Consumerist: Sim

Follow Up: AT&T Says There's No Activation Fee For GoPhones

Chris Walters — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:02:52 EDT

Earlier this week we posted an email from a man who said an AT&T salesman tried to charge him an "activation fee" to switch his daughter's already-active SIM card to a GoPhone. We got a lot of useful (if sometimes contradictory) advice from readers in the comments section, and now an AT&T spokesman has written in with an official statement about it.

Saw your GoPhone post. I work with AT&T Corporate Communications, and wanted to clarify our policy related to this.
There is no activation fee with GoPhone. Customers can buy the GoPhone and activate but they cannot use service until they add airtime to their account. Customers can buy airtime for as little as $15 in over 200K locations. We do offer a promotion where if you buy $25 worth of airtime to start we will give you $10 in bonus airtime.

Customers also have an option if they are looking for a replacement device for postpaid to buy a Nokia 2610 for $39.99 in COR and not sign a contract extension. That program launched in mid-January.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Brad

So there you have it: if your existing postpaid phone goes kaput and you don't want to switch to the GoPhone program, buy the $40 Nokia 2610 from AT&T. Or just buy a cheap unlocked phone elsewhere—our readers left various tips on where to find them.

AT&T Says They'll Charge $25 "Activation Fee" To Move SIM From A Broken Phone To A GoPhone

Chris Walters — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:41:29 EDT

Does AT&T really charge a $25 "activation fee" when you move your SIM card to a GoPhone? A father had to replace his child's broken cellphone over the weekend, and the rep at the AT&T store told him the only way to avoid an ETF or plan extension was to buy a GoPhone and pay an activation fee, even though the SIM card was the same. Online, you can buy a new GoPhone and have the activation fee waved. Way to treat your current customers, AT&T.

My daughter's AT&T phone went bust yesterday. We went to the AT&T store in Palo Alto, CA to either fix it or get a new one. Apparently the only option open to us (according to the sales rep) without either canceling her plan for $175 or extending her plan another 2 years was to buy a "GoPhone".
However, even though we just needed to swap the sim card from the old phone to the new phone we would still need to pay the $25 "Activation Fee".

Either the information we received was inaccurate or AT&T is again playing monopoly. But it really doesn't matter. I still smell a rat and I'm glad I personally made the switch to Verizon.

To the father, we'd suggest you contact AT&T and explain the situation in detail and request that the fee is waived—point out the fact that they waive the activation fee for new customers.

Your other option is to bypass AT&T and buy your daughter an unlocked phone—I can move my SIM to any network-compatible phone I like as often as I like, and AT&T is cut out of the loop. Of course, freedom like that comes with a price, and it'll probably be more than the price of a GoPhone and a $25 activation fee—but AT&T won't be able to tell you what to do with your phone anymore.

(Thanks to Dave!)

How To Find The Cheapest Roaming Solution When Traveling Abroad

Chris Walters — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:05:38 EDT

Having the ability to make calls all over the world is a pretty amazing communications milestone, but that doesn't mean it's cheap and easy. The Consumerist is filled with stories of poor fools who come back from parts unknown with thousand-dollar roaming bills—and it doesn't just happen to clueless iPhone users. Here's our attempt to help make some sense out of the mess.

BEFORE YOU GO: WILL YOUR PHONE WORK IN THE OTHER COUNTRY?

Read "Use Your Cellphone Abroad" for a quick description of the difference between GSM and CDMA phones, or just trust us that what you really, really need is a phone that will work in your destination country. If you're looking at traveling to Europe, a quad-band GSM phone will probably do the job.

Japan's network can be more problematic for U.S. travelers. As of August 2007, there are only a handful of phones you should look at if you want to make calls in Japan:

BlackBerry 8830
Cingular 8525
Motorola RAZR V3
Motorola M1000
Nokia N73
Nokia N95
Nokia P990
Samsung SGH-Z140
Samsung SGH-Z600
Sony Ericsson M600i
Sony Ericsson W850i
Treo 750

Of course, you're also going to need an unlocked phone unless you add an international plan onto your existing service—if it's not unlocked, you won't be able to use other SIM cards in it. Most carriers will now unlock your phone if you call and ask, but here are a few posts if you need more help on how to achieve this:

"HOWTO: Unlock Your Phone"
"Unlock Your Cellphone Now"

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIOS

Now that you've got a phone that will work in the other country, here's our advice on how to prepare it for roaming. (Trying to map out all the options is like trying to draw the entire human circulatory system, so other suggestions are always welcome.)


