Fast Forward Live: Picking the Right Wireless Phone Plan

Rob Pegoraro
Washington Post personal technology columnist
Monday, September 29, 2003 2:00 PM

Fast Forward columnist Rob Pegoraro was online to take questions about The Post's annual guide to wireless phone plans. What plan is right for you? Does Verizon Wireless or Nextel offer better coverage in our region? Rob answered those questions and more.

A transcript follows.

Rob compared cell phone plans in Sunday's Fast Forward column. The package also included an interactive guide to wireless plans.

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Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Rob Pegoraro: We've got a lot of questions already and only an hour and change to get to them all. Let's get rolling here...

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Arlington, Va.: Hi Rob,

I liked your article in the Sunday paper and have a question regarding transferring of numbers. Our family currently has 2 cell phones, one on Verizon and one on T-Mobile. I'd like to know if there is a plan out there where we could put both phones on the same plan, not change the numbers, and beat the price we have now? We pay approximately $93 per month (including taxes) to have 900 prime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, no roaming, no long distance. Thanks for your help.

Rob Pegoraro: Yes, you could easily drop your bill by a fair amount if you put both phones on the same plan--assuming neither phone is still under a contract (where you'd pay early-cancellation fees to bail out now). Both Verizon and T-Mobile have family/shared-use plans that let you split up a huge bucket of minutes among two or more phones.

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Woodley Park, D.C.: Hi,

I live in a basement apartment and never got coverage with my Sprint phone. Decided to switch to Verizon, since they work in the subway, but no luck with it either. I've walked around with the phone and stuck it in every nook and cranny of the apt, even near the windows, to no avail. Is there any way to get a cell phone to work down in the basement, or am I basically stuck?

Rob Pegoraro: You could try the other services, but it sounds like geography and the laws of physics are conspiring against you. (Verizon works in the subway because it has transmitters set up there; it's not likely to extend its coverage to your apartment unless you can show several thousand people transiting through it each morning and evening.)

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Columbia, Md.: I have had Sprint PCS for a couple of years now. Generally, it has been satisfactory, but I was immediately disappointed, after signing up, to find that the phone doesn't work (except near windows) in my 1968-vintage house. It also works nowhere in the 35-year-old Giant Food store across the street (even though it works well ANYWHERE in the larger, newer Safeway a mile away). I wouldn't feel so bad about this, if it weren't for the fact that other people, with different cell phone services, are able to use their phones in buildings where I can't use mine. Is there some way to tell, before signing up for a cell phone service, whether it is likely to be usable in buildings where I would like to use it heavily?

Rob Pegoraro: No. That's why we list the trial periods each provider offers--within that time, you can take the phone to where you'd want to use it, see if it works, and if it doesn't return it without having to pay a cancellation fee (although you would still be on the hook for whatever airtime you used).

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Syracuse, N.Y.: What's your take on the best - i.e. cheapest - cell phone plan for "seniors" who only want the phone in the car for emergencies?

Thanks - Sallie

Rob Pegoraro: If by "emergencies" you mean just dialing 911, you can get a used cell phone, keep it charged, but don't bother putting it on a plan at all. Carriers are required to take 911 calls from any cell phone, even if it's not on any service plan.

Otherwise, get a prepaid phone--but remember to refresh the account as required. You don't want to find you can't use the phone because you forgot to buy a new $20 card when the old one ran out a week ago.

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Columbia, Md.: Any idea as to how long it will be before AT&T (and to a lesser extent Cingular) will abandon TDMA and switch completely to GSM?

Rob Pegoraro: No idea. Both companies, understandably, were very cagey about this. A marketing V.P. at AT&T, for instance, told me this:

"We're going to support the TDMA technology for the foreseeable future. But eventually, we'll do what's right for our customer base."

Interpret that as you wish. I would guess not fewer than two years, but not more than five.

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Frederick, Md.: Is there some reason why I cannot get my Verizon cell phone to ring with just a plain ordinary sound like a regular telephone? The ringers on Verizon are all musical songs which is not appropriate for a professional person. Customer Service tells you can download them from "Get It Now" which is just not true because they too are all songs but they charge you for it. This is just poor customer service!!!

Rob Pegoraro: I've yet to see a phone--even one that defaults to some exceptionally annoying tune--not offer a basic beep- or chirp-type ring. The problem is that it's not always labeled as such; you'll be looking for an entry called "plain old ring" but it will be called "classic" or "simplicity" instead.

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Baltimore: I'd like to get a cool data-enabled phone like a Treo, but when do you think the handset prices will will drop to ~$100 and wireless data service will become a commodity?

Rob Pegoraro: You can get the old Treo 300 for $99 post-rebate if you open a new account at Sprint (details). Otherwise, though, these things remain a luxury item. I'm starting to think that the better solution for most people will be to get a basic phone with just calendar and address-book capabilities, then use a data-synchronization program like Apple's iSync to put the same data on both phone and PDA. That way, you've got your useful into with you no matter what device you take.

Wireless data--meaning, wireless data that's not painful to use--is probably a year or more from becoming a commodity. The carriers will need to roll out some newer, faster, flashier service that will make today's stuff look boring... then I'd guess prices will drop.

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Laurel, Md.: I technically own my cell phone now that my "get the phone for one cent with a one year contract" has expired. Can I use my same phone and number for one of those pre-paid wireless plans? Anything else I can do with it (besides that, smart guy) to lower my costs for rare use?

Rob Pegoraro: I don't know, but I'd suspect you can't, just because wireless carriers tend to be pretty crafty at blocking that kind of cost-saving strategy. You may also have basic network-compatibility issues (like, you can't use a Sprint phone on Verizon's service, even though they both run on CDMA, because Verizon and Sprint generally use different frequencies.)

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Washington, D.C.: Besides Verizon, are any other carriers in the near future considering using better coverages that enable users to use their cellphones in the subways?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes--other carriers are talking to Metro about this. I don't think any of the others are interested in leaving this monopoly to Verizon. But it will probably remain a monopoly for years... when you can only work in the tunnels for two hours a night, it's a really slow process to extend service. It took Verizon several years just to upgrade to digital signals down there.

