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AT&T Buying T-Mobile.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/20/atandt-agrees-to-buy-t-mobile-from-deutsche-telekom/

Looks like I'm going to Verizon or sprint. Anything but at&t they always drop calls.
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The network will actually be stronger because of the takeover but what I do foresee is a lack of our current freedom that T-Mobile provides us with its data plan, AT&T clearly likes to limit its customers' options to 2GB and furthermore AT&T seems to going the way Verizon has and invested heavily in LTE technology as opposed to T-Mobile's HSPA+ which leaves us MT4G users dead in the water. I have heard that AT&T was seeking to expand its current HSPA+ network but I'm not exactly sure by how much and whether it runs off of the same bands as the T-Mobile HSPA+ network since their current 3G networks are on different bands.

I am interested to see if they will change their outlook on the way they handle business. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE I MIGHT GO BACK TO SPRINT

Yeah this most likely means sprint for me.
So what's the best android phone coming out soon for Sprint?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Here is at&t trying to become a monopoly again. Most of us left at&t cause of the crap service now we are back. I can't believe it I rather have sprint actually buy T-Mobile then at&t.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

buying a GSM phone in the future...
"Welcome to T-AT&T. How may we give it to you?"
Yes, I'd like an order of 5 year contracts and a side of carrier specific manufacturers. And a medium "iPhone to T-Mobile" to drink, with extra irony.
"Great and how did you want to pay, first-born or second mortgage?"

Wow you beat me to it lol
Sent from my myTouch 4G using XDA App

Ya it's gonna be sprint or verizon for me too. I want verizon but isnt it expensive? What do you guys think? Whats better?

Well, I am absolutely not in shock. I work corporate so i had knowledge of talks..but i was under impression we were doing spectrum agreements. Not this bullsh*t. I am NOT happy as I DO work for AT&T but...I know our strictness when it comes to Data Tiering and deposit structuring, etc.
On the network side it will be an advantage as far as coverage goes..but this is bad news for pricing and customer retention..
I anticipate a customer drop the 1st 3 months this is finalized.

Elvis_Freshly said:
Well, I am absolutely not in shock. I work corporate so i had knowledge of talks..but i was under impression we were doing spectrum agreements. Not this bullsh*t. I am NOT happy as I DO work for AT&T but...I know our strictness when it comes to Data Tiering and deposit structuring, etc.
On the network side it will be an advantage as far as coverage goes..but this is bad news for pricing and customer retention..
I anticipate a customer drop the 1st 3 months this is finalized.
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Yeah, I'll be one of them. Almost 100% guarantee I'm moving to Sprint. I get a 25% discount with my company anyway. I got 12% with tmobile which was still cheaper but there's no way I'm staying with at&t.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Im not on att because of the lack of freedom...drop calls, ****ty customer service. If they give us the chance to get out of our contract im off to verizon. Wonder if htc will make the pyramid for verizon haha so **** att and all thier gay messages bout ppl tethering.

They already bought it....30 minutes ago .
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

So not cool....

I'm surprised Sprint didn't try harder, if anyone needed a merger it was them.
Sent from my Incredible with the XDA Premium App.

So, do you think those of us with contracts will be allowed out of such contract at the time of the merger?
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

lol @ everyone jumping to conclusions
calm down people...we have no idea the details of the merger...no idea how or when it will effect us...and for the most part people that already on tmobile cell and data plans will be grandfathered into whatever they have now
now...i will say im not happy with this news...i was an att customer for over 7 years way back when and i dont want to be one now...but being i just signed a 2 year contract again to get my new phones...im stuck...but im not going nuts yet until i hear what the merger means
EDIT: i just read that the deal still has to be approved by the gov't and will take up to a year for the merger to actually be fully implemented http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382267,00.asp

Ironic that I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile so I could afford a fully featured phone with reasonable data rates...

Noooooooo FCC has to approve this hopefully it gets disapproved
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

Look
Newsroom.T-Mobile.com
We will have the same everything
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

New to Verizon/Thunderbolt.

Hello everyone! New guy here to Verizon, and the Thunderbolt. I was with T-Mobile till the BIG news break of the day about AT&T buying out T-Mobile. I refuse to give AT&T money, so I jumped ship and joined Verizon.
Simple question really....
Anything that I really need to know about Verizon in general, and/or how they work with their customers?
Thanks!
Will.

