I thought Verizon claimed to offer this first?

The difference is Verizon's did start it first but is in limited area's in the beginning, T-Mobile is saying they will launch it Nationwide right away, So they will be the 1st to launch it nationally.

 

Claims made by wireless players are often bogus. There is a Forbes article today on Acatel setting up a 3G test lab in S. Korea. The article (from Yonhap, based on an Alcatel press release) would lead one to believe that S. Korea has only recently launched third gen services, and these have not done very well with few subs and limited coverage.

This is laughable for anyone who follows the wireless industry. S. Korea and Japan have lead the world in high speed wireless usage for years.

Marketing people are paid to put their products in the best light possible and, conversely, to make their competitors' products look bad by comparison. The wireless industry is not the only one where this happens

It is wise to consider all claims suspect until you check facts.

Yonhap coverage of Alcatel press release

The real story is carried here: 3G News story

 

It's because VZW does'nt offer:
Alicia Keys is one of the most nominated artists for this year's Grammy Awards with eight nominations including Album of the Year ("Diary of Alicia Keys"), Song of the Year ("If I Ain't Got You"), Best R&B Song ("You Don't Know My Name"), Best R&B Song ("My Boo"), Best R&B Album ("Diary of Alicia Keys"), Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("If I Ain't Got You"), Best R&B Performance Duo or Group with Vocal ("Diary" with Tony, Toni, Tone), Best R&B Performance Duo or Group with Vocal ("My Boo" with Usher). She previously received seven Grammy nominations for her debut "Songs in

 

So now it turns out that all the sudden the switch ring is the most horrendous thing in the world and now everyone needs to hurry and get something we've spent decades without. I'm sorry, I still love the good'ol switch ring. It represents a real ring which is what phones are supposed to do when people call them. I think that if anyone is calling me, they have to know what my unique style is already and a song is not going to tell them that.

Seriously, these companies don't know what to sell anymore. They've already sold faceplates, flashing batteries and antennas that look like an ambulance, wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, What's next? the keypad tones?

 

I really could care less about this service.....I mean i cannot hear the music, why do i care what someone else hears when they call me? I will stay with the normal boring ring ring....

 

I agree, I don't want to hear any thing other then a ring sound when i call someone, Maybe they should focus on improving call quality & stop selling the Extra's.

 

I tried it for two days then cancelled it. My mom was about to call the police and file a missing person's report after calling me only to hang up after hearing Green Day's "American Idiot." She's like, " I couldn't get a hold of you; something happened to your phone #!!!!"

My collegues at work wouldn't even leave me a voicemail since they thought they were dialing the wrong number..

T-Mobile has a lot of youthful subs so it might work well for them. I thought they'd focus more on a high speed data network or network expansion??

 

LMAO! That shows you the problems arising from quick adoption of totally useless features. The end result is that they are misleading and create more problems than what they are worth. It doesn't make sense for anyone to pay for something that is only going to confuse people.

Now, if T-Mobile would've just spent what they invested in this childish technology into getting more spectrum and install more towers, they would've made a wiser decision.

 

Well, they don't have enough spectrum for nationwide high speed data. EDGE is coming next year. As far as expansion, they stated about 18 months ago that they were going to focus on network improvements, vs. expansion for the time being. And they have done that, adding somewhere around 6-7000 towers in 2003 and 2004 (As of 9/30). They are starting to expand again as their covered POP figure went from 224 M to 226 M (native - not incl roaming) last quarter. Bottom line is their data service continues to double YOY as a percentage of revenue (now almost 6%) and they claim to be the #1 provider of Blackberries in the wireless industry, adding over 300K BB users this year.

EDGE and EV/DO and 1xrtt are great, but how many people use it? The market is not there yet. Forums like this one and especially HoFo are not representative of the general wireless population. I don't know anyone who uses any of that stuff....

 

Well, that's the problem, isn't it, Bobo? It's the teenagers who drive, "the next big thing in wireless." Childish technology sells and that sucks.