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Annandale, Va.: I rarely use my cell phone, only occasionally making a call during rush hour to report how bad the traffic is, etc. The main reason I have a phone is to be able to call for help if I have car trouble while traveling, especially in the more rural areas of Virginia. I'm intrigued by the pre-paid phones, but wonder how useful they'd be for my primary need. In the article this weekend, there was no discussion of their range or areas of service. It wouldn't be very helpful to have a phone if it didn't have service in the mountains between Charlottesville and Lynchburg, say. What do you think?

Rob Pegoraro: You need to ask each prepaid service what network it actually runs on. Some are upfront about this, but others, like TracFone, keep it a total mystery.

For your driving, you *need* a phone with analog roam, but even then you'll find some places in the Virginia countryside have no signal at all.

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Arlington, Va.: This is no joke. I recently went out of town and accidentally "used" my phone when I didn't lock my phone while it was in my pocket. I received my AT&T bill the other day and noticed $44 in roaming and long distance charges. Of course, some my "calls" lasted up to 7 minutes b/c my friends' answering machines didn't cut-off. Anyway, is there anyway I can get out of paying this expense. Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Scream and holler at AT&T, threaten to quit if you must. That may not work, but it's worth a shot.

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Annandale, Va.: Hi Rob, I've been shopping for a family shared-type of plan for 3 people. Some plans have unlimited calling between the 3 phones, but have low shared minutes. Now I wonder, would it be better to just get three separate plans with lots of minutes? Sharing minutes between 3 phones (for outside calls to people beyond the 3 of us!) seems kind of risky. I've been comparing options and I'm SO confused. Any insights?

Thanks, Tina

Rob Pegoraro: It's really hard to beat the volume discounts offered on family plans. If anything, I think the risk is *higher* with three separate plans: If the first user goes over but the second and third don't, they can't "loan" their minutes to the first person, while in a shared plan that would happen automatically.

So what I'd recommend is simply that you should watch your use very closely. If you go over in the first month, immediately bump your contract up to the next highest plan. You'll have to re-up the contract, but that's all you'll pay. Odds are you'll still save a lot compared to getting three separate plans.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi. In getting a new phone, should I expect to get the phone free (via rebates or special offers) or any other freebies (like camera etc.)?

Rob Pegoraro: You'll only get the phone free if it's a very low-end, basic model. Camera phones are $100 minimum--but they were $400 minimum last year.

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my Head is Spinning...: I read your article online -- every time we look at our mobile phone I wonder "are we getting the best value".

I hear a lot of folks complain about their carriers, but are reluctant to change because they would have to alert friends, etc. about the phone number change....

My understanding is that the FCC removed that hurdle -- we can change phone service & take our numbers with us (right?) When is this available -- I heard a very vague "this Fall"...

Rob Pegoraro: Nov. 24. Please see Yuki Noguchi's story for the details (can we get a link to that?)

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washingtonpost.com:

Yuki Noguchi's article on the number portability issue is online here.

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Alexandria, Va.: My AT&T 2-year contract expires next month and I'm pondering what to do. As my cell phone is my only phone, keeping the same number is highly important to me (and I'm very skeptical about portability actually going into effect in November), but the cellular signal in my apartment building is less than perfect. However, I am wondering if this is because of my phone -- which has a battery that lasts about 30 seconds on a full charge and basically has to be plugged in all the time. (Yes, it's worthless, I know.) I wonder if a newer phone might do better with "catching" a stronger signal? Friends with cell phones from all different carriers, including mine, have no problem getting reception in my apartment, which leads me to think it's my #-&$! phone. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: A newer phone probably would work differently on AT&T, but mainly because you'd most likely be using the GSM signal instead of TDMA. If you can, get a friend with a new AT&T GSM phone to stop by your apartment sometime.

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North Bethesda, Md.: I have wireless service with Sprint PCS right now and my one year contract is up at the end of November. I was offered a retention plan the other day by a Sprint Representative that offered me an additional 120 anytime minutes and an 8 PM starting time for night minutes during the week. I was wondering if I should take the offer (which involved signing another 1 year contract) or wait 'till portability and the holidays and see if better promotions with Sprint or other companies might become available.

Rob Pegoraro: If they offered you these bonuses already--before you'd even called them to talk about setting up a new contract--I'd be inclined to wait until November, then make noises like you want to leave. You might get an even better deal!

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Germantown, Md.: If TDMA is dying, is there any reason to keep a dual-band AT&T phone? Or should I just go with a GSM-only phone?

Rob Pegoraro: The only reason to get a TDMA-compatible phone (TDMA/GSM hybrids are called "GAIT" phones--can't remember what the acronym stands for) is for the analog compatibility, which you can't get with a GSM-only phone.

The tradeoff is that GAIT phones tend to be, well, boring. Nobody's selling GAIT cameraphones yet, for instance.

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Fairfax, Va.: Do you get a better deal ordering the phone and plan online, versus going into the cell phone store? Is it safe to order online or is it better to have a rep. you can speak to in person if there are problems?

Rob Pegoraro: Some providers have the same deals in stores and online, but other don't. You should check at both places.

There's no risk distinct to ordering online--the real risk is the same however you get the phone/service, which is that it doesn't work in your own home.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Love your column! I am currently an out of contract Sprint customer and want to use the upcoming number portability changes solely to get a new phone, but want to keep my phone number. I'm not a heavy user (read $39.99 plan). Should I negotiate now with Sprint? If not, where do you think I will get the most phone and comparable plan? T-Mobile? Verizon? Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: Not sure why you'd want to negotiate with Sprint if you want to bail on their service entirely--you could probably get a better rate, but then you'd be on a new contract, and therefore unable to bail out.

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subway service: My AT&T plan works in the subway too!; Surely it just roams onto Verizon's network, but I don't get charged for that type of roaming.

Rob Pegoraro: That's analog roaming, which AT&T includes in some plans. But with analog, you've got the issues of lousy battery life, poor connections, etc. Verizon phones now get to use the digital signal the company extended through the subway a couple of years ago.

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Sterling, Va.: I currently have Sprint and I find the coverage horrible and wireless internet excruciatingly slow. The AT&T network was always busy. Cellular One (now Cingular) had a mishmashed national network with different technologies and poor coverage.

So, do I try T-Mobile, Verizon, or Nextel? The most important consideration is coverage area. I don't care too much about price--I just want the phone to work when I need, and not to drop calls constantly when I'm driving.