I personally have never had any problem. Always been a great experience with VZW for me.

I moved to Verizon from AT&T and have gotten far superior service. I have gone onto their site and chatted live with folks about things that are really odd and they've been willing to go out of their way to answer the questions I've had. Additionally, as I do work in smartphone security and one of my malware simulations was worried VZW would have issue with it... so went to a store and they took the time to look through the contract and make sure I wouldn't violate any policies with me. I have found them to be a significant improvement over AT&T.
So yeah great experience & great customer service. Plus the quality of network is the best I've been on yet. And can't wait to get on the Verizon 4G LTE network later this week.

g00s3y said:
I personally have never had any problem. Always been a great experience with VZW for me.
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+1!
10 char

javawolfpack said:
So yeah great experience & great customer service. Plus the quality of network is the best I've been on yet. And can't wait to get on the Verizon 4G LTE network later this week.
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Oh yeah, 4G LTE is blazingly fast

g00s3y said:
Oh yeah, 4G LTE is blazingly fast
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That's why I paid full retail to get a ThunderBolt as after seeing the speeds and no additional cost for the service couldn't convince myself not to And the sales associates were very helpful to double check that I wouldn't loose any of my current upgrade dates/promotions down the line.

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

Yeah it's been great..ex t-mobile customer here as well. Just one bit of warning, watch out for the first bill!

ram130 said:
Yeah it's been great..ex t-mobile customer here as well. Just one bit of warning, watch out for the first bill!
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Oh god, what am I looking at?

I loved TMobile for their competitive rates and awesome customer service.
Since switching to Verizon I have had superior coverage and I have had a great customer experience. My sales rep pampered me when I purchased the TB and started a new family plan.
Thus far, I have received awesome service. Maybe it is new customer treatment or maybe it is because I have a nice corporate discount plan. Either way, I am happy!

Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

bmcclure937 said:
I loved TMobile for their competitive rates and awesome customer service.
Since switching to Verizon I have had superior coverage and I have had a great customer experience. My sales rep pampered me when I purchased the TB and started a new family plan.
Thus far, I have received awesome service. Maybe it is new customer treatment or maybe it is because I have a nice corporate discount plan. Either way, I am happy!
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Click to collapse
Yep basically my experience since November..just wish I had waited a few months..really wanted the TB ..
WilliamStern said:
Oh god, what am I looking at?
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Just a pro rated, higher than usual bill...try not to use your phone too much (like texting, calls) if you have a low mins/voice plan until the first billing cycle is over....after that it's smooth sailing from there..then again your exeperience might be different..
anyways don't let that stop u! go get your TB!

ddgarcia05 said:
Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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Yes you can and no they won't ..from my experience.

Question about the TB. Anyone getting a slight delay when rotating the phone, lets say when you want to text, or browse the web?

ddgarcia05 said:
Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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This has only been on AT&T to my knowledge so far and only for iPhone users using the MiFi app on their jailbroken iPhones. From what I understand about the way wifi tether works on rooted phones ties it into the underlying architecture so it looks like native traffic. And I'm pretty sure the methods for detecting if your tethered under this approach will make it tough to near impossible for them to detect; however, they could take the classic ISP approach of network shaping/throttling if you seem to be using more bandwidth than they want you to.
But even on the Verizon iPhone so far no issues w/ this from Verizon. Might be that the population of people who choose to jailbreak/root in comparison to the number of users is so small that they don't see enough of a loss to have them want to spend the cost of spending their time/money to track down these users yet.

Thanks for making this thread because I also jumped from ATT to V with two Thunderbolts for my wife and I. They should be here tomorrow.
It will be our first time on Verizon, and our first smartphones. We are finally joining the 21st century. Hhah.

ram130 said:
Just a pro rated, higher than usual bill...try not to use your phone too much (like texting, calls) if you have a low mins/voice plan until the first billing cycle is over....after that it's smooth sailing from there..then again your exeperience might be different..
anyways don't let that stop u! go get your TB!
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Oh, I'm good. I went with an unlimited plan.

