pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
 ·Comcast
| reply to karlmarx
Re: The Europeans got it right
said by karlmarx  :The fact that your phone isn't tied to a provider is a HUGE benefit to the consumer. Not always. You cannot take a Verizon phone to Cingular and vice versa. For most people I know, this isn't a big deal because by the time they need to upgrade a phone, their current phone is so beat up anyway that they have no desire to retain it.
said by karlmarx : And as a part of that, the providers don't lock you in. They don't lock you in here either. No carrier requires you to get a contract provided you are willing to pay full price for the phone like they do in Europe. For most people, contracts are not an issue at all, especially when they can get a phone for free.
said by karlmarx :The problem in the US is that we didn't choose a good standard. GSM is a worldwide standard, and if the megacorps weren't so greedy here, we would have the benefits of the european system. CDMA-based data standards are far superior to most GSM-based data solutions. Even current 3G GSM solutions are based in part on how CDMA does things currently. Furthermore, more countries now have cell phone providers which offer CDMA-based service in addition to GSM-based offerings.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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jervin123
join:2005-04-14
Philadelphia, PA | Also atleast us GSM/ 3GSM users don't have to pay royalties to Qualcom  open source phones are best. |
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roamer1
sticking it out at you
join:2001-03-24
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
| reply to pnh102
said by pnh102 :No carrier requires you to get a contract provided you are willing to pay full price for the phone like they do in Europe. Unfortunately, this is not true...no major US carrier (with the possible exception of Cingular, who I know used to do this IF you didn't mind losing free mobile-to-mobile) will sell new postpaid service without a contract even if you bring your own phone.
-SC
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"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune |
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roamer1
sticking it out at you
join:2001-03-24
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
| reply to jervin123
said by jervin123 :Also atleast us GSM/ 3GSM users don't have to pay royalties to Qualcom Qualcomm still gets royalties from UMTS, just not as much as they do from CDMA2000.
-SC
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"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune |
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AOLBites
join:2002-11-10
Lakewood, OH | reply to roamer1
Wrong sprint offers a month to month plan where there inst a contract. but you do have to pay almost full price for your phone. You get 50 dollars off the unactivated price.
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to roamer1
said by roamer1 :Unfortunately, this is not true...no major US carrier (with the possible exception of Cingular, who I know used to do this IF you didn't mind losing free mobile-to-mobile) will sell new postpaid service without a contract even if you bring your own phone. I bought a phone outright from Cingular in 2004 and retained free mobile-to-mobile.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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