Scenario 1: You're going to be in one country for a few weeks, and it's unlikely you'll be going back there regularly.		Suggestions: purchase a pre-paid local SIM card once you arrive

Scenario 2: You travel repeatedly to the same countries		Suggestions: purchase a pre-paid local SIM card once you arrive if your current phone is incompatible, consider purchasing a cheap 2nd phone to use when traveling purchase a phone that can support wifi-enabled VoIP

Scenario 3: You travel frequently to various countries.		Suggestions: purchase a global SIM card online before you go purchase pre-paid local SIM cards as necessary purchase a phone that can support wifi-enabled VoIP

Pre-paid Local SIM Cards

Best for: occasional or one-off travelers to single countries (for example, that once-a-year business trip you have to make to Germany).
Drawbacks: pricing is all over the map, so it can be hard to find a good deal if you're new to a country
You can buy pre-paid local SIM cards all over the web, but our readers have consistently pointed out that it's cheaper to buy them locally once you arrive in the country.

Global SIM Cards

Best for: frequent business travelers, people who spend time in several countries each year.
Drawbacks: see GeoSIM's story below; also, coverage mostly limited to countries in Europe, Africa, and Middle East

Here are a couple of options, although you'll quickly find more as you begin to shop around:
Hop Mobile — $100 for card; 35¢ per minute for incoming calls, 95¢ per minute for outgoing calls
United Mobile — $50 for card, then adjustable rates (in Euro) depending on what "zone" you're calling
GeoSIM, another global SIM card provider, is apparently having what may be death throes; their network has been down for more than a month, and although they may survive the current problems and resume service, there's no guarantee—stay far, far away from them for now

VoIP On Your Phone

Best for: tech-savvy people who can be flexible about call availability and quality
Drawbacks: "roaming" only in the broadest sense, since you must be connected to a wifi hotspot to use it

This is the cheapest solution, with the added benefit of bypassing the ridiculously complicated world of SIM pricing—but you're limited by access to Wifi hotspots. If you're traveling in an area with lots of Fon nodes and you're a Fon member, or if you know your hotel offers free wifi and you're okay with only making calls when you're at your hotel, it might be a little more usable. Also, call quality varies greatly—we've never had a Skype or GizmoProject call that matched PSTN call quality.

U.S. Carrier Roaming Plans
	Best for: people who find this whole topic annoying and complicated, and would rather pay a little more to avoid the headache Drawbacks: Rates aren't that competitive, and U.S. carriers have such complicated and inefficient bureaucracies that if anything goes wrong, you'll find it difficult and time-consuming to make right.

Renting A Local Phone
	If all you need is a way for others to reach you and you'll rarely make outbound calls on your phone, this can be an affordable solution for short-term visits and business trips. However, the per-minute fees are too high to bother with if you're planning on actually making any calls. Cellhire

ADVICE FROM OTHER READERS

Real world experiences from other people are invaluable on a subject like this, so here are some posts that have contain great reader-submitted advice on the best ways to set yourself up for calls when you go abroad:

"How To: Use Your Cellphone Abroad"
"Downloading Overseas? Here's Your $7,124 Cingular Bill"
"When Travelling Internationally, Pop Out The iPhone SIM Card To Check Email Without Huge Roaming Charges"

[last updated October 31, 2007]
(Photo: Getty)

Court Allows Lawsuit Against T-Mobile To Proceed

Chris Walters — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:18:24 EDT

On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court refused to review two earlier findings, which killed T-Mobile's final chance at blocking a lawsuit against its early-termination fees and practice of locking phones. This is the third time T-Mobile has tried to stop the case from proceeding, and both a state trial judge and a state appeals court have already rejected T-Mobile's claims that its customers were required by the terms of their contracts to submit to binding arbitration.

In June, the state appeals court said T-Mobile's contractual prohibition of class-action lawsuits was "unconscionable," which "rendered the arbitration provision unenforceable."

If the plaintiffs win, "the outcome could require cell phone carriers, at least in California, to unlock cell phones upon a customer's request." It could also have an impact on two class-action lawsuits that were filed last week in California against Apple and AT&T over their practice of locking the iPhone to a single network, and of possibly bricking rogue phones deliberately.

"Court Clears Way for Mobile-Phone-Unlocking Lawsuit Against T-Mobile" [Wired]
(Photo: Getty)

Class-Action Lawsuits Filed Against Apple, AT&T Over iPhone

Chris Walters — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:55:25 EDT

A class-action lawsuit was filed on October 5th against the unholy duo of Apple and AT&T, charging that they intentionally broke unlocked headsets via the last firmware update, and conspired illegally to monopolize parts of the mobile phone market by preventing consumers from using any services other than those provided by the two companies. The suit charges the two companies, either jointly or separately, with six formal counts, including "alleged violations of the California Business and Profession's Code, The Cartwright Act, The Sherman Act, The Federal Trade Commission Act, The Communications Act of 1934, and The Telecommunications Act of 1996, as well as rules and policies established by the FCC."

