Not all carriers disable features, just verizon
T-mobile is not "crap". I've had them for nearly 2 weeks and could not be happier. I've never not had a signal. With Cingular, I had signal issues all the time, they were worthless. T-Mobile does NOT run off of Cingular towers unless you are roaming, if you are in a T Mo service area, you will not use Cingular towers.
And please, don't give me the "Cingular is better nationwide crap." I drove with my sister from St. Louis to Washington DC, halfway across the country. At the time, I had Cingular, and she had T-Mobile. The only time when she did not have coverage was in the middle of nowhere West Virginia where we were miles away from civilization. When her phone couldn't pick up a T-Mo signal, she roamed on other carriers with no problem (usually smaller regional carriers, she was never on Cingular). I had spotty signal throughout the entire trip, even in larger towns, and worse, I had sh*t for coverage in Washington, DC. My phone never roamed on other carriers, so throughout the entire drive, I was without a signal quite often. We would be in desolate areas, and my phone would have zero bars, and hers would have 5.
Yes, cellular service does depend on where you are. but there's something that doesn't change based on location, and that's customer service. I dreaded calling Cingular's customer service. They were incompetent and did not know what they were talking about. My mom spent 2 hours on the line with someone to get our billing date changed. Before I signed up with T, I called them to inquire about EDGE coverage and the call took 2 minutes and I had an answer. Cingular's customer service is so terrible, that if only 2 providers in my area had coverage, Cingular and T, and Cingular was known for having better coverage, I'd still go with T.
The only reason I don't consider Cingular the worst cellular company in the US is because Verizon locks down their phones, whereas Cingular phones are usually uncrippled, and you have the option of an unlocked GSM phone.