Wow! We are in the exact same boat. Once I found out about the sale I jumped ship as well. I ordered on amazon tonight and will get the phone cheaper but I'll have to wait til its back in stock.
I currently use a G2 on TMO and I love it, never had a problem until todays news came out. AT&T will NEVER get anything from me again, I was with them once a few years back and it was horrible!
Anyways, From one former TMO customer switching to VZW to another, enjoy man! I know I will. Went in store today for a demo. This phone looks awesome!
On a side note, any TB users use Slingbox? With the 4G speeds how reliable is it? And how is the quality? I normally only watch over WiFi or at my comp at work.
WilliamStern said:
Hello everyone! New guy here to Verizon, and the Thunderbolt. I was with T-Mobile till the BIG news break of the day about AT&T buying out T-Mobile. I refuse to give AT&T money, so I jumped ship and joined Verizon.
Simple question really....
Anything that I really need to know about Verizon in general, and/or how they work with their customers?
Thanks!
Will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my T-Mobile HTC G2 using XDA Premium App

All I got to say is you guys are lucky! I'm stuck with my DX until I can get an upgrade next year ..I was thinking of selling it on craiglist for $300 with a few extra cases but not sure how I will get the other $200 for the TB lol...

ddgarcia05 said:
Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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lol before switching from sprint to verizon, since sprint doesn't care what you do data wise, i asked verizon this in a round about way. They said they could careless how much you use. Which makes sense when you have a device pulling at times near 30Mbps down, (got that speed a few times today) you are bound to use a crapton of data. I have only had the phone 24 hoursish, and I already have a gig of data used...lol...

AT&T ends it's bid for Tmous...

just got the breaking news from CNN...
so I guess Tmous willl be Tmous.
makes me happy since I like Tmous as it is and did not want to be with AT&T.

I was kind of looking forward to the synergies that would have gone into effect (better service or whatever), and thought that they could finally start competing with Verizon in terms of carrier ranking. It's a pity their asset sales deal went cold.

i read something on this a couple months ago, wasnt from CNN though. i was extremly happy though!!! i hate att, their packaging sucks, customer supper, phones are not as good looking either lol. and i hate their plans

stratax said:
i read something on this a couple months ago, wasnt from CNN though. i was extremly happy though!!! i hate att, their packaging sucks, customer supper, phones are not as good looking either lol. and i hate their plans
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what are you talking about do you follow new lol if it wasnt for tmob att would never have 50$ unlimited all
hell i unlocked my phone if tmob dont get it together will just drop them and go att
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...ans/pyg-cell-phone-plans.jsp?_requestid=79200

I knew that would happen..

stratax said:
i read something on this a couple months ago, wasnt from CNN though. i was extremly happy though!!! i hate att, their packaging sucks, customer supper, phones are not as good looking either lol. and i hate their plans
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The part you heard was the Justice Department suing to stop the merger. More recently, the FCC also threatened to block the merger (back around Thanksgiving), noting that the deal would decrease competition in 99 out of 100 markets the FCC evaluated (the 1 remaining was Omaha, where T-mobile doesn't officially have a market presence, though oddly enough they do have a few cell towers there and you can get coverage.)
All those previous news articles, though, didn't mean the merger was off; it just meant that, for the first time in over a decade regulators actually decided to not just roll over and let a monopoly have its way. This is different; this is AT&T officially calling off the merger and agreeing to pay T-mobile the breakup fee.
This is great news for US cellular customers, as we still have our low-cost, more-open-than-anyone-else-in-the-US national competitor around, and with a nice cash windfall to boot. It's a little bittersweet, though, because Verizon just snuck in and bought out the last of the readily-available wireless spectrum from the cable companies, meaning that, should that buyout be approved, T-mobile no longer has a really good path to rolling out an LTE network.
So, in the short term it's an awesome deal for T-mobile and for US customers. In the long run it really depends on T-mobile pulling an LTE network out of its hat, and that's going to be hard to do now that the nearly all of the good wireless spectrum licenses are gobbled up by the Big Three.

