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T-Mobile USA Claims Over One Million iPhones Running On Its Network

dmcaudio said:
That's right, according to changes to the DMCA a while back. While it's technically still against Apple's TOS and will void your warranty, it's a suitable risk for those of us who don't want to use AT&T. Plus I LOVE not being forced into a data plan with T-Mobile. I have my phone MY way. 2 Lines (both iphones), unlimited minutes, $79.99 a month, and I just tether 3G from my iPad when i really need to. 1 Data plan, 3 devices, just the way it should be!
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The United States is not the world!!! :eek:

Just because it is legal in the US doesn't mean it is legal in other countries…
In Canada, ripping a CD is technically illegal… But the copyright reform bills have all been worse…
 
tasset said:
The fact that 1 million people will live on the fringe with Edge data speeds, Tmobile coverage, and use older OS versions for fear of losing their unlocks, speaks volumes to the extent people will go to avoid AT&T.
The FCC/DOJ should consider this in assessing the damage a Tmobile acquisition will do to consumer choice and the strength being afforded to the Sister Bell's control over the market.
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Maybe, they only use wifi. Outside of that, they use it mostly as a phone.
 
My contract with AT&T ends mid July, after that, I am a free man! I paid my dues, and my 3GS is mine and all mine, no penalty or so.

I am so ready to leave AT&T, I might just temporarily switch to T-Mobile until September, when the new one comes out.

If it comes out on Verizon, I am a happy man.
If it comes out on Sprint, I am a super happy man!
 
jbennardo said:
This makes the hot chick from their commercials very sad.
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Why? T-Mobile doesn't have to worry about any hardware subsidies! T-Mobile gets all the money from the contracts, with none of the worries of actually supporting the hardware, or dealing with hardware subsidies.

T-Mobile probably loves having iPhones on their network. AT&T subsidized them, they just have to collect the money.
 
TEG said:
Technically, this is Unlocking, and it IS against the law in the US.
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http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

This is straight from the office in charge of determining what is and isn't legal under the US DMCA.

The Librarian of Congress has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works.

...

(3) Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.
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AKA: The one law that could possibly be used to block cell phone unlocking specifically has an exemption declaring that unlocking a cell phone is *NOT* a violation of said law.

Yes, it may be illegal in other countries, but not in the US.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

This is straight from the office in charge of determining what is and isn't legal under the US DMCA.



AKA: The one law that could possibly be used to block cell phone unlocking specifically has an exemption declaring that unlocking a cell phone is *NOT* a violation of said law.

Yes, it may be illegal in other countries, but not in the US.
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pow right in the kisser
 
winston1236 said:
Why would they be rolling out anything, ATT is about to buy them or has that changed?
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Business doesn't stop just because you might merge with a competitor. What if ATT decides to walk away? Or the government not allow it to go through? Not likely but one never knows.
 
T-Mobile no 3G?

Hey everyone, first post so go easy.

I live in Australia, and I will be flying over to Orlando, FL in July.

In Australia, most of the carriers (at least mine) leave iPhones unlocked and my iPhone 4 is unlocked.

I wanted to purchase a pre-paid T-Mobile sim and use it for internet access and voip calls.

However reading through this thread, people are saying that 3G wont work? WTF? Why not?

If this is true what are my alternatives for a GSM iPhone 4, and please don't say AT&T.
 
DiSTURBED-oNE said:
Hey everyone, first post so go easy.

I live in Australia, and I will be flying over to Orlando, FL in July.

In Australia, most of the carriers (at least mine) leave iPhones unlocked and my iPhone 4 is unlocked.

I wanted to purchase a pre-paid T-Mobile sim and use it for internet access and voip calls.

However reading through this thread, people are saying that 3G wont work? WTF? Why not?

If this is true what are my alternatives for a GSM iPhone 4, and please don't say AT&T.
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T-Mobile USA uses the 1700 MHz band for 3G, and the chip in the iPhone does not support that band. (Side note: Ironically, the Qualcomm chip in the CDMA-only Verizon iPhone is capable of supporting every CDMA and GSM band, including the 1700 MHz band, but Apple did not build a SIM card slot on that phone, so it can only be used on Verizon's bands.)
 
dmcaudio said:
While it's technically still against Apple's TOS and will void your warranty, it's a suitable risk for those of us who don't want to use AT&T.
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Interestingly, voiding the warranty by jailbreaking is just official Apple "policy". There's nothing contractually connecting third party software with the hardware warranty.

You see, the TOS is only about software. The warranty is only about hardware. (Apple does not warrant software... in fact, the hardware warranty explicitly denies any responsibility for even their own OS, much less anyone else's code.)

Ironically, the iOS TOS and warranty are almost word for word the same as those for OSX and Macs. And users of those do not lose their warranty for loading up third party code.
 
I'm one of those million of T-mobile iPhone users. 32gb 3GS iPhone.

I'm on T-mobile's pre-paid plan which is very cost efficient for me.

$100 for 1 year, which equates to about $8.33 a month. Rather than having 70-80 bucks a month sucked out every month I save so much with prepaid. Voice = 10 cents a minute (1000 min), text = 5 cents receive 10 cents send, EDGE $1.49 for a day pass good for 24 hour access to web.

I work at a large university that has free WiFi on the entire campus. I use Google Voice for free texting. Most of the time I'm either at home or at work, and I rarely talk on the phone for long. When I'm out with friends I don't need to be checking emails sport scores or looking up places to eat. Besides almost all my friends have smart phones now (even though they all have costly contracts). If I really need data and there's no free WiFi spot then it's only 1.49 for a day, yeah it's slow but I don't watch YouTube or anything data intensive.