The particular issue is the nefarious 1.1.1 upgrade, which the lawsuit claims was designed solely to disable hacks and SIM cards that had been unlocked, and to damage phones with unapproved software installed, rather than to fix or improve any flaws in the device.

This is the second class-action lawsuit against Apple over the iPhone. The other one, which was also filed last Friday, claims that unlocking mobile phones is entirely legal based on existing law, and asks for an injunction against Apple to prevent any software locks on future iPhone sales.

"Class-action charges Apple, AT&T with unlawful business practices" [AppleInsider]
(Photos: moria and moria)

Cubic Telecom Lied About Its "Cheap International Calling" SIM Card

Chris Walters — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 05:17:10 EDT

Last Friday, we published a post about Cubic Telecom, an Irish start-up that sells a SIM card that's supposed to enable international calling for "50-90%" less than standard carrier rates. The post was in reference to columnist David Pogue's review of the product, and he was quoting rates that were provided to him directly by Cubic's CEO. Turns out the CEO was "misleading" him—he provided numbers that were substantially lower than the actual rates, and has been stringing Pogue along with assurances that they'd "update the site" ever since. As of Thursday, October 4th, they still hadn't.

Here are some examples of the prices the CEO gave the New York Times versus what they posted the same day on their website:
	What they told Pogue	Actual price
Russia to U.S.	"49c"	$1.24
USA to Greece	"42c"	$1.77
U.S. to Iraq	"69c"	$2.02
U.S. to Australia	"42c"	$1.77
U.S. to New Zealand	"49c"	$1.24

Cubic Telecom's MaxRoam card does still offer better rates than the major carriers, but this whole story sounds an awful lot like a CEO has been trying to manipulate a well-known technology columnist into providing great free publicity. Writes Pogue,

Overall, though, I feel a bit manipulated, since the primary virtue of the Cubic phone was its low rates. I'm not exactly sure how the problem could have been avoided—in 20 years of reviewing tech products, nobody has ever deliberately misled me on hard facts like prices—but I thought you should hear about it from me.

So to those of you who were considering this product: you might want to wait a while to see whether Cubic has a convincing explanation for their bait-and-switch marketing, or whether they're just not worth dealing with at all.

"Setting the Record Straight on Cubic Telecom's International Rates" [New York Times]

Update: Replacement iPhones Will Work With Prepaid SIM Cards

Carey — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 10:48:23 EDT

Remember JD? 32 hours of tech support from Apple and AT&T couldn't coax his replacement iPhone into working with his prepaid SIM card. After we posted his story, representatives from both companies had a powwow and traced JD's problem back to mismatched IMEI numbers. Now JD's replacement iPhone works, and he has advice for anyone in a similar bind:

Received a call from an extremely helpful AT&T representative yesterday. She was informed of the situation by Apple, and worked with them to resolve it. Along with AT&T, I received a call from an Apple executive, who was also extremely helpful. Thanks to them both for getting to the bottom of this situation.

The gist of the problem is: the iPhone requires communication through the iTunes Store, then to AT&T, to get past the main activation screen. Part of this communication includes the IMEI number of the iPhone. Since the IMEI numbers didn't match up compared to my original broken iPhone, this is where the problem was.

If anyone with a prepaid plan ever runs into this situation, your first call should be to Apple. Apple will need to work with AT&T to "whitelist" your iPhone, and then things should be a-ok. Don't make AT&T your first call, as you'll just be told that if you're on a prepaid account, you cannot utilize a replacement iPhone without creating a new account.

Thanks to Consumerist for shedding some light on this situation!

PREVIOUSLY: No Replacements For Prepaid iPhone Users
(Photo: magerleagues)

No Replacements For Prepaid iPhone Users

Carey — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:19:19 EDT

iPhone owners using prepaid SIM cards better take extra special care of their pocket trophies. According to Apple and AT&T, prepaid SIM cards are eternally wed without consent to one lucky iPhone, an important caveat reader JD discovered after spending 32 hours trying to activate his replacement iPhone. JD warns:

If you activated an iPhone with a new AT&T prepaid plan, you *must* keep using that iPhone. You *cannot* replace that iPhone with another iPhone. The only way to use a new iPhone with your prepaid account, is to *create a new account with a new phone number,* and have them move your balance over. Period. Apparently this is a "security feature" and the system was "designed that way," specifically for prepaid iPhone plans.

The discouraging verdict from both Apple and AT&T should make potential iPhone users think twice before using a prepaid SIM card to skirt the confines of a two year contract. JD's full story, after the jump.

This starts out on July 1st, when I picked up an iPhone from my local (NYC) Apple Store. