At&Tmobile hints at forced upgrades

[RWWackoStu]

Via Yahoo Finance:

"AT&T said that some time after the closing, it plans to rearrange how T-Mobile's cell towers work. The spectrum they use for third-generation services, or 3G, will be re-purposed for 4G (LTE), which is faster.

That would leave current T-Mobile phones without 3G. They would need to be replaced with phones that use AT&T's 3G frequencies. Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's head of wireless and consumer services, said this will happen as part of the normal phone upgrade process."

There it is. Take our handset, which by the way comes with a brand new ATT plan, (and give up your grandfathered Tmo plan) or lose 3G.

I need to check the fine print of my contract......

[MsBrittz1016]

WOW

not for nothing T-mobile customers should be allowed to walk away from our contracts without having to pay the fee should we not like this Merge w/ AT&T

i signed up for T-mobile not AT&T !!!!

maybe my contract will expire by the time this goes through...

[olliegrl]

Originally Posted by MsBrittz1016

WOW

not for nothing T-mobile customers should be allowed to walk away from our contracts without having to pay the fee should we not like this Merge w/ AT&T

i signed up for T-mobile not AT&T !!!!

maybe my contract will expire by the time this goes through...

i just resigned with TMO and sure a h3ll better be able to get out of my contract if i don't agree to ATT's terms. This was the whole reason monopolies have been avoided. so someone can't tell you you HAVE to have something you don't want. If this actually happens, Verizon, here I come...

[EdS817]

My current TMO contract is up in Nov and I don't plan on replacing my handset or renewing my contract until the sale is final and the dust settles.

[lnichols]

Wow so if I were to join Tmo this summer like i planned, then at some point AT&T could steal the HSPA+ frequencies for LTE and leave my phone a 2G brick until I meet an upgrade Window?!?!

[olliegrl]

i'm assuming that if you had TMO and you wanted 3G service you'd get an upgrade onto your account..but of course that would make sense so...

[Vanquish1]

i've been out of my contract for a year. I was wondering if I payed the none contract price for an iphone or Torch after the merger has been completed will my current T-Mobile plan be grandfathered(unlimited everything for $80 a month)?

[c0rinne]

I plan on buying an AT&T bb on ebay and just unlocking it, when the time comes.

I won't be getting rid of my 19.99 unlimited bb, 9.99 unlimited text for families, or 89.99 unlimited family plan for anything AT&T wants to throw at me.

[olliegrl]

that's a good idea c0rinne.

My only personal prob is that i want to go back to iphone. :/ thus having to succumb to ATT's shennanigans...ugh

[Artemis68]

Yep I heard about this. I'm planning to move to VZW as soon as I can.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Vanquish1]

but aren't there sites all over the internet that show how to unlock the iphone for free by jailbreaking it and stuff so you can just buy an AT&T Iphone at none contract price and unlock it then boom pop the t-mobile sim card in?

[RWWackoStu]

"Kevin DiLallo & Ben Fox of No Jitter, a blog covering enterprise IP-telephony, unified communications and converged networking world said “Assuming merger approval, once existing T-Mobile contracts expire, former T-Mobile customers can expect their rates to increase to the levels in AT&T's standard plans, which are not only more expensive, but also include a concept foreign to T-Mobile subscribers—data/smartphone usage caps.”

[Vanquish1]

is it because we need AT&T sim cards to get our unlocked phones to work on AT&T frequencies?

[pennyhorse]

I'm as unhappy about the buyout as everyone else, but the sale won't be final for at least a year or longer. So everything else is just pure speculation at this point, and I'd take a lot of what's being written now and in the future with a BIG grain of salt.

ATT won't just be able to shut off certain frequencies as soon as the sale finalises. I'm sure that, if the government approves the sale, there will be legal provisions that will require ATT to make sure their customers have compatible phones. I'd reckon it'll probably be a good two years before we're "forced" to get ATT phones. ATT is going to want to focus on retaining as many TMO customers as they can (especially in light of how many people are already threatening to jump ship). I would imagine ATT is well aware that shutting off our 3G access early is not going to endear them to anyone.

Having said that, I'm not going to renew my contract and I'm going to see what happens when the dust settles. Switching to VZW is certainly an option when the time comes.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[olliegrl]

Originally Posted by Vanquish1

but aren't there sites all over the internet that show how to unlock the iphone for free by jailbreaking it and stuff so you can just buy an AT&T Iphone at none contract price and unlock it then boom pop the t-mobile sim card in?

you'd be right except i have an iphone 4. apple caught on and made the new sim cards smaller than TMO's. So, as far as i know, unlocking an iphone is now impossible unless it's 3GS or earlier.