If AT&T gets approved to buy T-mobile they better not mess with T-mobile's pre-paid plans.
 
Im not sure if any of you know about this but theres a company called simple mobile there a mvno of tmobile. They offer a $60 the has unlimited everything with 4g speeds. but the $50 plan has unlimited everything with 2g speeds which is perfect for those with iphones since they only work on 2g
 
DiSTURBED-oNE said:
Hey everyone, first post so go easy.
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I'll try. :D

DiSTURBED-oNE said:
However reading through this thread, people are saying that 3G wont work? WTF? Why not?
Click to expand...

DiSTURBED-oNE said:
If this is true what are my alternatives for a GSM iPhone 4, and please don't say AT&T.
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Sorry, the only other nationwide provider in the US is AT&T. :(

There might be some smaller local-only providers in Florida, but I'm on the opposite end of the country, and don't know any of the local companies down there.

However, you can just get an AT&T prepaid service for $50 for unlimited talk/data for one month (where "unlimited" means 2 GB before they start yelling at you, but since you'll be dropping the account when you go home, I don't think you'll care,) http://www.GoPhone.com Although officially you have to pay extra for smartphones.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
However, you can just get an AT&T prepaid service for $50 for unlimited talk/data for one month (where "unlimited" means 2 GB before they start yelling at you, but since you'll be dropping the account when you go home, I don't think you'll care,) http://www.GoPhone.com Although officially you have to pay extra for smartphones.
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Thanks the for the reply.

Man, that sucks :( . Does tethering/hotspot work with their pre-paid plans?

The reason why I ask, is that the hotel charges $15 per day! for WiFi, and I need access to the internets.

Edit:

According to this:
http://www.wireless.att.com/coverag....213605789812107&lon=-85.06957911109913&sci=3

Orlando, FL does not have 3G coverage, wtf?

So let me get this straight, you only have two GSM carriers in the US, one is on a band that no-one else in the world uses (1700mhz) and the other only offers 3G to a small portion of the country.

I have this awesome phone, that has maps, emails, apps to help me find restraunts etc, but when I travel to the US, its useless.
 
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DiSTURBED-oNE said:
Thanks the for the reply.

Man, that sucks :( . Does tethering/hotspot work with their pre-paid plans?[/quore]
On subscription-paid AT&T, you have to active Hotspot/tethering, and pay extra for the pleasure. I doubt it will be possible to activate on a prepaid plan.

DiSTURBED-oNE said:
The reason why I ask, is that the hotel charges $15 per day! for WiFi, and I need access to the internets.
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OUCH! Get another hotel! There are plenty in the US with free internet.

DiSTURBED-oNE said:
So let me get this straight, you only have two GSM carriers in the US, one is on a band that no-one else in the world uses (1700mhz) and the other only offers 3G to a small portion of the country.
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Yup. Welcome to the land of "GSM? What is this GSM of which you speak?" Before AT&T bought it, the carrier was an independent named "Cingular" that offered GSM as one of its networks (but GSM was the newest,) and T-Mobile and Cingular's GSM service were both rather niche-market carriers, mostly targeted at international travelers. The vast majority of US cell phone subscribers subscribed to CDMA carriers, or to pre-GSM/CDMA technologies. The US really was quite 'backward' compared to the rest of the world. That's why the iPhone was so *HUGE* in the US, because nobody had ever seen anything even remotely like it. A phone that wasn't hobbled by the carrier?!? UNHEARD OF! In the US, phones have always been tied to specific carriers, partly because of the many different technologies out there (which has finally settled into a two-tech CDMA/GSM divide, which will hopefully 'merge' when LTE gets widespread.) Partly due to the overly controlling carriers.
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scaredpoet said:
That's not Orlando, FL. In fact, the coordinates you gave aren't even IN Florida... it's closer to Dothan, Alabama. And, if you tab over to the data map, the coordinates DO show as having 3G anyway.

In any case... the REAL Orlando, FL does in fact have 3G coverage:

http://goo.gl/VjVgg
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I clicked on your link, then I clicked "GoPhone" at the top, which I guess it means prepaid.

In the legend, there is "3G GoPhone - requires 3G capable handset", and there is nothing the Orlando, FL area.

So does this mean prepaid users don't get the same coverage?
 
I'm responsible for three of them : o ).

None of them have a Data plan, they just use Wifi (which is pretty easy to get since the many AT&T stores and Starbucks in the area still provide Wifi to iDevices regardless of the carrier).
 
UbuntuFu said:
I'm one of those million of T-mobile iPhone users. 32gb 3GS iPhone.

I'm on T-mobile's pre-paid plan which is very cost efficient for me.

$100 for 1 year, which equates to about $8.33 a month. Rather than having 70-80 bucks a month sucked out every month I save so much with prepaid. Voice = 10 cents a minute (1000 min), text = 5 cents receive 10 cents send, EDGE $1.49 for a day pass good for 24 hour access to web.

I work at a large university that has free WiFi on the entire campus. I use Google Voice for free texting. Most of the time I'm either at home or at work, and I rarely talk on the phone for long. When I'm out with friends I don't need to be checking emails sport scores or looking up places to eat. Besides almost all my friends have smart phones now (even though they all have costly contracts). If I really need data and there's no free WiFi spot then it's only 1.49 for a day, yeah it's slow but I don't watch YouTube or anything data intensive.

If AT&T gets approved to buy T-mobile they better not mess with T-mobile's pre-paid plans.
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This sounds like a good plan.

I hope AT&T won't buy T-Mobile. Less competition is bad for all of us.
 
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