Rob Pegoraro: If you've got problems with limited coverage, you're not going to like T-Mobile much. Nextel and Verizon will probably suit you better; Nextel's pricing may suit you better, but Verizon's coverage is really, really, really hard to beat.

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Phoneless in D.C.: Hi, I've resisted getting a cell phone because I don't think I would need it very frequently, but there are times (late at night, when I'm lost, etc.) when I think it would be nice to have a cell phone- what options are there for someone who truly wants just an emergency phone? I like the European system where you buy $15 worth of phone time and when that expires you simply buy another $15 of phone time, but we don't seem to have quite as good a system for pay-as-you-go cell phone use over here- any ideas? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: The cheapest regular subscriptions anybody offers are $20/month; the only way to beat that is through prepaid. But I'll tell you this: Once you've got that phone in your pocket, you are probably going to find yourself using it more than you thought you might. Prepaid, however, doesn't scale very well... the more use you make of the phone, the deal tends to look worse compared to regular subscriptions.

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Washington, D.C.: About a year ago I signed up for an AT&T national plan for $35 a month with 150 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend, plus free long distance. That same plan now goes for $30 a month. Can I switch plans at no penalty now, or do I have to wait until my two year agreement is up?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes. Get rid of that old plan, pronto.

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Greenbelt, Md.: Hi Rob: In your estimation what are the best family plans out there right now?

Rob Pegoraro: I have no idea. There is no "best" plan--the answer depends on family size, talkativeness, location, traveling patterns and a lot more.

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Chantilly, Va.: Hi Rob,

I travel frequently. Have you heard much about how well Verizon service really "travels"? Have people reported good success staying in network and avoiding roaming charges on the road? The national coverage map on their web page is not very detailed.

Thanks! I really enjoy your column.

Rob Pegoraro: That's a weakness of pretty much every carrier's national map. I've used a Verizon phone "for free" in Sonoma County, Calif. but paid quite a bit extra to make a call from Tucker County, W. Va. One thing you can to do to clear up these issues is to plug in a Zip code from where you might want to make calls to get a close-up regional map for that area.

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Herndon, Va.: Hi, I really enjoyed your write-up on cellphones in the Sunday paper. I wanted to know which provider will work better for GSM service, TMobile or AT&T? I am restricted to using the Nokia 3650 because it is the only one that has speech software developed for it and I am visually impaired.

Thank you

Rob Pegoraro: Well, a look at coverage maps shows that AT&T covers a bit more ground here than T-Mobile.

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Washington, D.C.: How well do the cell phone PC cards work in providing wireless internet? Is the speed more like dial up or more like Wi-Fi? Are they nationwide or do you pay for roaming? Finally, do you have to connect, as with dial-up, or are they "always on"?

Rob Pegoraro: Dial-up. These data services--GPRS and 1xRTT--aren't provided on a region-specific basis; however, the odds are you'll find that they work in fewer places than standard voice calls. There is a connection process, but it's definitely quicker than dial-up.

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Potomac, Md.: I have the Verizon Wireless Prepay service. I purchase the service in 60 day chunks for $30. minimum, a great deal! However, I learned yesterday that upon renewal, the next 60 day period starts immediately, even though I had several days left on the old period. Is it normal to be penalized for paying early?

Rob Pegoraro: Anything is "normal" in cell-phone billing... I've learned to be dismayed by some of these policies, but never too surprised.

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Sterling, Va.: Hi Rob. The cell coverage in my neighborhood is weak. I have Verizon, but I have heard the signal is weak with virtually every carrier. I don't live in a remote area by any means (NOVA is a couple of blocks away). If I wrote to Verizon about the problem, what do you think the chances are that Verizon would do anything about it? What else can I do?

Rob Pegoraro: I'll post this here for Verizon to see it (my PR contact there is lurking in this chat).

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Gaithersburg, Md.: How can I get rid of Tmobile service, without paying the $200 EARLY TERM FEE?. THEY HAVE SENT 5 PHONES AND THE SERVICE STILL STINKS??

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

JOE

Rob Pegoraro: If you're outside the trial period, you're kind of stuck. That's the problem with signing a contract... you're stuck with it. IANAL, so I can't say that there might no be some legal argument that might succeed in getting you off the hook.

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Washington, D.C.: Rob,

Congratulations on your insightful article on Sunday concerning wireless phone service. I particularly like the GSM technology because of its portability and use in other countries. However, trying to get facts concerning planned GSM network expansion and/or upgrades of US carriers is difficult. As an example, T-Mobile can only tell me that they are planning to add "at least 4 new towers in the next 6 months" but they don't know where these towers will be or the planned dates of their activation.

Is there anyway to get planning information from US carriers concerning coverage upgrades and improvements for the next year before committing oneself to a plan?

Thank you.

D. Banks

Rob Pegoraro: Some carriers--for instance, Sprint--list planned upgrades on their coverage maps. However, these forecasts tend to be less than reliable. A lot of things can hold up tower construction, including neighborhood opposition.

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Arlington, Va.: Can I keep the same number if I switch plans? How can I keep the same number? Also, if I have to give up the number is there any way to leave a voicemail on the old number to get to my new number?

Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: You'll be able to keep the same number starting Nov. 24, as we cover in Yuki's story. It's done with a lot of back-end work to share data between carriers, such that the phone number gets handed off in the right direction.

You can leave a voicemail message on a number you're giving up, but you have to keep paying for the service to have that work.

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Columbia, Md.: Is there any progress on the idea of a 1-time cell phone purchase where you could buy the phone and then purchase minutes as needed without monthly charges? Something like this would be perfect for my elderly parents for emergency use and I thought several companies were working on this or similar concepts. Thanks for any light you can shed.

Rob Pegoraro: That's called prepaid service. But I'm not aware of any prepaid offerings that don't come with expiration dates on the minutes you buy.

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Alexandria, Va.: Thanks for taking my question! I've been with AT&T Wireless for 5 years now and I'm thinking of changing to Verizon because I'm always losing my connection while talking on my phone. Is Verizon a good choice? I'm thinking about the National plan because I travel often.

Rob Pegoraro: Tell me where you travel and I can maybe hazard a guess on this.