Hope Google makes a move for T-MO
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium

Five0nIt said:
Hope Google makes a move for T-MO
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium
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They can't anymore; they own Motorola now, and the FCC has been very clear that carriers can't manufacture phones. And for good reason: if they hadn't imposed that rule in the 70s we'd still have a grand total of three wired handsets on the market (the ones offered by AT&T) and no cell phones, modems, fax machines, etc. If the FCC didn't approve AT&T&T-mobile, there's no way they'd approve Google&Motorola&T-mobile.
It's a shame, too. It seems obvious that Google was looking to buy a US wireless carrier, given their rush to buy up dark fiber and the small pilot project offering 1 Gbps internet to Kansas City. The obvious choice would be the relatively small carrier that was open enough to innovation to host the very first Android phone. Unfortunately they needed a patent portfolio to defend Android against Apple and Microsoft's lawsuit barrage, and Motorola basically held itself hostage, forcing Google to buy the whole company, rather than just the patents it wanted.

Five0nIt said:
Hope Google makes a move for T-MO
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium
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+1 that would be sweet and it's great to see the users win this no-merge!

TheEyes said:
They can't anymore; they own Motorola now, and the FCC has been very clear that carriers can't manufacture phones. And for good reason: if they hadn't imposed that rule in the 70s we'd still have a grand total of three wired handsets on the market (the ones offered by AT&T) and no cell phones, modems, fax machines, etc. If the FCC didn't approve AT&T&T-mobile, there's no way they'd approve Google&Motorola&T-mobile.
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Your right, I forgot they bought moto
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium

TheEyes said:
They can't anymore; they own Motorola now, and the FCC has been very clear that carriers can't manufacture phones. And for good reason: if they hadn't imposed that rule in the 70s we'd still have a grand total of three wired handsets on the market (the ones offered by AT&T) and no cell phones, modems, fax machines, etc. If the FCC didn't approve AT&T&T-mobile, there's no way they'd approve Google&Motorola&T-mobile.
It's a shame, too. It seems obvious that Google was looking to buy a US wireless carrier, given their rush to buy up dark fiber and the small pilot project offering 1 Gbps internet to Kansas City. The obvious choice would be the relatively small carrier that was open enough to innovation to host the very first Android phone. Unfortunately they needed a patent portfolio to defend Android against Apple and Microsoft's lawsuit barrage, and Motorola basically held itself hostage, forcing Google to buy the whole company, rather than just the patents it wanted.
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they can in a couple years..

I was soooo happy when I heard this today! I f*ckin hate At&t. I have a friend that works for At&t and he even hates their cell service and its free for him! They are overpriced and I'm sure we would have gotten dicked as tmobile customers if the buyout would have went through.

big fancy said:
I was soooo happy when I heard this today! I f*ckin hate At&t. I have a friend that works for At&t and he even hates their cell service and its free for him! They are overpriced and I'm sure we would have gotten dicked as tmobile customers if the buyout would have went through.
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For sure, just ask any former Cingular wireless customers.

craven667 said:
what are you talking about do you follow new lol if it wasnt for tmob att would never have 50$ unlimited all
hell i unlocked my phone if tmob dont get it together will just drop them and go att
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...ans/pyg-cell-phone-plans.jsp?_requestid=79200
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well i say that because i pay $15 a month for texting, i dont think you can do that with att. all my friends with att are paying a **** ton, all my friends with tmo (not much lol) arent really even with data

nrvnqsrxk said:
I was kind of looking forward to the synergies that would have gone into effect (better service or whatever), and thought that they could finally start competing with Verizon in terms of carrier ranking. It's a pity their asset sales deal went cold.
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Why do you think that would have made things better? Just curious, but IMO ATT would not have kept Tmo the same, if nothing else I'm sure they would have raised the rates on everything.

kingston73 said:
Why do you think that would have made things better? Just curious, but IMO ATT would not have kept Tmo the same, if nothing else I'm sure they would have raised the rates on everything.
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I don't think price hikes would occur if your plan was grandfathered. And we would benefit from additional UTMS service coverage. It's a good thing that AT&T is required to pay TMOUS 3 Billion as breakup fee, as well as increased service in 20 different areas.
7 Year UMTS Deal & 3B Breakup Fee by AT&T

AT&T Officially Drops $39 Billion Bid On T-Mobile

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-ap-us-tec-att-t-mobile,0,1859192.story?track=rss
Its officially not happening! No AT&T/T-Mobile merger in the near future

Thank God, this is a win for us consumers.

