Archive for March, 2011


<rant>
By now most tech-saavy people know about the pending AT&T+T-Mobile merger that, unless people make a fuss, has every chance of becoming a reality. This is a very, very bad thing for consumers. 

My personal experience with AT&T has varied between absolutely terrible and outright horrifying. Real customer service - that is, customer service past a number to call, computers to speak to in an attempt to get to an actual, thinking human being, and the occasional human being I actually manage to get through to (they who deserve our pity more than our scorn) know very little about how to solve any actual problems, from billing issues to who provides minicell towers (local stores say to call customer service, customer service says to call local stores). It is next to impossible to get any real support, and the little available requires significant time, patience and the jumping through of many, many flaming hoops.

AT&T should be embarrased, but it’s designed to be this way. It’s cheaper to let customers suck wind, and they assume people don’t have the time or don’t care enough to do anything about it. They’re usually right.

T-Mobile is much better (for a giant telecomm). Customer support seems to be informed on at least the basics of the hardware they sell to run on their network (or can at least search for web-based answers faster) and in most of the country T-Mobile coverage is just more reliable. If their service during my tenure in Texas had been as reliable as in the Northeast and out on the West Coast (at the time it was spotty in many areas surrounding Dallas; I’m under the impression it has since improved) I never would have left them.

After experiencing AT&T in the New York area, I wish I never did. Does your iPhone actually make phone calls? My 3GS hardly ever did, and on those comparatively few occasions when a call managed to connect it dropped shortly after. While AT&T’s service is slightly better using other devices - my Android-based Galaxy Tab, which no major US carrier wanted making phone calls to begin with, has little trouble on their service - it’s overpriced and 3G/what they refer to as 4G but isn’t, and is still occasionally spotty in areas where it shouldn’t be like Union Square or downtown Brooklyn. But it works. Mostly.

I could go on and on (and on) about the whole thing, or I could make a useful suggestion: support the startup wireless providers. Cancel your contracts, eating termination fees if you can’t argue your way out, and go with someone like SimpleMobile. They’re running on the same network as T-Mobile and $60/mo with no contract includes unlimited everything. Take your fancy iPhones and iPads and Xooms over there (that’s where I’m going), or maybe Boost Mobile, which has coverage in all the areas where folks like us would need it. Talk with your money, tell your friends to do the same - it’s the only direct way to make them listen.

Contact your state reps. Tell them the reality of another big telecomm monopoly isn’t one you’re interested in. Be fully informed on why this is bad for consumers, and go to them with that information. Don’t lie down and take the degradation of our technology & communications infrastructure lightly. Paying more for less is never a good thing.
</rant>

- Nick