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Bozeman, Mont.: We are retiring into a very rural part of Montana. The phone lines have not been laid in that part of the county. Is internet service available through the cell phones to our pc? I know you can use the hand held phones and subscribe to the internet, but can you transfer that to the pc's in a home? Is it cost effective? At present I pay about $200 a month for our phone service and three cell phones. We use the cell phones for long distance and the home phone for local calls only. Thanks in advance for your reply -

Rob Pegoraro: Don't take this the wrong way, but you're probably hosed. To judge from coverage maps, Montana is probably the least-covered state in the union as far as cell phones go. Depending on where you will be moving, you may not have any service at all!

Odds of getting useful Internet access over the phone are even lower.

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Arlington, Va.: This may be a silly question...there is a lot of discussion of being able to keep your phone number when you change carriers...but can you keep your phone number if you change cities or states?

Rob Pegoraro: Sure. A friend of mine still has his 917 area code he got in NYC (which is kind of a pain for me--I have to call him from my cell phone, or I'll wind up paying long distance to call somebody who lives two blocks away :)

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Annandale, Va.: 1. When I was considering a switch from ATT wireless to Verizon wireless a few months ago, one of the reasons I dropped the idea quickly was my almost total inability to reach Verizon customer service by telephone for landline issues. The recording did not even put me in queue, but simply said to call back later. I saw no reason to consider dealing with a company like that. I could always get right through to ATT wireless. Did you find a difference among other wireless customer service numbers ??

Rob Pegoraro: We focused our time and effort on testing coverage, not customer service. So I'll throw this one out to the audience; who likes their carrier's customer service?

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Washington, D.C.: I have an older phone (over 2 years) but my husband is the primary user of it and mainly keeps it in the car to call me if he's late, etc. The display on the phone is starting to fail--you have to hit it a few times on your hand to get the display back. I've called our carrier (T-mobile) and they say my service warranty is expired. Ok, I can understand that. I asked if I could get a new phone. I was told if I got a new phone, it would be like starting new service over again, and I'd be trapped into another 1-year contract. not having the display on the phone is very annoying (since my hubby can't remember our own phone number, let alone others') Why would a new phone necessitate the need for a new contract?

Rob Pegoraro: It wouldn't; that's just how these folks do business. (There is economic logic behind this, however; phones are sold at subsidized prices; the carriers make up that subsidy with the money they collect over the next year of a contract.)

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Yarmouth, Maine: I discovered and additional $1.75 on my ATT wireless bill and was told it is for regulatory program fee being charged to support the cost to AT&T for the new "wireless portability" program. Their web site says that the fee will be dropped when they have accumulated the needed funds. Well if umpteen million people pay $1.75 per month, One would assume you'd have that money pretty quick. Sprint isn't charging for this, nor Verizon. What are they up to?

Rob Pegoraro: Good question!

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Austin, Texas: Hey Rob!

I need to either change to another wireless provider or increase the minutes I get with my current cell phone plan.

Do you think I would see much savings by waiting until the end of November to make this change? Is the implementation of number portability likely to bring more competition...providing more value for consumers?

Rob Pegoraro: If you like where you current service works, then either upgrade the plan now.

If you don't, then you don't want to sign a new contract, because then you'll be stuck. Best to try to restrain your use for the next two months, then shop around.

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Kew Gardens, N.Y.: Hi Rob:

Thanks for this opportunity. Can you tell me anything about combo packages. We are looking into Verizon Freedom Packages where they offer your local/long distance and DSL and cell for what seems a nifty price- do you have any advice if this is a good way to go or any other similar arrangements?

We find we are getting hit quite hard with all of these services from different carriers- any help would be great!

Rob Pegoraro: Good question. I know we were looking for customers of these combo packages earlier, but I don't think we'd heard from any.

I see two potential risks of these services:

1) getting an Internet service you don't want/need/like

2) paying long-distance charges that are uncompetitive or unnecessary (because you've got a phone with "free" LD)

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About customer service: Here's my two-cents worth on customer service. What they say about Sprint PCS is true: if you don't like what a rep tells you, hang up and call back, and you'll get a totally different answer. In shopping around for new wireless service, AT&T seems the best by far at customer service. Alas, though, they don't offer free nationwide long distance...

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks

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Laurel, MD: John Johnson from VZW again.

Verizon Wireless was the only carrier willing to invest the significant capital required to build out a wireless network in the Metro underground. Many carriers roam on our network there and all carriers have always had the option to invest and eliminate their need to roam. Finally, it takes a month to build a mile of network underground, as our crews can only gain access in the middle of the night after any needed track repairs or electrical work is completed.

Rob Pegoraro: Here's some context on phone service in the Metro

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Bethesda, Md.: Hi, I read the "interactive" guide AFTER I just ordered two T-mobile phones for a "family" plan. we currently have one Sprint phone.

The report said that coverage was bad, and some "lost signal." Does that mean calls will fade in and out, or does that mean calls will be dropped altogether?

We do almost all of our calling down town, and close in Bethesda.

I can deal with interference, etc., but I am worried that i just bought two useless phones. Should I return them before I activate them?

Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: "Lost signal" means calls faded in and out. As you can see from both our test results and the coverage maps, T-Mobile's service is better in town than out of it. (That said, a few months ago I had one call on T-Mobile drop three times in three miles--once on the SE-SW Freeway, once on the TR Bridge, once on U.S. 50 in Arlington.)

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Alexandria, Va. : I recently signed up for an AT&T local plan by taking over a cell phone that I had previously had for work in order to keep the number. But I just got my first bill, and got a whopping $45 in roaming fees. I knew this would happen this particular month, but want to see how I can prevent this in the future. In general, do you think a national plan that goes to most major cities is more cost effective than getting one with 50 more minutes but only has a calling area of the mid-Atlantic (where I spend most of my time, by the way)? Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: Get a nationwide plan. Pretty much all of them have more included minutes than you'll know what to do with, and you get the considerable psychic advantage of Not Having To Worry about where your plan ends (although you can still pay roaming if you're on somebody else's network).

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Frederick, Md.: On the Verizon customer service comment toward the end, I have never been told to call back. The question is either answered by the representative on the phone or they call a technician in. The online service, however, is very poor - just as it is with AT&T. AT&T seemed to answer my questions generally but never on regulatory fees or taxes and how they work.