Might want to fix the title, it was actually 39 Billion, not Million

This is sad. This merger would have been so much better for everybody. There's always hope for the future, though. Maybe AT&T will have a better chance with a better president.

Great news...been celebrating since the announcement! And it's a big win for all the users who fought big corporate brother!!

MartyLK said:
This is sad. This merger would have been so much better for everybody. There's always hope for the future, though. Maybe AT&T will have a better chance with a better president.
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I sharted while laughing at your satire.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

TJBunch1228 said:
I sharted while laughing at your satire.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
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Shhh!...don't give me away. I like messing with the fanboys and uptight ones. I find it humorous imagining the veins in the foreheads popping out.

I'm happy.

OMG!!!...soo sad...

That was a long waste of a process. Verizon and AT&T control 75% of the market. Sprint and T-Mobile USA are too small to survive on their own. They cannot keep pace with the capital investments of the much larger Verizon and AT&T. Sprint is struggling to build a 4G LTE network, and T-Mobile does not even have any immediate plans for one. I am hoping that some big outside investors (Dish Network, Google, etc.) come in and buy out the small carriers and make the necessary cash infusions. As a consumer, I want affordable, nation-wide mobile broadband with high (or unlimited) data caps.

T mobile is fine. Sprint however is in trouble.
sent from my RuBiX infused MT4G Slide using xda premium

Everyone keeps saying T-Mobile needs the iPhone and LTE. I'd love to have those things on T-Mobile but not at the expense of low rates. I think most T-Mobile customers will agree with me.

bleach168 said:
Everyone keeps saying T-Mobile needs the iPhone and LTE. I'd love to have those things on T-Mobile but not at the expense of low rates. I think most T-Mobile customers will agree with me.
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Customers disagree because T-Mobile continues to bleed subscribers without the iPhone. It is why Sprint is paying so heavily to finally get the iPhone this quarter.

bleach168 said:
Everyone keeps saying T-Mobile needs the iPhone and LTE. I'd love to have those things on T-Mobile but not at the expense of low rates. I think most T-Mobile customers will agree with me.
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Absolutely...the iPhone is not needed for T-Mobile to get customers. the HTC Amaze and Samsung Galaxy S2 are more than sufficient and considerably better phones than the iPhone 4S...maybe 2 years ago, T-mobile needed the iPhone, but not today. I highly doubt the iphone will save sprint or bolster their marketshare.

t-mo usa isnt fine, their owner want out of us market, so someone has to buy them now at an good price or at an fire sale later.

Iphone and lte. The iphone is not a network saving device. A lot of people would still buy the iphone out right and stay on t-mobile network. Most people jump to conclusions assume the deal would go through and left t-mobile.
Lets assume T-mobile starts pushing out windows 8 phones next year and they are as intuitive and intergrated with the desktops.
That will bring in more consumers since its a device that works with already most of your home products.
Lte as of right now t-mobile does not need Lte. The technology has not caught enough to have Lte reliable. Most Lte phones don't last more than 5-8 hrs. You shouldn't have to disconnect from 4g service to get decent battery life. Lte has often seen outages as well.
Hspa+ as for now shows that Lte is not needed. Majority of users have wifi at home. Also ping on Lte networks are either low or extremely high. Compared to t-mobile network. Higher ping the longer it takes for the web page to load.
T-mobile needs a better market strategy. Most of their good devices never have a commercial or any type of advertisement. The best bet would be to sell t-mobile to a company with a lot of spectrum like dish.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Jayavarman said:
Customers disagree because T-Mobile continues to bleed subscribers without the iPhone. It is why Sprint is paying so heavily to finally get the iPhone this quarter.
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And Sprint shareholders agree that the iPhone is bad for business. I'm one of them. It's been painful.

If AT&T bought out T-mobile wouldn't that cause some kind of monopoly? At&T would control all of the market. Not to mention the prices of t-mobile would probably raise. Keep in mind AT&T was saying they'd try and keep T-mobiles price rates which i don't see happening.

OnlyClassiK said:
If AT&T bought out T-mobile wouldn't that cause some kind of monopoly? At&T would control all of the market. Not to mention the prices of t-mobile would probably raise. Keep in mind AT&T was saying they'd try and keep T-mobiles price rates which i don't see happening.
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If the merger did happened, AT&T and Verizon would account for 80% of the wireless in the US.

