Why is T-Mobile so much less $$$?

T-Mobile is primarily focuse on being an urban carrier. Youll find that inside major cities t-mobile has got coverage that is on par or sometimes better than ATT & Verizon. (Chicago is one of t-mo's best markets) When you move into the suburbs and out into more rural areas that the native t-mobile service isn't great. ATT and Verizon also have a lot of 850 spectrum which travels further from a cell site and gives better building penetration. T-mobile uses 1900 spectrum. They can compensate for the lack of 850 by putting up more towers. which they do in urban areas, but is a lot harder to do/costs a lot more in rural areas.

They are a much smaller company when compared to ATT (~26 million vs ~67 million+ subcribers). So, t-mos prices are just another way to attract more people. The CS has been excellent since the day I joined. I have never had any issues, and they always take care of me (billing issues are fixed the 1st time, problem with a phone, swapped out within 2 days, credits when service isn't working rite, etc.)
You can go to a t-mo store or target and pick up a prepaid phone for $40. See if the service is good where you work/live etc. If the service works for you go for it. Good luck.

Didn't see the other post in the general forum http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/g...7319-why-is-t-mobile-so-cheap.html#post482902

 

Very, very well put!

 

You laready asked this somewhere else I think.

 

and not having coverage in suurbs isnt really an issue if you live in the urban areas cuz when you do get a little more rural T-Mobile has planty of roaming agreements..........and on some Motorolas you can even select the network you want..........

 

LOL though if you have to roam on alltels mystery gsm you might as well get a tin can and string. blah.

 

Provided if you can access it... TMobile does not allow roaming on Alltel's (aka ROAMING/310-590) GSM in Georgia and Alabama for any of its customers unlike in the western states. Here, only at&t (afaik) roams on Alltel. Alltel got the GSM here a few years ago when they bought out a small GSM/TDMA local carrier (fka PSC Wireless).

It looks like TMobile is more generous with the roaming in the Great Plains and the Carolinas an less so in the rest of the east.

 

Indeed.

My Verizon contract expired December 1, 2007! :highclap:

So, when are you coming to T-Mobile?

 

you know despite all these issues that people have with Verizon.........Consumer Report did an article on consumer satisfaction with their cell service and Verizon and Alltel are vying for the top with T-Mobile right behind

they actually said that T-Mobile did just as good if not better than Verizon in most areas.......and matched Verizon in customer care.......and surpassed Verizon in value of course.......

Sprint got the least satisfaction.....of course............but actually has the most data customers....

AT&T is smack in the middle and is just average....duh.....:lol:

but Alltel did a very good job despite the fact that they arent offered in all metros

 

Very well put indeed. I've been a tmobile customer for years, back when they were still called Voicestream here in Hawaii. Their customer service is absolutely amazing. I did notice the urban vs suburbs issue more so in the mainland US than here, I suppose because Hawaii is so small that even your suburb is considered urban when we're comparing it to anything in the mainland.
Whenever I make business trips to the mainland, I find that my tmobile coverage can get quite spotty. For example, there's a huge difference in just the Concord, California area alone. If you're near the Concord Hilton and the Holiday Inn, you're coverage is fine. But if you move up a few minutes away to the Best Western up the road, there is no coverage. It's just crazy. Luckily my company phone is with Verizon so when I end up in a jam, I always route my personal calls to my business cell as well....NOBODY TELL MY BOSS....OK?!:biggrin:

 

we won't............it will be our little secret............i've noticed a very similar situation.....Puerto Rico seems to be covered well by many carriers.......between Sprint and Verizon and roaming coverage down there is perfect.....same with T-Mobile now that they are getting Suncom......and AT&T just roams on everyone......lol

 

Doesn't ATT have their own network in PR? I thought they owned one of the cellular bands?

 

prolli but what im saying is that everyone seems to cover certain parts but not the parts that are covered by other carriers cuz they know that they can just roam.........it seems to be a coordinated thing

 

So, what Verizon problems are you talking about? And what does a T-Mobile thread have to do with people allegedly having problems with Verizon...I don't get it man.

 

I shall join the T-Mobile bandwagon once their voice quality in my area has improved and once I can use my phone in all the places I can enjoy CDMA coverage.

 

Ahh, this is where T-Mobile having only a 1900mhz network fails them.

Fortunately, I have had good experiences with both carriers (Verizon & T-Mobile). I've always liked the idea of have service with a CDMA and a GSM carrier. To each his/her own, I say...

 

im saying that T-Mobile and Verizon and all the other companies are collaborating to each cover a certain area of Puerto Rico and then just roam on eachother.......its one big conspiracy!!!

 

I have had friends with T-mo who dropped them for coverage issues. It is impossible to explain that you need a quad band phone to roam everywhere on the AT&T network. It is a concept that totally confuses people. I have coverage everywhere in California where AT&T does and I pay much less via T-mobile. God Bless them Germans.

 

T-Mobile has been and always will be the best value......being an international company sort of helps them to keep their prices down

 

As others said, get a prepaid sim and see if it works for you where you need it.

I have both tmobile and AT&T and it's true that in most urban areas they are just about the same. However in buildings and in the rural areas tmobile just about does not exist. I work in a majopr building in downtown Chicago on Randolph. Tmobile will cease to work as soon as I step foot in this building. While AT&T works with strong signal even in the basement where I am located. In my house in the NW surburbs, tmobile does not work in the basement at all. While AT&T works flawlessly! Everywhee else, on the train ride in, etc. they are pretty much the same.

 

This is where T-Mobile being a 1900 mhz only carrier affects them. AT&T's use of both 850 and 1900 mhz helps them with service in buildings and basements.

 

Well put by clock3687.

If you look at it as a corporate strategy exercise, being the value carrier is T-Mobile market niche. Also, T-Mobile has a strong focus on the young and social market segment. While this segment has disposable income for wireless service, they are going to be more price sensitive than a business user that is not so young! In addition, T-Mobile uses strong customer service to further differentiate themselves. Let's face it, telecom companies of all stripes don't have the greatest track for customer service and T-Mobile's performance here helps them stand out. The lower price helps to attract customer who are possibly willing to trade some coverage, phone selection or network technologies that other carriers do. Overall, in my opinion, T-Mobile has some excellent marketing people that understand how to establish their niche and compete against the AT&T's and Verizons.

So how can they do this? They have to be judicious about costs. Because they do not have the scale of an AT&T or Verizon in the United States, they have to be careful about costs. While I cannot give details, there were measures that were taken while I was there to be sensitive to this, though it was done without sacrificing the quality of the network. In addition, there have been decisions made regarding the network that have allowed the company to keep a lid on costs. This is important because the smaller scale and lower price points will naturally put a tighter squeeze on the bottomline as compared to AT&T and Verizon. One advantage T-Mobile does have is that it is part of a large international telecom firm, Deutsche Telekom whose total revenues are actually slightly higher than AT&T's (as of current exchange rates I think). DT can leverage scale in many ways like AT&T and Verizon. They can use this scale in phone acquisition when you consider them as a purchaser for a very large international customer base. While T-Mobile might use the exact same phones in all markets globally, the scale does allow them to improve their power when negotiating with phone suppliers.