I May Be Uncarrier-ing Verizon Via T-Mobile

[AndroidDissected]

In the United States, the largest cellphone network is arguably Verizon Wireless. They have been using CDMA radio technology, and quite frankly, I think it’s held them back. While HSPA and HSPA+ were being deployed on GSM carriers, they were touting the coverage of their 3G CDMA network. Mind you, there was a large speed difference. However, if you moved to the GSM carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile) you lost quite a bit of coverage if you weren’t in a built up area. I think that’s changed now. Certainly the CDMA network is still very robust, but T-Mobile and AT&T have caught up. And with T-Mobile announcing their new plans, I’m getting a bit excited. Now I realize I’m talking about 3G compared to HSPA, and VZW has 4G now, but it still isn’t “everywhere.”
Look, I’ve done the math. I can save $10 a month AND get a nice shiny new Galaxy Note 2. Or, I can buy an unlocked Galaxy Nexus on swappa.com for $250 and pay $35 less per month for 2GB of 4G data. Or, I could get unlimited 4G data for $25 less than I pay right now on Verizon. The issue is always coverage. But we all know its the mighty dollar that wins in the end.

(Read more @ Android Dissected)

 

[ruvy01]

ill be doing the same thing once the s4 comes out. dont get me wrong, i love my note to on vzw, but the 2gbs of data and 100 dollar a month vs 60 bucks unlimited everything with my Home depot discount, ill be saving like crazy lol:icon_ banana: and i hear tmobile will have some kind of club where you get 2 upgrades per year WHAAAAT!:hail:

 

[bigdog357]

I have T-Mobile right now and love it I have 4g all the time on my note2.so go 4 it Verizon got to big and out of hand, I hope to be on t- mobile 4 awhile.no contract unlimited everything 70 a month.yes I had to buy the phone outright but that's fine with me, I'd rather do it like this anyway.so I say go 4 it.good luck to u both.

 

[JoeyJ]

I'm still on my grandfathered unlimited but eventually I'm sure I will be forced off. The $70/month unlimited is awesome I don't need to tether. I do travel a lot for work so that is my only problem. One guy at work has sprint and he is always having trouble can't even get a good signal inside our shop at home. Haven't seen anybody with tmobile yet though guess I'll see how this goes since my contract is up in April

 

[pc747]

Good point but vzw have the most coverage especially in rural areas thanks to their buyout of alltel. Vzws plan is smart from a business point though not so much for customers. With cdma and their lte they are in complete control of their network and everything that ison it. They control every phone and every device. Where I can buy any gsm phone and put a gsm sim card Verizon only allows phones that they appove. I do not seeing vzw being in a rush to switch what they are doing because they do not want to give up the control they have. This crackdown limits customers to the phones they can buy but until the droid vzw really didn't have an exciting phone collection. In fact that was one of the biggest complaints for a while from customers seeing att with awesome smartphones like the iphone and vzw may have had a few blackberries. But vzw always touted as their main selling point being their network. They have the best network in the nation and they know it. They take the best network and add a few top line smartphones, fastest 4g in lte in the most amount of markets, and now they have the clout to say "you want to be on our network, the best network in the nation, then you do so by our rules paying the fees we set". Until another network can come close to challenging them I do not see vzw budging much. Now If the tmobile thing catch speed they will just move some numbers around to make it look like they are offering their customers a comparable deal. So as a customer you have a choice: you can leave or stay but if you stay you play by their rules. For those leaving make sure you scout the area well. Because if you leave thinking the grass is greener and it's not then you come back losing unlimited data. I hope tmobile can change things but the reality is people will look at their bill with their corporate discount and ask is it worth making the move and for most Americans whose phone is their life line the answer will be no. My family and work depend on them getting a hold of me and I can not risk that by going to a carrier I know has inferior coverage.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[DroidModderX]

Verizon is moving toward voice over LTE. They will be dropping CDMA altogether possibly by mid 2014. The LTE network will be more fleshed out by the end of 2013. However T-mobile is really tempting me. Currently I have a grandfathered Alltel plan so I still have unlimited LTE. It cost us for two lines and 500 shared minutes about $140 the same it would cost on T-mobile for unlimited everything. We never use the minutes so that is not an issue. However the issue is that in order to keep the unlimited data on Verizon I have to pay full retail for new devices which I do atleast 3 times per year. There is no option to pay for the full cost over the course of the plan.

Id rather pay it off all at once anyways. For now it is easier to just stick with Verizon. Verizon has far better coverage, and in places I have faster speeds. I have seen 50+down and 40+up. If Verizon strong arms my unlimited data away from me then I will jump ship instantly. Since I am no longer under any contracts I would have no ETA.

 

[krazyrunner86]

I was with Verizon until 2011, and I've been with T Mo since then. I have no complaints. Great coverage, fast data speeds, and clear calling. I don't think I've ever had a dropped call. I've been on the Prepaid plans so I've saved a ton of $$$. I bought a used G2x for cheap and upgraded to the N4. Even with buying 2 phones outright since 2011, I have still saved so much. I would never go back to a contract at this point.

