I hope so. I'm thinking of getting a new and somewhat pricey smartphone and powering it with the Walmart/Tmobile $30/month no contract plan (100 min, 5G data), and one reason I've held back is a bit of uncertainty that AT&T might zombify Tmobile and kill the plan altogether.

Also, T-Mobile is apparently now deploying 3G on iPhone-compatible frequencies.

AT&T to their customers in a month: "give us more money."

RoyBatty: I hope so. I'm thinking of getting a new and somewhat pricey smartphone and powering it with the Walmart/Tmobile $30/month no contract plan (100 min, 5G data), and one reason I've held back is a bit of uncertainty that AT&T might zombify Tmobile and kill the plan altogether.

It was too good of a deal for me to pass up even with the uncertainty, but once the deal looks dead for good, I might at least invest in a better phone rather than the used MyTouch 4G I picked up.

bsharitt: RoyBatty: I hope so. I'm thinking of getting a new and somewhat pricey smartphone and powering it with the Walmart/Tmobile $30/month no contract plan (100 min, 5G data), and one reason I've held back is a bit of uncertainty that AT&T might zombify Tmobile and kill the plan altogether.

It was too good of a deal for me to pass up even with the uncertainty, but once the deal looks dead for good, I might at least invest in a better phone rather than the used MyTouch 4G I picked up.

If you're on that Walmart plan, let me ask you a question: what happens if you run out of minutes but still have data left?

Can you buy more minutes?
Do you have to pay $30 for an entirely new month of minutes (and lose the "leftover" data)?

I've gotten vague and conflicting answers from TMobile.

Some have said you can just buy "minute refills" and add it to the plan when you run over. Others have said you can renew early but the leftover data does not rollover. Others have said, you can't add minute refills AFTERwards, but you can just toss money into the account ahead of time and they will bill you 10c/minute for overage calls.

The above confusion is another reason I haven't gone to that plan yet....

RoyBatty: Some have said you can just buy "minute refills" and add it to the plan when you run over. Others have said you can renew early but the leftover data does not rollover. Others have said, you can't add minute refills AFTERwards, but you can just toss money into the account ahead of time and they will bill you 10c/minute for overage calls.

That's because there are DIFFERENT plans and options! It's not one size fits all like it was many years ago.

There's straight pay as you go:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans

And there's the monthly no contract plans:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

As well as the pay by the day plans:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-by-the-day-cell-phone-plans

RoyBatty: bsharitt: RoyBatty: I hope so. I'm thinking of getting a new and somewhat pricey smartphone and powering it with the Walmart/Tmobile $30/month no contract plan (100 min, 5G data), and one reason I've held back is a bit of uncertainty that AT&T might zombify Tmobile and kill the plan altogether.

It was too good of a deal for me to pass up even with the uncertainty, but once the deal looks dead for good, I might at least invest in a better phone rather than the used MyTouch 4G I picked up.

If you're on that Walmart plan, let me ask you a question: what happens if you run out of minutes but still have data left?

Can you buy more minutes?
Do you have to pay $30 for an entirely new month of minutes (and lose the "leftover" data)?

I've gotten vague and conflicting answers from TMobile.

Some have said you can just buy "minute refills" and add it to the plan when you run over. Others have said you can renew early but the leftover data does not rollover. Others have said, you can't add minute refills AFTERwards, but you can just toss money into the account ahead of time and they will bill you 10c/minute for overage calls.

The above confusion is another reason I haven't gone to that plan yet....

I haven't run into that situation yet(I mostly treat it like a data plan only), but I think the 10 cents a minute is the right answer(not certain on the exact rate, but it sounds about right) and it will just use what ever money is in your account.

bsharitt: I haven't run into that situation yet(I mostly treat it like a data plan only), but I think the 10 cents a minute is the right answer(not certain on the exact rate, but it sounds about right) and it will just use what ever money is in your account.

So I just spent the intervening minutes thinking and ebaying....

A my touch 4g, used can be had for as little as $125 though it seems the typical buy it now price is about $175. This would be like a slightly updated version of my Nexus One, *but with 4g* (which on TMobile is fake 4G, but HSPA+)

Or an TMobile G2X (LG Optimus) can be had for $200+, which would be the same bogus 4G plus way faster dual processor possibly Ice Cream Sandwich phone.

Both phones have Cyanogenmod support. And with the $30 phone/data plan compared to my $75 AT&T plan would pay for themselves in 3 - 7 months.

And in the meantime, that would let Galaxy Nexus issues settle out as well as see other Ice cream sandwich phones come out.

I would like to see a Galaxy Nexus on T-Mobile with LTE come out -- and my guess is that will happen in the Spring. I am a bit hesitant over getting the Galaxy Nexus "fake 4G" HSPA+ phone today.