Killbynature said:
T-mobile needs a better market strategy. Most of their good devices never have a commercial or any type of advertisement. The best bet would be to sell t-mobile to a company with a lot of spectrum like dish.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
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True. Most people dont know. What a htc MT4G slide and htc amaze is.
Sad both phones are very competitve and great peices of technology
sent from my RuBiX infused MT4G Slide using xda premium

Verizon or Sprint

Here's my dilemma. My Sprint contract is up next month & I'm 99% determined to switch from my Epig 4G to the GS3. My coverage with Sprint is, shall we say, lacking. Nevermind the fact that I was told 4G would be in my area (Omaha, NE) "soon" when I purchased my Epic. Needless to say, 2 years later, still no 4G. Called Sprint yesterday & was told LTE would be in my area "soon", which provided me with a nice laugh to share with the Sprint rep. On the flipside for Sprint, they don't lock the bootloader or block Google Wallet, from what I understand.
VZW should provide much better service, however, they lock the bootloader & block Wallet. I'm afraid to learn what other items they have deemed me too irresponsible to handle.
To avoid this turning in to a fanboy thread, I guess my real question is, how likely (and timely) is it that someone will figure out how to unlock the bootloader? I'm also assuming that if/when that happens, flashing a ROM that will support Google Wallet will become much easier.
Advice?

I was in the EXACT same boat as you about 3 weeks ago. I pulled the trigger and went to Verizon! I will tell you service wise it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Don't get me wrong Sprint has wonderful phones, unlocked bootloaders, Google Wallet, etc... But what's the sense in having tons of ROMS to flash including AOSP if you don't have the network/service to use it... pointless in my opinion. With Verizon I have service everywhere I go! The only downfall is the locked bootloader and google wallet so far. If you're as frustrated as I was with Sprints service I would make the switch you will be extremely pleased!

Since it sounds like you want 4G check the Verizon Coverage map of your area to see if Verizon has coverage of your area. For the bootloader and Wallet problem people have already gotten wallet working on rooted stock roms and I'm pretty sure CM10 works with Wallet too. The bootloader is being investigated by AdamOutler and many others who have made great progress in the R&D Thread but don't make a post in there unless you have something to provide to help them otherwise your post will be deleted since it's a heavily moderated thread. For the question on when the bootloader will be unlocked only time can tell but we have the Kexec method which allows ROMs like AOKP and CM9 and CM10 and Paranoid.

I would say just gaining 4G is a good reason to switch. The G3 is fast enough for stock and working well for me. custom ROM, unlocked bootloader, etc... are just bonus. Another thing to look forward to is Jelly Bean, once we have Jelly been and a 4G network...Verizon rules the Air.

Bootloader aside, You will get [email protected] on data usage, I'd stay away from Verizon until their prices come down.
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AndroidGraphix said:
Bootloader aside, You will get [email protected] on data usage, I'd stay away from Verizon until their prices come down.
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Agreed. As a vzw customer myself I cannot, in good faith, recommend vzw to anyone at the moment. Wait to praise them with your dollars until they've pulled their heads out of their asses.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

AndroidGraphix said:
I'd stay away from Verizon until their prices come down.
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Lol, cell phones will be totally obsolete before that ever happens........

Agreed no reason to come into verizon right now with the share everything scams. Stay away. We only here because of our grandfathered data plans.
VERIZON GALAXY S 3

Telling somebody not to sign up with Verizon because they are too expensive is rather moronic really.
If you want good service, you really have no other choice than to go with VZ and waiting for their prices to "go down" is not going to happen in our lifetimes......

