Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

the iphone is coming to montana!

D

djon41

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 7, 2007
133
6
at long last, the iphone is officially coming to montana on chinook wireless :D

i know theres got to be at least one other montanan on these boards....so i thought id share.
i saw a sign at a chinook kiosk in the local mall, and talked to the rep who said it is currently in testing for compatibility, and she claimed it would be out in the next month or so.

go here to sign up to receive updates if youd like.

i cant handle the excitement :D:apple:
 
haha, well most arent aware that theres a state called montana...
but yeah, at&t's home network does not enter montana, and i think 4 or so other states...chinook is an at&t "partner", though so i could have unlocked the iphone and used it without full functionality, but this news means a legitimate iphone carrier :D

and to tell you the truth, i cant wait to leave montana, but i dont get done with undergrad for another year and a half, so im stuck here...
 
Well that is good that they are being able to release it on other carriers where ATT does not have coverage.
 
how is that possible? Doesn't AT&T have exclusivity? I'm not so sure about that one... Wouldn't we be hearing about other small companies getting the iPhone?

Oh, and an unlocked iPhone on T-Mobile works great in Montana, fyi.
 
A good friend if mine lives in bozeman and has att. Granted the service sucks, she does have att.
 
well chinook is an at&t partner network...meaning that its part of at&t's network, but at&t doesnt provide the service, its all done through chinook.

and if youre using tmobile, its roaming on chinooks network, since chinooks is the only gsm network in the state.
 
heh, I guess I'm in one of the lucky parts of Iowa cause I've had it since launch. Plus I've been with Cingular (now At&t) for 3+ years now and have never had problems anywhere I travel through the state.
 
djon41 said:
haha, well most arent aware that theres a state called montana...
Click to expand...

it's funny you said that... When i read the title of the thread it didn't immediately occur to me this was referring to a US state... So as this page was loading I briefly thought to myself, "montana, is that in Canada?" . :eek:
 
pdpfilms said:
how is that possible? Doesn't AT&T have exclusivity? I'm not so sure about that one... Wouldn't we be hearing about other small companies getting the iPhone?

Oh, and an unlocked iPhone on T-Mobile works great in Montana, fyi.
Click to expand...

I am sure the exclusivity only applies to areas that are covered by ATT. Since Montana isn't covered, Apple is free to sell the iPhone to another ATT partner.
 
djon41 said:
haha, well most arent aware that theres a state called montana...

and to tell you the truth, i cant wait to leave montana, but i dont get done with undergrad for another year and a half, so im stuck here...
Click to expand...

Why? My son is in Bozeman at MSU and loves living there with all the outdoor activities. As soon as I can figure a way to make a reasonable living, my wife and I also will probably move in that direction.

Back on topic, I'm glad to hear about the Chinook deal. Hopefully there is at least moderate coverage in Bozeman too.
 
well, i think its just because im more of a big-city person. i cant help but feel like ive done everything there is to do in montana, and im bored...but i cant get my doctorate here anyways, and once i get that, i cant really get a job anywhere in the state either.

and as far as i can see from the coverage maps, it looks like bozeman gets pretty good coverage. im curious as to whether apple is asking them to upgrade their network at all before the release.
 
Damn, I thought everywhere had it in the USA. Must suck being in parts of America that don't have them yet, especially as they are nearly in Europe!

As for Canada, it seems Apple hates you - I guess it just sucks you're that close to the USA, but still so far away from an iPhone! :D
 
I don't mean to poke fun at your State, but the fact that the France, the UK among others are going to have iPhones before the State of Montana would make for good Comedy Central material.
 
William Gates said:
A good friend if mine lives in bozeman and has att. Granted the service sucks, she does have att.
Click to expand...

Unless she's on a family plan, she won't be an AT&T customer much longer. If you use more than 40% of your minutes on partner towers (i.e. anywhere in Bozeman), you violate the terms of your contract and are booted. Luckily there's no early termination fee though.

Happened to me last fall. Then I began my trudge through all the local providers... first chinook (worst customer service of all of them- stuck with them for 3 months, with each bill containing at least $30 in overcharges), then Alltell (pretty good, but alas... no iphone), and finally T-mobile.

Despite not directly servicing this area like AT&T, T-Mobile doesn't have the 40% clause in their contract, and confirmed to me that they'd provide me cell coverage no matter how much roaming I did.
 
pdpfilms said:
Unless she's on a family plan, she won't be an AT&T customer much longer. If you use more than 40% of your minutes on partner towers (i.e. anywhere in Bozeman), you violate the terms of your contract and are booted. Luckily there's no early termination fee though.

Happened to me last fall. Then I began my trudge through all the local providers... first chinook (worst customer service of all of them- stuck with them for 3 months, with each bill containing at least $30 in overcharges), then Alltell (pretty good, but alas... no iphone), and finally T-mobile.

Despite not directly servicing this area like AT&T, T-Mobile doesn't have the 40% clause in their contract, and confirmed to me that they'd provide me cell coverage no matter how much roaming I did.
Click to expand...

Its been a while since you posted this. Are you still using T-Mobile in Montana without any problems (i.e. cancellation)?
 
inflatable-cowboy-horse-costume-1.jpg
 
mcdj said:
inflatable-cowboy-horse-costume-1.jpg
Click to expand...

haha, this is about right, actually...

I totally forgot about this thread, but the deal never actually panned out....within a few months of me starting this thread, chinook got bought out by cellular one, and there is no hope of the iphone coming without att. Im sure chinook was doing it behind apples/atts backs, so its no surprise that it got shut down. There are rumors that at&t is going to be coming here soon though, so thats nice. Although with any luck I'll be as far away from here as i can possibly get.
 
Update for all you Montanan's looking for iPhones.

T-Mobile cancelled my service after changing their terms and conditions about a month ago, following AT&T's excessive roaming clauses. So that's no longer an option.

Cellular One does say they'll open up a line for you if you've got an iPhone. Data is $30/mo just like AT&T, and they'll even unlock it for you (though I wouldn't trust them, seeing as they said it was impossible to unlock a 3GS). So it looks like that's the best option.

For the sake of it, after getting the boot from T-Mob I signed up with AT&T, using a billing address that's in their service area. I'm going to see how long I can stick with them, and then probably end up moving to Cellular One if they opt to cancel my service. I'd love to use my iPhone without worrying about unofficial use, voiding my warranty, etc. etc., but we'll see if AT&T will let me.

So for now, iPhone+Cellular One= Montana usage. This will all change in about 2 years once AT&T completes the buyout of Alltell of course, but it's a good temporary solution.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back