Should T-Mobile even bother with 3G?

[m11stephen]

We all know that T-Mobile has very spotty 3G coverage. Should they even bother expanding it with 4G right around the corner? T-Mobile has already announced they are working on developing their 4G network so whats the point? 3G isn't (for most of us) leaps and bounds better in terms of perceived internet speed than EDGE. The only real benefit I see is simultaneous voice and data but I can't remember the last time I would have used the phone and gone on the internet at the same time.

So, why doesn't T-Mobile just stop expanding 3G coverage and work on developing 4G. The people who would most likely be using 3G (Blackberry users) don't even have a 3G capable handset available to them yet and the only rumored 3G Blackberry (The Onyx) isn't expected to come out for quite sometime, when 4G would start to come available.

So T-Mobile. Just do us all a favor, have 4G coverage in pace with the rest of the industry, not three years behind. Heck, a month ago, half of my county still had GPRS, not EDGE. It took T-Mobile six years to get 2003 technology into where I live.

[blackberrypilot]

I don't have 3G where I live... I wish they did. Anything is better than EDGE. 4G would be nice though.

The minute T-Mo gets 3G or 4G in my area I'm going buy an unlocked Storm.

[mattglobal]

Originally Posted by blackberrypilot

I don't have 3G where I live... I wish they did. Anything is better than EDGE. 4G would be nice though.

The minute T-Mo gets 3G or 4G in my area I'm going buy an unlocked Storm.

Your unlocked Storm (9500 or 9530) will only get EDGE coverage in T-Mobile's network, no matter what they offer in your area.

[Hankster]

They should focus on 4G, forget 3G. This way they can get ahead of the competition.

And, yes...4G does exist and is being worked on. My neighbor works for Verizon (no, not in a retail store) and she tells me they've been building their 4G network for some time.

[berryite]

Originally Posted by m11stephen

We all know that T-Mobile has very spotty 3G coverage. Should they even bother expanding it with 4G right around the corner? T-Mobile has already announced they are working on developing their 4G network so whats the point? 3G isn't (for most of us) leaps and bounds better in terms of perceived internet speed than EDGE.

You make an excellent point. Unfortunately, they are moving forward releasing 3G phones so there's no turning back the clock now but they should have thought through your idea in the corporate board room and just jumped a generation and been ahead of everyone else.

Kudos to you for good thinking.

[SwitchediPhone-to-Storm]

I agree they should forget the 3G and go for the 4G. 3G is not that much faster and one of **** of a battery killer. For now EDGE will do just fine. I think unlike AT&T Tmobile was smart about opening up their 3G network. I have heard many stories of At&t terrible 3G coverage,mainly due in part prematurely releasing the service with the iPhone 3G.

[SimeonAS89]

Yeah I agree. I have 3G here in Phoenix and can't even use it because I don't have a 3G BB.
I'm sure if they had a 3G BB, then I'd be all for it, but till that happens, it doesn't matter much to me.
They should just jump to 4G to keep up with the competition...instead of being so slow about it.
You'd think with the amount of subscribers, they would be a bit faster with development...like Sprint for example lol.
There lightyears ahead of T-Mobile and they aren't even that good (at least in my experience)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Hankster]

Originally Posted by SimeonAS89

Yeah I agree. I have 3G here in Phoenix and can't even use it because I don't have a 3G BB.
I'm sure if they had a 3G BB, then I'd be all for it, but till that happens, it doesn't matter much to me.
They should just jump to 4G to keep up with the competition...instead of being so slow about it.
You'd think with the amount of subscribers, they would be a bit faster with development...like Sprint for example lol.
There lightyears ahead of T-Mobile and they aren't even that good (at least in my experience)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Sprint is on a downhill spiral. They should seriously just sell out to ATT, VW, or TMO. I used to LOVE Nextel years ago because I used their push to talk feature. But, their coverage was horrible and then Sprint came along...their phones are horrible and their service (in most areas) are much worse than ATT, VW, and TMO.

[Gh0stHunta]

Probably one of the dumbest posts I've read yet. Their entire network is gonna be 3G by years end. We have 3G in Maine. And yes its A LOT faster than EDGE. About 2.5 times. Btw tmos 3G network is already better and more reliable than ATT and Verizon combined. 4G will only make it better.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[efn77mx]

Originally Posted by Gh0stHunta

Probably one of the dumbest posts I've read yet. Their entire network is gonna be 3G by years end. We have 3G in Maine. And yes its A LOT faster than EDGE. About 2.5 times. Btw tmos 3G network is already better and more reliable than ATT and Verizon combined. 4G will only make it better.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Probably one of the dumbest and most biased responses I've read yet. That's a helluva claim you're making. If you and your 3G phone were out here in California, you'd probably be singing a whole different tune.

I'm not defending any one carrier, but they all have their strengths and weaknesses in certain parts of the country. Here in northern CA, tmo's 3G network is almost non-existent. **** I couldn't even get a good EDGE signal within the city of San Francisco, which is a major metropolitan city (and no I wasn't indoors or between buildings). Where I lived...one bar at most. Where I worked....it was roaming on AT&T's network. I've been with all 3 major carriers within the last year, and the best coverage is offered by Verizon (in my own personal opinion, of course). But they are too expensive for me, and AT&T just happens to work just fine where I live, work, and hang around in.

To the OP, I completely agree. I think Tmo shouldn't even bother with 3G. It took them 9 months just to roll it out in the "select" markets they operate in now. Switching their entire network to 3G by the end of this year....well I think I have a better chance of becoming immortal.

Oh and btw, Maine PROBABLY only needs 5 or 6 towers to encompass the entire state. I think we need a little more than that here in CA.