Rob Pegoraro: Further tales of customer service...

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20852: Rob, Please remind folks that used cell phones can be donated to most local police depts. since they can be used for 911 calls. It beats having all that heavy metal in the landfills.

Rob Pegoraro: Done--good advice.

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Bethesda, Md.: Mobile phones can be a bit like computers. If it's on the shelf it's probably close to being outdated. As someone who works for one of the big 3 telecoms in engineering, I know of a list of at least a dozen new features that will be coming along for the consumer. Some will be very useful like the ability of the company to "push" new software out to the phone without a visit to the store. This will keep phone prices up for the person who likes to have the latest thing.

Rob Pegoraro: I'd say that mobile phones *are* computers, period. So for a lot of users, getting an older, simpler model might have some appeal. Others will gladly pay extra to get downloadable ringtones/wallpaper/MP3 playback or whatever.

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Arlington, Va.: All my friends living outside the metro area have SMS text messaging. Which local providers have this capability? And are they compatible with each other?

Rob Pegoraro: They all do. A year or so back, the carriers had a shocking outbreak of common sense and made their SMS systems compatible with each other.

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Rockville, Md.: I'm trying to find a bluetooth enabled cell phone...and expected Sprint to be releasing one during the summer. Have you heard anything about this?

Rob Pegoraro: Bluetooth remains a GSM-only feature around here. I don't know why, but neither Sprint nor Verizon sells any phones with this wireless technology (it's a handy but often buggy way to link peripherals).

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Reston 20191: Hi Rob - I would think it'd be useful for a pda to be able to beam a number to a cell phone--a step up, in my view, even from using iSynch to put the same info on both devices, especially if the PDA contains several hundred contacts=more than the cell phone is likely to be able to hold. Has any manufacturer thought of offering that?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes--it's one thing that Bluetooth does really well. You tap a number in the Palm or Pocket PC's phone book, select "call" or "dial" and the phone starts dialing.

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Reston, VA: What cell phone service is best for getting reception on the Metro?

Rob Pegoraro: Verizon

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Arlington, Va.: Regarding GSM service, which plan would you get? If your phone needs unlocking to work with an overseas provider, how would it be best to do this?

Rob Pegoraro: If I had to get GSM, I would go with AT&T. However, I'm not interested in GSM--the international-roaming pitch seems vastly overrated to me, and even if I spent a lot of time in Europe, I'm pretty sure I'd save money by just buying a prepaid phone for use there, then refreshing it as needed.

One big reason why, as you note, is the problem of locked GSM phones. Unlocking--getting the phone to recognize a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card from another carrier--is apparently a quick procedure, but you have to pay a technician to do it. You may be able to get your carrier to unlock your phone for you, but I don't know what the odds are of this happening.

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Customer Service: I'm currently on hold with Verizon to talk about my plan (5 mins and counting). The funny thing is the hold music is "Expressway to Your Heart". First Line - "I been trying to get to you, for a long time"

Exactly!;

Rob Pegoraro: Heh.

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D.C. - Nokia problems with AT&T: I want to get away from AT&T. Their service has been great, but I have a Nokia phone that they don't make anymore due to internal antenna defects, and AT&T won't help me in getting a new phone without signing up for new service, making my night time minutes start at 9PM. The difference between 8 and 9PM is HUGE for me. Are there plans that still let you start night time minutes at 8pm?

Rob Pegoraro: Nope, although I've now heard of two people, both Sprint subscribers, who got their plans changed to 8 p.m. start times for "night" minutes. You might want to ask AT&T if they'd do that for you on a new contract.

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Nick in Falls Church, Va.: With both AT&T and Cingular converting their TDMA subscribers to GSM, I have to wonder (I'm a former employee of both Motorola and T-Mobile):

What would we have today if rather than going the free-market route, the FCC had mandated a specific wireless technology? GSM launched here in DC as the first digital service in the country... and it was a somewhat popular idea back when I worked for T-Mobile (then VoiceStream) that if Sprint (or APC) had taken their little GSM experiment nationwide instead of going CDMA, there might be only two or so carriers in business. Any thoughts?

Rob Pegoraro: I think mandating GSM as The One Wireless Technology was a nonstarter for the start. In political terms, it would mean going *against* the U.S.-developed CDMA and iDEN technologies. Try and sell that idea to Congress.

Plus, it would have been dumb in an economic sense. Provided GSM and CDMA phones transfer calls to each other, what public interest is served by banning one technology or another?

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Rockville, Md.: Posting early.

I have appreciated your annual surveys of cellular providers in the DC area for several years now. It's a great service to the community.

I've saved the articles from yesterday's Post, but it would be really, really nice if washingtonpost.com could make the articles, maps, and capsule summaries available in PDF form. Not only am I less likely to lose a computer file, it would be much easier for me to take the reports in with me when I shop.

Thanks again for a great series of articles.

PS - When will you have a review of the Treo 600?

washingtonpost.com: Thanks Rockville for your thoughtful suggestion. We'll see if that's possible for this year's guide and definitely plan to do it next year.

Rob Pegoraro: I've got a Treo 600 sitting next to me. Can you wait until Sunday? :)

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Tirana, Albania: Hi Rob, thanks for a great column, especially for including Apple products. My question is this: My wife will be Washington starting in November for three months. We have a GSM phone we use in Europe, where we work. When she comes to DC which plan would be best to use? It seems that T-Mobile, according to the Post's article, has subscribers for a year. Is there a GSM provider that she could use for the three month duration? Thanks for your time.

Rob Pegoraro: For three months? No, not really. Better to see if your current carrier has any kind of deal for your situation. Or get a prepaid phone for the time you're here.

Well, actually... you could try to open a month-to-month plan with Cingular and see if they'd simply give you a SIM card to plug into your phone. I have no idea if they would, or if they even have a policy ready for this scenario.

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Alexandria, VA: I am a sales rep who only uses the mobile phone 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Monday - Friday. I am in the local NVA/DC vicinity. I use a fair amount of minutes per month... last bill was 2101 minutes and it costs me about $200 with AT&T Wireless. Is there a plan out there geared toward this kind of useage? I get no benefit from free evening and weekend minutes... I basically need long distance and a good amount of minutes for hopefully, less than $200 a month.

