To stick with TMO or not…

I like T-Mobile and have been very happy with the service as well as their policies on usage… but the latest news from Reuters states that they will not be heading to 3G for at least 2 years and that EDGE will begin to rollout next year as a holdover. My Treo 650 will (hopefully) arrive soon after the new year, once the Sprint exclusive ends and will be capable of EDGE, but as of this moment only ATT / Cingular offers such a speed. I won’t have to worry about faster than that for at least 6-12 months since no devices capable of such speeds have caught my eye… yet.

Unlimited data plans range from $50-80 depending on who you ask (or what carrier you were with previously) and I think it’s actually still getting sorted out in the new Cingular. My $20 unlimited GPRS is nice, but will be slower than I’ll be capable of — and who really wants that right? EDGE will be a considerable boost, but will come at a price, literally. I’m sure T-Mobile will raise their price for the increase once it arrives and I would think NYC would be an early city as it has been for the other majors as they rolled out new speeds. Even if I dropped my TMO WiFi, I’d still be paying quite a bit more just for data…

I don’t like playing the waiting game when there are some unknowns.

2 Replies to “To stick with TMO or not…”

  1. Cingular actually recently re-did much of their data pricing. You’ll be eligible for the following bundle plans, at least if you buy an unlocked Treo (I believe they require you to get a different, “handheld” [pricier] data plan if you buy a Palm/Blackberry/PocketPC through them):

    https://www.cingular.com/media/media_purchase

    Summary: $20 for unlimited data + 1500 sms + 200 mms.

    Pretty awesome, and worth paying extra for an unlocked Treo (which also has the advantage that you won’t have to wait around after the GSM release until Cingular actually has them available, and you can easily Ebay it when you move on to something else, without having to go through the hassle and cost of unlocking it).

  2. whoa – that’s great news actually! I have an unlocked Treo 650 on order…

    Just checked that link and it seems like TMO’s T Zones… Though I could only find reference to GPRS speed they do reference the ATT mMode which I believe ran on EDGE as well. Have to wait until I get the new Treo. I’ll be able to swap my SIM and then switch later anyway if this is really the higher speed service.

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