Additional bonus is getting to use a pure, untouched by carriers, Nexus 4. There's no substitute for the genuine Google experience. Not that Samsung, Moto, and the others don't make fine products. Just my opinion. The N4 is the way Android was intended to be.

 

[xtor]

Good point but vzw have the most coverage especially in rural areas thanks to their buyout of alltel. Vzws plan is smart from a business point though not so much for customers. With cdma and their lte they are in complete control of their network and everything that ison it. They control every phone and every device. Where I can buy any gsm phone and put a gsm sim card Verizon only allows phones that they appove. I do not seeing vzw being in a rush to switch what they are doing because they do not want to give up the control they have. This crackdown limits customers to the phones they can buy but until the droid vzw really didn't have an exciting phone collection. In fact that was one of the biggest complaints for a while from customers seeing att with awesome smartphones like the iphone and vzw may have had a few blackberries. But vzw always touted as their main selling point being their network. They have the best network in the nation and they know it. They take the best network and add a few top line smartphones, fastest 4g in lte in the most amount of markets, and now they have the clout to say "you want to be on our network, the best network in the nation, then you do so by our rules paying the fees we set". Until another network can come close to challenging them I do not see vzw budging much. Now If the tmobile thing catch speed they will just move some numbers around to make it look like they are offering their customers a comparable deal. So as a customer you have a choice: you can leave or stay but if you stay you play by their rules. For those leaving make sure you scout the area well. Because if you leave thinking the grass is greener and it's not then you come back losing unlimited data. I hope tmobile can change things but the reality is people will look at their bill with their corporate discount and ask is it worth making the move and for most Americans whose phone is their life line the answer will be no. My family and work depend on them getting a hold of me and I can not risk that by going to a carrier I know has inferior coverage.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Well said, I've driven across the US many times and vzw worked everywhere, one drive i had a friend with me on a att phone and he lost coverage alot on that trip, you pay for what you get, i think it's well worth the price to have the best

razr on 215 leak

 

[Dark Lazer]

I've been with Verizon since 04 and one thing I could never stand is how terrible the reception was in my neighborhood. Anywhere else I went to, it was fine, so I sucked it up and stayed. Then last year we finally got 4g, which is still kinda iffy since theres areas it jumps between 3g and 4g (my neighborhood is 3g but drive like 2 blocks away and it goes to 4g). Late last year I decided to switch carriers when my contract runs out, which will be this Fall or very early 2014. I think the last straw for me was taking away unlimited data. I could live with the bad reception in my neighborhood because I just connect the phone to my wifi for the most part, and I was fine with 4g taking its sweet time to come to my town for the same reason mentioned above, but removing unlimited data is something I just wont deal with. Especially for what I pay a month, unlimited data is the least they could have kept.

One of my coworkers says he always complains to Verizon when he wants to get a new phone so they can keep his unlimited data, but I really don't want to resort to that crap.

Not sure what carrier I'll be going to, but in 12 months or so, I'll no longer be with Verizon.

 

[kodiak799]

I don't have the best reception in my house, but I travel frequently and so VZW is really the only choice (I should probably look into an extender at some point). I'm grandfathered unlimited, so there wouldn't be much savings for me switching.

Just kind of waiting to see what happens with VoLTE.

 

[skennelly]

I really hope t-mo is successful. If they are, they can change the whole wireless industry in the US. Unfortunately, I won't consider leaving Verizon until they take away my unlimited data.

 

[Detonation]

Look at T-Mobile's coverage maps vs Verizon...you get what you pay for

 

[Krennel]

I like T-Mobile's approach, only because it may shake up other carriers to do the same. I will never be able to switch because I live in the Pacific Northwest, which is possibly the worst place to try and use T-Mo.

Also, if you look closely, their 'Unlimited' data plans include a 5GB high speed data throttle. So you may have unlimited data, but after a few hours on Netflix you'll be chilling on 3G. Huge turnoff for me right there.

 

[omar908]

I like T-Mobile's approach, only because it may shake up other carriers to do the same. I will never be able to switch because I live in the Pacific Northwest, which is possibly the worst place to try and use T-Mo.

Also, if you look closely, their 'Unlimited' data plans include a 5GB high speed data throttle. So you may have unlimited data, but after a few hours on Netflix you'll be chilling on 3G. Huge turnoff for me right there.

I think their plan starts with $50 for unlimited text Web min with 500mb of high speed which does send you to 3g speeds one consumed $10 more will get you 2gb of high speed but with $20 more ($70 total) will get you true unlimited

http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans

(correct me if I'm wrong though /.\)

 

[xeene]

Verizon is moving toward voice over LTE. They will be dropping CDMA altogether possibly by mid 2014.

what about dumb phones on verizon and all the 3rd party carriers that use verizon cdma network like page plus cellular, h2o wireles, greatcall, talkforgood, straight talk, phonata, next g mobile, net10 wireless and tracfone wireless?

i just can't see them dropping so many customers.