Buy the phone outright off CL or eBay and go month to month with the carrier of your choice.
If you go Verizon, you will pay a premium for good network coverage, 4g and the privilege of *****ing about Verizon's bootloader policies ...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

I was in the exact situation, except I also had an original Sero500 plan which ran me $50 per month. Had the Evo 4G, marginal at best service, and a 2 year promise of 4G coming soon and still no 4G anywhere close. I went to Verizon and the GS3 and haven't looked back. Service is much better, LTE is ridiculously blazing compared to Sprints network, and the locked bootloader is less of an issue with kexec. Development still may suffer ultimately though. All I can say is that I'm very happy with my decision.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

What amuses me is 999 out of 1000 Verizon customers have never heard of a "locked boot loader" and could care less what it means anyway.
The VZ G3 is absolutely flying off the shelves and the customers love them.

jmorton10 said:
What amuses me is 999 out of 1000 Verizon customers have never heard of a "locked boot loader" and could care less what it means anyway.
The VZ G3 is absolutely flying off the shelves and the customers love them.
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I frankly don't think any of us care about those 999 people.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Very good points, that pretty much confirm what I was already thinking - if the service sucks, it doesn't do much good to have a killer phone.
Although I have a very vague idea of what a locked bootloader is, and why it's detrimental to dev, I'd still (almost) consider myself one of those "999" people. Couldn't have told you anything about it 2 weeks ago.
Getting hosed on data usage doesn't concern me too much really. Looking at my history, assuming Sprint's tools are accurate, I rarely go over 2GB per month between me & the wife. If I'm doing my math correctly, the cost of a 2GB share plan on VZW will be about the same as what I'm currently paying with Sprint. Even if I factor in the 'holy crap the service is so much better I'm using twice as much' factor, I'd still be in the same financial ballpark.
Google Wallet definitely isn't a deal breaker. The VZW rep I was chatting with the other day flat out told me that they don't allow Wallet because they're working on an in-house pymt solution, ISIS.
I think a big part of it is, the thought of giving my money to a company that wants to control how I use my OWN phone just pi$$es me off. Even if I never flash a ROM on the thing - like that's really going to happen.
And my slow a$$ Sprint data was ticking me off so much this afternoon that I almost said screw the last month & $50ETF and switched on the way home. Who knows, I may yet switch this weekend anyway.
Thanks for all the advice. XDA community has never let me down.

i could never go back to sprint.
not that i have good data all the time i will pay top dollar.
im willing to pay for quality.
i stream siriusxm all day at work. it just works. all day every day in buildings in basements.
verizons network it worth the extra cost.

Dude, I just made this decision the other day. I have been with Sprint for 12 years (the last 2 phones were the EVO & Photon). Sprint coverage in my area SUCKS and I am in the Los Angeles area. I asked them when 4G LTE would be here and was told early to mid 2013. That was enough. I bought the SGSIII on Verizon (Shared Everything 6GB for $108 a month. Wife has a corporate discount). I am getting speeds of 40mbps Down & 19mbps Up This alone is worth it to me. I bought the SGSIII on Tuesday and I am already Rooted & using Synergey ROM with Free Hotspot and I could not be happier. The little extra I pay for Solid Network Coverage is totally worth it. Don't think twice, JUST DO IT.

ghodzilla5150 said:
Dude, I just made this decision the other day. I have been with Sprint for 12 years (the last 2 phones were the EVO & Photon). Sprint coverage in my area SUCKS and I am in the Los Angeles area. I asked them when 4G LTE would be here and was told early to mid 2013. That was enough. I bought the SGSIII on Verizon (Shared Everything 6GB for $108 a month. Wife has a corporate discount). I am getting speeds of 40mbps Down & 19mbps Up This alone is worth it to me. I bought the SGSIII on Tuesday and I am already Rooted & using Synergey ROM with Free Hotspot and I could not be happier. The little extra I pay for Solid Network Coverage is totally worth it. Don't think twice, JUST DO IT.
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Same situation here! The shared data is not bad at all!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

pdinphx said:
Buy the phone outright off CL or eBay and go month to month with the carrier of your choice.
If you go Verizon, you will pay a premium for good network coverage, 4g and the privilege of *****ing about Verizon's bootloader policies ...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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Unfortunately, Verizon doesn't allow the creation of month-to-month accounts for new customers. You have to start with a contract.

AlexDeGruven said:
Unfortunately, Verizon doesn't allow the creation of month-to-month accounts for new customers. You have to start with a contract.
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That is not true at all.. I just opened an account on 07/30/12 month-month.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

AlexDeGruven said:
Unfortunately, Verizon doesn't allow the creation of month-to-month accounts for new customers. You have to start with a contract.
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That is only if you get a phone from VZ at the upgrade price.