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T-Mobile 3G Launch: No 3G Data?!
TmoNews has gotten their hands on a seemingly internal T-Mobile doc discussing their imminent 3G plans. As tipped, it'll launch in NYC tomorrow and 20+ major markets by the end of the year. One thing to note, in the doc it discusses the "great call quality" and "more network availability" 3G will offer, not hot, melty data. Well, we've been told that the first phones won't be using the 3G network for data, but voice only, to offload capacity from their older network. Hence the batch of 3G mid-rangers that aren't exactly browsing or email monsters. Hit the jump to see if you're gonna get in on this by the end of the year.
New York City Austin NJ and Long Island Las Vagas Minneapolis Miami Dallas Chicago Houston Philadelphia Denver Detroit Orlando Kansas City Atlanta Los Angeles New England Portland Sacramento San Diego Seattle Washington DC San Francisco Birmingham Memphis Tampa Phoenix[TmoNews, Thanks Ash]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Mayor McRib
Posted 1:40 AM 1/5/08
Don't you think it would make more sense to use the edge network for calls and 3G for data?
Mayor McRib
hmooby
Posted 1:14 AM 1/5/08
what's sup with everyone wanting a piece of the twin cities...I remember when we never get anything...lately...high speed from comcast & qwest...this...what's next....?
hmooby
PCLoadLetter
Posted 1:05 AM 1/5/08
Ok so Birmingham and not Nashville, what the hell?
PCLoadLetter
Thom
Posted 12:50 AM 1/5/08
Yay, Mpls!
Thom
jw
Posted 12:48 AM 1/5/08
Not just Boston, but the whole New England region. Nice.
jw
Brookespeed
Posted 2:25 AM 1/5/08
@Thom: YES! Time to start shopping for a new phone with interwebs or an HSPDA card for the Everun.
Brookespeed
badbob001
Posted 2:22 AM 1/5/08
The edge 'network' uses the same frequency spectrum as the existing voice system so I'm assuming they want to offload voice on to the new 3G frequency.
badbob001
Ghinn
Posted 2:21 AM 1/5/08
What happens in Vagas stays in Vagas....
Ghinn
cb7296
Posted 3:07 AM 1/5/08
So when will 3G data be available? This seems like a non-announcement at this point. I'd consider switching to T-Mobile in July when my Verizon contract is up, but not if there is no 3G data. Verizon sucks at many things, but their EVDO is pretty awesome.
cb7296
olafson
Posted 4:12 AM 1/5/08
Arg! I stick with TMO becuase: all family phones on TMO and their customer service has been great. And they're GSM so my phone travels well.
Now we get 3G, in Seattle even, sometime in the future and it won;t be for data? Weak.
The only other option is AT&T, but we all know that when you look up "asshat" on wkikipedia there's just a picture of the AT&T logo, so that's a big no-op. AT&Ts rate plans are totally whacked for data anyway.
olafson
winexprt
Posted 3:34 AM 1/5/08
This is a very welcome development.
But I'm a little in the dark about how this is actually going to be implemented.
For example, I have a unlocked 3G Razr V3xx from Hong Kong I bought off eBay. My question is, will my phone automatically switch into 3G mode tomorrow?? Or will I have to pay to use their 3G service???
winexprt
wcnghj
Posted 5:22 AM 1/5/08
@winexprt
You won't get free internet, for voice nothing will be different. You will still be able to make calls like you do now.
wcnghj
foofighter28
Posted 5:08 AM 1/5/08
someone didnt take or forgot about their T-mobile privacy training ;)
foofighter28
foofighter28
Posted 5:04 AM 1/5/08
you'll get your data product soon enough! be patient people!
and whoever shot that pic tisk tisk i think you just broke a cardinal rule. did you take your privacy training? ;)
foofighter28
howie_in_az
Posted 5:56 AM 1/5/08
Yay for 3G in Phoenix! Hopefully it'll be in time for my unlocked 3G iPhone :)
howie_in_az
winexprt
Posted 5:33 AM 1/5/08
@wcnghj:
Cool. Thanks for the clarification. I already pay for the data plan so I assume that will just carry over with the 3G switchover, right?
winexprt
rainfever
Posted 8:22 AM 1/5/08
@howie_in_az: what you said (except the iphone part)
rainfever
SneakerFiend
Posted 2:42 AM 2/5/08
@Mayor McRib: Nah i think that they want to kick in the network so they can work out any early kinks.
It is a smart move though.
Because they're trying to take the stress off of their EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks/servers. This is a smart move but this means technically that if you get a dual-band 3G phone that suppports reg. 3G and HSDPA you could get 3G data off of t-mo.
It isnt that bad because that means that t-mo will be releasing a 3G sidekick hopefully in the near future or atleast upgrade it to EDGE.
I hope this 3G network is out by mid-summer so i can enjoy 3G speeds in the summer and also browse the internet while in the middle of class. x]
SneakerFiend