Kar98: That's because there are DIFFERENT plans and options! It's not one size fits all like it was many years ago.

We're talking about one specific Walmart plan (also available from TMobile's phone line) that is $30 per month, no contract for 100 minutes, 5Gb 4G (or 3G if that's what your phone or tower supports) data then unlimited data at 2G speeds. I think unlimited txt messages.

Available ONLY on new activations. But the cheapest Tmobile phone from Walmart is $20, so if you have to, you can buy a $20 phone, activate the sim and then place it in the smartphone of your choice.

Seriously ATT's mergers dept. needs to be lined up against the wall and shot for this. How the holy fark did they allow their company to get into a deal they had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA whether it would go through or not, with a $3Billion penalty if it didn't close? That's like walking into a casino and throwing $3Billion down on a random table when you have no idea what the game is.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that the FCC and Justice might have held up the deal, so who in their right mind would ever have thought that putting in a penalty clause that only hurts ATT would have been a good idea? That alone should have nixed the deal before it ever went forward.

JohDHJ: Kar98: Also, T-Mobile is apparently now deploying 3G on iPhone-compatible frequencies.

It was my understanding that the iPhones (3GS, 4, and 4S) were quad-band GSM, and could work on any 3G GSM frequency (as long as the phones were not carrier locked).

They work, and you can even remove the carrier lock. But for data, they are currently restricted to GPRS/EDGE speeds. But now T-Mobile is apparently deploying 3G on new frequencies.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/12/17/t.mobile.3g.goes.to.190 0 mhz.in.some.areas/

cefm: Seriously ATT's mergers dept. needs to be lined up against the wall and shot for this. How the holy fark did they allow their company to get into a deal they had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA whether it would go through or not, with a $3Billion penalty if it didn't close? That's like walking into a casino and throwing $3Billion down on a random table when you have no idea what the game is.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that the FCC and Justice might have held up the deal, so who in their right mind would ever have thought that putting in a penalty clause that only hurts ATT would have been a good idea? That alone should have nixed the deal before it ever went forward.

Because it was $3 billion in marketing?

Now they can go from: "GOM teh iPhone users eat up all meh bandwidth!" to "We tried to add service but FCC is teh debil!!!!!"

No one thinks "Hey we can sink $3 billion into network enhancements and please the customer base!"

AT&T recently sent me a bill for $0.00 for an account that's been closed for two months, so I'm getting a kick...

/ I'd love to see them send it to collections

well at least one group of economic oversight is working...

Can we put the FCC in charge of banks?

Kar98: Also, T-Mobile is apparently now deploying 3G on iPhone-compatible frequencies.

Ehhh??!?!?! What what? Got a source? This would be awesome for my wife. I'm an Android guy (work for a major handset manufacturer, so...), and we're very happy with T-Mobile, but my wife has been rocking the jailbroken iPhone 3G for quite a while now and I've been hesitant to upgrade her hardware since she'd still be on Edge.

Oops, late-applied my post that had been stuck in "preview" limbo without re-reading thread. Looks like it might not apply to our area yet. Bummer.

Kar98: JohDHJ: Kar98: Also, T-Mobile is apparently now deploying 3G on iPhone-compatible frequencies.

It was my understanding that the iPhones (3GS, 4, and 4S) were quad-band GSM, and could work on any 3G GSM frequency (as long as the phones were not carrier locked).

They work, and you can even remove the carrier lock. But for data, they are currently restricted to GPRS/EDGE speeds. But now T-Mobile is apparently deploying 3G on new frequencies.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/12/17/t.mobile.3g.goes.to.190 0 mhz.in.some.areas/

Uh? Wow that would be awesome. I feel like my Galaxy S has been crippled on their network for a long time now, only staying because it's cheap and I hate AT&T. Hope it comes to NYC soon.

Masso: Wow that would be awesome.

'swamsane ;)

skinink: Awesome, now I can continue to walk in a 4G Wonderland with that T-Mobile chick who wears the pink dresses.
[www.clickceleb.com image 450x600]

The what wonderland now? Oh four-G.

Excuse me while I do a happy dance over the fact that T-Mobile ISN'T going to be borged by the Death Star :D

(And if they do end up merging with Sprint, that's not so bad either; compared to Verizon or the PacBell-Bellsouth Voltron Of Fail In Ma Bell Drag, Sprint hasn't sucked too bad in my experience. :D)

I'm still perplexed about the fine... I mean, why did AT&T agree to such a fine, especially when it was out of their control? Or did they really believe themselves that the deal would go through no matter what?

Assuming that DT is the one who wanted the fine, did they just troll AT&T? Did they figure that the deal would not go through?

finnished: I'm still perplexed about the fine... I mean, why did AT&T agree to such a fine, especially when it was out of their control? Or did they really believe themselves that the deal would go through no matter what?

