 9PM CENTRAL TIME even when I am in CA, which means I will get my night minutes starts at 7PM PACIFIC TIME. Don't believe it.

I'm hate to bust your bubble, dawg. But in fact that your Nights & Weekend at 9 p.m., it doesn't matter if you signed up in the central time zone and now you in the mountain time zone your Nights & Weekend starts at 9 p.m. on every timezone. So your N&W start the same as everybody else on the west coast. lol
Smart thinking, but the carriers are much smarter. If you didn't know, now you do/

[goalshot]

dd are you 100% sure about the nw hours? i've been getting conflicting so=troeies from Cingular. also just to make it clear i am not trying to outsmart cingular. the reason i used the title "how to beat cingular" is just to get the attention. the only thing i want is to get a good cell phone deal for myself. why should i care whether i am smarter than cingular if that means that i need to pay them more?

[TNDan21]

Well you can keep your phone but I wouldn't recommend it while roaming sometimes features aren't always avaible that are when you are on your own network. Most carriers have a percetage rule too whether they enforce it or not though I'm not sure. As far as the night and weekend minutes go they go by which time zone you are in I am pretty sure so if you sign up for Cingular and the night and weekend minutes start at 9 pm in Tennessee then they should also start at 9 pm in California too so I don't think there is a way to get an earlier night and weekend minute time. Honestly Sprint PCS might be the best option for you the big advantage with them is they use one frequency and technology across there entire network, so if you want to keep a TN number then just sign up for them locally and take your phone to Cali and it should work over there just like it does here and since you are still on the Sprint PCS network the percentage of minutes rule won't apply to you. Sorry if I didn't help you out more last time, but hopefully this post cleared things up for you a bit.

[goalshot]

seems like sprint got a bad reputation in the bay area which is where i am going to. also with sprint you basically can't roam except on their own netowork which is limited to major metro areas. another thing about sprint is that their phones are all over-priced and you can never get one for less than $30 not to mention free

[BillRadio]

Goalshot,
Before Cingular offered its National plans, it looked carefully at the results of AT&T OneRate's plan. Cingular learned that AT&T made the mistake of not keeping people from doing exactly as you propose. Eventually, AT&T 'corrected' its mistake and actually cancelled the accounts of people who were taking advantage of using AT&T only while roaming, and costing AT&T more than they were bringing in.

So, Cingular, from the introduction of its national plans, required that 50% of all calls must be made on the Cingular Network. So you could make your roaming calls in CA for a month, maybe two. Then, they will either treat your account as having been cancelled by you, and invoke their $150 (?) cancellation fee, or just start charging you roaming fees.

They've already thought of this.

When you move to CA, I think you'll be able to find a wireless plan that will fit your needs just fine.

-Bill Radio

[Dukedog]

Goalshot, I'm not tring to call you a dumba_ _, or anything like it. All I'm sayig is that the carriers already had this type of stuff plan out. Just like a casino in Las Vegas, you can not trick them with your lame crookiness, Because they know every trick in the book.

[larry]

<< seems like sprint got a bad reputation in the bay area which is where i am going to. also with sprint you basically can't roam except on their own netowork which is limited to major metro areas. >>



Actually Sprint's reputation in the Bay area is getting a lot better in recent months. They've spent a lot of money improving the system there. Not saying it's perfect of course but much improved from the past.

What you are saying about the roaming is not true. With a dual band phone you can roam on just about any cellular network out there including Verizon, AT&T, Alltel, Cellular One, etc. Sprint also has many digital roaming agreements with other carriers as well.

[TNDan21]

You can roam, it just will cost you extra to do so and actually Sprint's coverage now seems to be building out of just the major metro areas. Have you ever thought of thinking about Verizon maybe Goalshot and looking into there America's Choice Plans? That might be a good option for you and they should cover both area's either that or maybe just wait until you move and sign up for service over in California.

[Rich]

Yes, I agree with TNDan, you might want to consider Verizon. Especially if the Night & Weekends is your main concern, Verizon's N&W minutes start at 8pm in California and every other state on the West coast.

OK here~{!/~}s the deal. I talked to a local Cingular manager here and he told me that:
1. he will give me a 3360 free w/ 1yr contract on the $30 250/3500 plan;
2. Cingular will NOT disconnect me even if I am roaming 100% of the time;
3. I can change my phone number (do a relocation) for free after I go to CA and they will let me keep my 3360 which means I got to continue rooming on ATT or Verizon.

The problem is, there~{!/~}s another equally attractive plan. My employer has a special arrangement with Sprint, and they will give me:
1. 200/3300 for only $29.74;
2. $125 credit for any phone w/ 2 yr contract;
3. the Kyocera QCP-6035 phone (yeah a wonderful trimode phone w/ a built in palm PDA) for $149.99 which comes to only $25 after the $125 credit.

Now the problem is: which one shall I choose (they both seem to be irresistible)?
QCP-6035

[goalshot]

whoops forgot to log in. the post from anon was actaully mine

[Dukedog]

I would go with Cingular on the 1year commitment, for only 25 more cents you get 50 more minutes (250)anytime and 3500 n&w for $29.99, as for Relocation to Cali from TN they would give you another phone (gsm) model. they are not going to let you continue to roam in your home area. So that manager misinformed you.

[TNDan21]

Agreed, DukeDog. There is no way when you get to california and switch to a local number that they will let you stay with a TDMA phone they will switch you over to a GSM phone. I wouldn't trust who you was talking to, most likely it sounds like to me that he was just telling you what you wanted to hear so he could make a sale. The Sprint PCS plan that you meantioned is a good deal but I wouldn't get the Kyocera that you meantioned it is a bit of a bulky phone. The Samsung SPH-A400 seems to be a good phone and is getting good reviews Sprint PCS on there website has it for $50 after rebates and right now after rebates Circuit City is offering the phone for only $25. If you get a $125 on any phone with a 2 year contract from your boss then you can also get the phone for only $25.

[aiwapro]

Hey Dukedog & TNDan, didn't I say that about the TDMA phone thing yesterday?

[goalshot]

dukedog, if i go with cingular even though i will get 50 mins more with the same money, i will probably be stuck with their inferior GSM service in Cal. thus even though i get 50 mins it doesn't worth anything because $250 mins of crappy service is worth less than 200 mins of clear service.

TNDan are you aware of any other drawbacks of Kyocera besides its bulkiness? i don't really care that much about whether the phone is a little bulky anyway but i want one with PDA. is the PDA with kyocera any good?

[Dukedog]

By the time you arrive in Cali, Cingular will probably have iron out all their wrinkles that they now have in Cali.

[TNDan21]

Ask Larry he knows a lot more about Sprint PCS then I do. I myself am iffy of the Cell Phone/PDA combinations they are heavy and I'm concerned about there performance but I've never used one so I can't say for myself.