Thank you!;

Rob Pegoraro: 2,100 minutes *during* weekday hours is tough. There are plans that cover this, but we didn't list them--we stopped listing plans over $70, since those cover the needs of the overwhelming majority of users. But if you shop around, I'd imagine you'd find *something* under $200.

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South Riding, Va.: What qualifies you as an expert in the field of wireless? I have working in the wireless industry for close to 8 years for 2 carriers, with different technologies and have noticed inaccurate statements in every article on this sector that I've seen in the Post.

Rob Pegoraro: I try to ask the right questions of the right people, and I spend a lot of time trying out these services on my own. If you think we got something wrong in this story, I trust you'll e-mail or call about it.

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New York: With all the concern about identity theft (and other problems) why do they think we want to give them our social security numbers? Why are they the ONLY seller of anything that asks for it? Why can the same company (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint) sell you basic or LD telephone service over a wire without this dangerous information? S.S. # is used for so many things: It will access my bank accounts, mutual fund accounts (personal and retirement--IRA, Keogh--etc.)

Do we really believe that these numbers, once supplied, can not be accessed by MANY employees of the wireless company? Some messed up, some fired & disgruntled, some hackers, some needing to make a buck selling to hackers.

And when the co. has a credit card number, too, we are just wide open to crooks.

Do not try to tell me that wireless co. can safeguard this data. Even Microsoft can not.

Rob Pegoraro: Posting this to let New York vent--we've got a ton of questions still coming in, so I'm going to send along a bunch now, then hang out here for the next 15 minutes or so.

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Fells Point, Md.: In general, will I get a better deal on a new phone and package if I re-sign with my current provider for 2 more years or jump ship to another company as a new customer for 2 years?

Rob Pegoraro: Two-year plans always offer the best value in terms of phone pricing. But number portability is probably going to cause some intensified competition and change the market in some basic ways... I can't predict if your current carrier or another would be more generous. It depends, more than anything, on how much time/money you've spent on your current carrier, and how much they're aware of it.

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Burtonsville, Md: I would like to know who offers the best international (GSM) coverage. Some say AT&T. Ideally, I would like to be able to travel overseas, and simply keep my phone and not have to switch phones. What are your thoughts on GSM coverage. Also, with GSM, you do not get charged for incoming calls, only outgoing.

Rob Pegoraro: On your first question, I have no idea. We didn't exactly have the money to send John Breeden on a world tour to test phones :)

On your second question, the only plans I'm aware of that don't charge for incoming calls are the "Free Incoming" plans Nextel offers. I know it's different in some other countries, but we're only trying to cover the D.C. market in this guide.

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Los Angeles: Our Nextel coverage has significant "black holes" in places such as Century City and near LAX--these seem pretty obvious places to maintain or beef up coverage--when will we be able to count on good coverage across a major metropolitan area, and who does it best now? Dropped calls are our biggest problem.

Rob Pegoraro: Can't speak to coverage in the L.A. area, sorry. Your question is a fair one, but I don't have an answer to it. Anybody who does, please chime in now.

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Taxes: I remember the Post reported that Vienna town users were improperly taxed for cell phones. Do you know if Fairfax county requires cell phone cos. to imposes a cell phone tax?

Rob Pegoraro: Most counties have some kind of surcharge--911-related, as I recall.

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Fairfax, Va.: Why don't providers allow existing customers with expired contracts get phones for the same price as new customers? I realize they want to get new customers, but by making me pay $150-$300 more for a new phone just because I'm an existing customer seems like they don't want to keep me. At the very worst, can't I just cancel and then get a new account? I asked my provider to do this and they said they once I'm a customer, I'm never allowed to get a discounted phone ever again. When I told them I wanted to cancel and do to another provider, then, they offered me only $50 credit towards a new phone. Given that I offered them a chance to sign me up to another contract before WNP, wouldn't they want to give me the new customer discount? Or should I just move on?

Rob Pegoraro: Good question. Remember my answer before about the economics of cell phone plans? In this case, the logic falls apart--you're paying the non-subsidized price, yet still giving the carrier money to make up a subsidy.

Tell this carrier you're leaving. Even if it's not true! See what happens then.

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Northwest D.C.: Hi Rob: Keep up the good columns. One huge complaint re the "interactive" guide to cell phone plans. I can't recall a less printer friendly guide. The frame that required you to scroll down only printed "loading...."-- long after it clearly had loaded. Why not provide those charts in a way that was more user friendly format, perhaps with a link to a printer-friendly version of all the plans' details that I could keep to take with me when I visit a cell phone store. The useful coverage maps also could have been loaded separately in a printer-friendly format. For one of few times, I think your techies pals who set up the piece let you down. Keep up the good work!

washingtonpost.com: Thanks everyone who sent in questions like this one asking for a printable online version of the reviews and maps that Rob and his team assembled on the six wireless plans. Please check back in a few days. We will be making printable versions available soon. Apologies for the delay.

Rob Pegoraro: FYI...

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West Orange, NJ: Could you talk about the risks of getting a phone and plan from one of those mall kiosks versus from the wireless provider or a store like Radio Shack? The former seems to have hidden perils; we want to dump Cingular right now and would do so even despite their $150 penalty... but the kiosk we signed up at is a separate corporation with a separate $300 penalty for early termination. Also, is there anything we can do to fight this "two-layer" penalty regime?

Rob Pegoraro: Not enter that regime. Once you're in... you're in. It's always a good idea to read the fine print on a contract before signing it.

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McLean, Va.: The only reason we keep a landline phone is that my wife and I like to talk to family members at the same time (via extensions). Do you know of any way to do that with cell phones?

Rob Pegoraro: You can set up three-way calling on any carrier's service (although it will eat up your minutes faster).

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Falls Church, Va: Rob- do the pre paid cell minutes expire if they are not used within a certain period of time? I have run into this with things like gift cards that are pre paid- in TINY print there is a statement that they will reduce the face value by a certain amount per month after a certain period of time. Thanks, Tina

Rob Pegoraro: Correct, prepaid cards turn into pumpkins after a set period of time.