Assuming that DT is the one who wanted the fine, did they just troll AT&T? Did they figure that the deal would not go through?

I suspect there is more to this than we know. Surely there is something to it other than what we know of. Patents maybe? I know there is a roaming agreement, but that benefits T-Mobile more, I would think. You never really know with these corporate shenanigans what this means.

I find it amusing that all of you think they are just going to give this money over, a deal will be reached with a lot of shiat being passed on to smaller carriers to make them a distant 5th in the market but with more cash, sprint will be left dangling in the breeze and get bought by someone in the next two years.

I am hearing rumors of att spinning of their landline side and it wouldnt be a loss since they have been losing money for years now since DSL is so shiatty.

cefm: Seriously ATT's mergers dept. needs to be lined up against the wall and shot for this. How the holy fark did they allow their company to get into a deal they had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA whether it would go through or not, with a $3Billion penalty if it didn't close? That's like walking into a casino and throwing $3Billion down on a random table when you have no idea what the game is.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that the FCC and Justice might have held up the deal, so who in their right mind would ever have thought that putting in a penalty clause that only hurts ATT would have been a good idea? That alone should have nixed the deal before it ever went forward.

AT&T has a history of doing things like this. Or rather, the mother company as a whole. They start getting greedy with practices and acquisitions and quickly retreat if they know they'll get horrendously slapped down - but they'll certainly keep pushing until the threat of breakup.

Right now, they're backing away and will make the acquisition in multiple steps and "behind the scenes" while nobody is paying attention. They WILL get T-Mobile eventually.

finnished: Assuming that DT is the one who wanted the fine, did they just troll AT&T? Did they figure that the deal would not go through?

Blinded by desire, perhaps. Or corporate stupidity arising from the "They're AT&T; of course they'll get their way!".

T-Mobile is quite popular but companies sometimes really, really hate certain segments for no real reason - like how many television execs will axe a series that is highly profitable if only out of spite.

finnished: I'm still perplexed about the fine... I mean, why did AT&T agree to such a fine, especially when it was out of their control? Or did they really believe themselves that the deal would go through no matter what?

Assuming that DT is the one who wanted the fine, did they just troll AT&T? Did they figure that the deal would not go through?

It isn't a "fine", so much as the big-business equivalent of "earnest money" - something you'll be familiar with if you've ever bought a house. It's pretty standard stuff for big contracts for one or both parties (at least the "purchasing party") to have to put some amount of earnest money into the deal so that they have some "skin in the game". If AT&T stands to lose $$ if the deal falls through, then DT can rest assured that AT&T will work earnestly to make the deal happen. Without such a guarantee, AT&T could just dip their toes into the purchase waters, fark everyone around, and waste a lot of time and resources for DT and then just back out and say "Our bad".

Google is similarly on the hook for a pretty big chunk of cash for the impending purchase of Motorola Mobility. If that deal falls through due to regulatory or whatever, I think Motorola gets a couple BIL at least, pretty good considering the purchase price was "only" like $12B.

In short, AT&T puts up guaranteed money to show that they're serious about closing the deal, and if the deal falls through this money compensates DT for the time/resources they'd have spent getting their end of the deal ready.

bsharitt: RoyBatty: I hope so. I'm thinking of getting a new and somewhat pricey smartphone and powering it with the Walmart/Tmobile $30/month no contract plan (100 min, 5G data), and one reason I've held back is a bit of uncertainty that AT&T might zombify Tmobile and kill the plan altogether.

It was too good of a deal for me to pass up even with the uncertainty, but once the deal looks dead for good, I might at least invest in a better phone rather than the used MyTouch 4G I picked up.

So I've been hemming and hawing over this and today, AT&T made my decision for me, by sending me an email demanding I get a tethering plan and reducing my unlimited grandathered data to 2Gb, which I think is outrageous since a) the original contract plan I had was unlimited WITH tethering.

And when I whined this wasn't the deal we had, they pretty much said, "We are altering the deal, pray we don't alter it further".

What they actually said was paragraph 6.2 of our agreement gives them the right to alter the deal and my continued use of the phone accepts that the new deal.

But it's still bogus.

Canceled that phone, called T-Mobile and they are sending me two sim cards out for $5 per card.

They told me that voice overages are $0.10 / minute, and that the 5Gb of data is mine all mine and I can tether away with it all I want.

Thank you AT&T, buh-bye.

RoyBatty:
Canceled that phone, called T-Mobile and they are sending me two sim cards out for $5 per card.

They told me that voice overages are $0.10 / minute, and that the 5Gb of data is mine all mine and I can tether away with it all I want.

Thank you AT&T, buh-bye.

Welcome to the fold. As a twice-AT&T refugee (my carriers kept getting bought!) I empathize. Been very happy on T-Mo for 5+ years now.