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Silver Spring, Md.: My husband and I recently signed up for what we thought was a great shared plan with T-Mobile. Unfortunately, we quickly discovered what you wrote in your column: that the service is lousy, much worse than the AT+T plan we had left. Calls are frequently cut off, coverage is poor and the sound quality is abysmal. Is there any way to back out of the plan before our contract is up if we're not happy with it? We had taken advantage of phone and activation rebates when we signed up.

Rob Pegoraro: Not really, if you're past the trial period. Sorry...

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Falls Church, Va.: During hurricane Isabel I was only able to get roaming service on my Sprint phone. I called Sprint to complain about this and they gave me 50 roaming minute credits since I explained that it is my only phone since I ditched my Verizon land line. I looked at my statement online which now contains 45 minutes of long distance calls. Any idea how I might get credit for those as well since they were only "long distance" because I was roaming in my home service area?

Rob Pegoraro: Ask Sprint customer service again? It would seem to be a perfectly reasonable request, especially if you were placing calls only to local numbers.

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Washington, D.C. : Hey Rob,

How do I determine which wireless provider offers the best service in my area? What I mean is this, Verizon works great when I am downtown, but I find the service bad when I am trying to use my phone in the house, the same applies to AT&T. Is there any way to determine which provider has a cell tower in my area?

Rob Pegoraro: No--the carriers know this, of course, but they don't release this info. You can look for antennas on nearby structures, poles or water towers, but that won't tell you who owns what antenna.

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Kew Gardens, N.Y.: We recently went to NC on a car trip. We have T-Mobile and at the NC line it went to Cingular, that's what appeared on our phone. Were we charged roaming for the duration of our trip when it switched to Cingular, or does Cingular pick up where T-Mobile leaves off?

I ask because we thought our bill was quite high that month- anything we can do about it if it was in roaming??

Many thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: If you've got one of T-Mobile's regional plans--which is what it sounds like from your description--you're probably stuck with those charges. Complaining to customer service may or may not get you some kind of a break... understand that I'm in favor of asking for a break on general "it never hurts to ask" principles, but I also realize that it won't always get your anywhere.

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Verizon customer service: I always call from your my cell phone -- 611 for Verizon -- wait time is much less and it's airtime free.

Rob Pegoraro: More on customer service...

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Chevy Chase, Md.: I live in the DC area, but spend a lot of time driving all over the western half of the US. Much of that time I am no on the Interstates. Your article seemed to suggest that my best chance for cell coverage would be Sprint or Verizon (because I would have the analog as a backup when digital was not available). Is that correct? And is one of those two better than the other in offering coverage in the West?

Rob Pegoraro: Go with Sprint, Verizon or AT&T (with a GAIT phone). But I can't tell you anything from firsthand experience over who'd best in the more rural parts of the West.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: For the Senior Citizen and other minimal users, I have found Virgin to have the cheapest pre-paid plan. They require $20 every 3 months which is less than $7 per month and that $7 is worth about 25 minutes in calling time ...

I actually had to run an excel spreadsheet to prove to my wife that all those "free minutes" monthly plans were still costing us significantly more then prepaid. Plus no confusing "fees" and taxes with prepaids.

Rob Pegoraro: Useful point at the end--prepaid service doesn't have separate charges for taxes and fees.

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Correction!;: Actually, Sprint is charging the WNP fee. When I asked them, they said that if the program was delayed or cancelled, they would not refund the fee. They consider what I'm paying now to be a way for them to recover charges they are seeing now, including loss of customers, fighting WNP in court, etc. They expect it to be an on-going fee, since they expect to have on-going expenses. That's what they told me.

Rob Pegoraro: More on charges for wireless number portability

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El Sobrante, Calif. : Feedback on Customer Service:

For my family and my boss I've had many (-way- too many) opportunities to see ATROCIOUS "customer service" at Nextel. Months and months of failed "solutions" left me with 3 phone #s in 3 states, 3 bills and dozens of lengthy waits on-hold to try fixing it!! Unbelievable. And their website has phone #s that are years out of date -- the same website their "customer service" reps use!

Rob Pegoraro: And still more on customer service

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Bethesda, Md.: I want to get a prepaid phone as a gift for some nephews of mine who don't have access to any phone (wireless or wireline) in their home right now. They live in the Wilmington North Carolina area.

Do you know which one would be the best?

Rob Pegoraro: Nope--haven't looked at coverage patterns in that area. But I'd also say that if you're buying a phone for somebody who doesn't have *any* phone service, prepaid is likely to be an awful choice--it's going to get hugely expensive to rely on that as your sole phone service.

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Alexandria, Va.: Hi Rob, Is any progress being made to easily transfer current contacts from an old phone to a new one?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes. Sometimes, the carrier can dump your address book from the old phone to the new one. GSM users can just pop the SIM card from the old phone to the new one. Lastly, there's software like iSync or FutureDial that lets you synchronize the phone with your computer.

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Falls Church, Va.: Thanks for the cell phone round up. I use ATT Wireless and don't use many minutes, I use the 19.99 plans. I went into an ATT storefront about 6 mos ago to check out plans- hubby always seems to make calls from the Winchester area and we pay roaming "penalties." No one mentioned the MLife National plan you listed in the paper- 30 min no roaming- perfect. I am going to switch to this one. You may know more about the plans out there than the phone companies themselves. Tina

Rob Pegoraro: A lot of these companies have different plans available online and in stores. I think that's pretty dumb--why confuse customers like that?

As a journalist, I'm also annoyed to have to ask the exact right questions to discover these "hidden" plans. What kind of game are these companies trying to play here?

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Backwards Verizon: Why is it a company like Verizon is 5 steps behind their competition in providing top of the line handsets? I went in yesterday and asked when they would have the Treo 600 in stock, they said they aren't ever going to carry it!!!! My problem is the two places I know of, TMObile and Sprint, have the most godawful networks in DC. I mean, TMobiles is so bad I cant believe no one has done a column on it.

Rob Pegoraro: Verizon, historically speaking, has stayed well behind Sprint in terms of carrying neat/cool/new phones. It didn't offer any camera phones until a few months ago, while Sprint had one by last winter. I don't know why; it's just how Verizon has chosen to conduct its business.

With the Treo 600 in particular, however, it's also a case of Handspring choosing to give Sprint an exclusive on the CDMA version of this handheld.

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Falls Church, Va.: For the person with the bad nokia phone with ATT. If you're happy with the service, why not PAY for a new phone through their upgrades dept if you don't want to sign a new contract.

And for the GSM people in Albania, if T-mobile and AT&T both have prepaid services (easyspeak - GO phone) why not call T-mobile or AT&T and see if they can just buy a prepaid SIM to pop into their phone.

Rob Pegoraro: suggestions that follow up on other comments here...

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Falls Church, Va.: Is there any way to get a provider (In this case Sprint PCS) to give better service where I live? I.E. my phone service works fine in DC and about a .5 mile from my home. However, in the neighborhood I live in, the phone doesn't work at all. Therefore, I lose any ability to take advantage of the "free" night minutes. Almost seems like it is a scam. The most amazing thing is that service works fine on Block Island, RI (about 12 miles off RI) but not inside the beltway!!!

Rob Pegoraro: The only way for them to improve their coverage is to put up a new antenna--either on a new tower, or to share space on somebody else's tower.

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College Park, Md.: I'd like to know what I can do about roaming charges of $287.14 for 1 weeks call made from Cheriton VA to Silver Spring. I thought VA was covered in the local AT&T plan. They claim these are legitimate charges - the calls were made by my 17 year old son and he says the phone never indicated he was roaming.

Rob Pegoraro: $287.14?! Ouch.

I'd check the fine print on AT&T's site, but it's giving me the following error message:

"Due to high demand, our site is currently busy and cannot process your request. Please try again in a few minutes."

I'd try to escalate this with customer service.

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Customer Service: In question of customer service, T-mobile has been great. They've always been helpful and available 24 hours a day. I've never been condescended or put on hold too long. The polar opposite for me was when I was with Sprint PCS. What a horrible experience. I don't even want to detail the excruciating pain I've been through with them due to the fact of drudging up frustrating memories.

Rob Pegoraro: Still more on customer service...

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Alexandria, Va.: Rob, your big chart in Sunday's paper gave T-Mobile the lowest rating for service, but it still rated an 8.7 average. My question is: How did T-Mobile rank anywhere above a 5? We have T-Mobile service, and it stinks EVERYWHERE. It's not our phone, it's their service. Why are they so bad?

Rob Pegoraro: Look at where we tested the phones: Most of these locations were in fairly high-traffic areas, with only a couple of tricky locations (like White's Ferry). We chose those spots because we wanted to make sure that phones worked in the places where a lot of readers would need them to. Next time around, we might throw in some more rural locations. And if you or anybody would like to nominate any, please let us know!

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College Park, Md.: About the roaming calls my 17 year old made, his phone bill is usually $39.00 a month. This month it is $379.08. He sure can't pay it and neither can I. My brother has Cingular and told me that he got suck with unexpected roaming charges 2 times, and both times Cingular agreed to let him just pay half. AT&T doesn't seem to want to bargain - I just don't think it's fair, in fact I feel like I am being robbed! WHAT CAN I DO!

Rob Pegoraro: That's even worse than the last example. What plan are you on? I mean, that's an absurdly high number. Are you on some local-calling-only option? If so, change it, immediately. There's no good reason to stick to one unless you are make very, very few calls.

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bad nokia on AT&T: to the person suggesting, I have thought about buying a new phone.

So, a new question, is it worth buying a new phone that's not GSM if soon enough everyone will have GSM?

Rob Pegoraro: If I were getting a new phone on AT&T, I would insist on it being GSM--the coverage is already better, the add-on services are better and the SIM card is one of those fundamentally logical ideas that everybody else should've stolen years ago. But I might have to pass on the more interesting features of the GSM-only phones to get a GAIT, analog-compatible model.

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Washington, D.C.: Ok, there's a lot of bad T-mobile rap in this chat. What's the real story?

The plans are cheap and the phones look good, why shouldn't I go with them?

Rob Pegoraro: The postings here would seem to provide your answer. (If anybody *is* happy w/ their T-Mobile coverage, please chime in here--these sessions aren't meant to be "let's bash Company X" flamefests.)

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Alexandria, Va.: How is it possible that AT&T's long distance covers from Richmond to New York but does not cover Charlottesville?

Rob Pegoraro: I have no idea. I guess the management at ATTWS doesn't have any kids at UVA...

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Washington, D.C.: I just moved back from Puerto Rico and would like to get my exchange changed to a 301 area code. I am with Sprint PCS and they claim that I cannot do this without signing up for another year commitment AND choosing from a different cell phone plan (my plan is not offered anymore). Is this a common practice? I am looking to change cell phone companies. I am not interested in signing up for another year for the slightest change to my cell phone plan.

Rob Pegoraro: Yes, this does happen a lot. Basically, the carriers have a really strong financial incentive to keep customers locked up, and so they'll use every advantage they can find. You, however, have the stronger leverage overall in this case--you don't even need your old phone number, so you can choose from all the other carriers.

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Berryville, Va.: We live in Berryville -- in the Shenandoah Valley 10 miles east of Winchester (and I-81). Most of my business and travel is east of Leesburg, or up and down the coast between Baltimore and Miami.

Not having a cell phone is an inconvenience rapidly becoming a problem, but it seems as if ALL the services are patchy out here -- I really need a service that would cover 10-15 miles either side of I-81 as well as major metro areas. I would also love to have a Treo, and so would like GSM service. How fast is coverage likely to be expanding out here?

Rob Pegoraro: I hear you--I did a bike tour through Clarke County a couple of weeks ago. My Verizon phone's battery was about dead by 3 or so in the afternoon--it had been stuck in analog roam ever since I rolled out of Berryville that morning. Beautiful country out there, BTW :)

I think your odds of getting GSM coverage in your neighborhood are pretty low, except for maybe along Route 7. I would expect to see AT&T do that before T-Mobile or Cingular, just because of how far it's extended its network elsewhere. I'd also be reasonably optimistic about Verizon.

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Rob Pegoraro: Alright--it's now almost an hour after this chat was scheduled to end! Hope we've given Express enough material to excerpt for the next few weeks... if I missed your question, please e-mail me (rob at twp.com) and I'll try to get to it as soon as I can.

Thanks!

- R

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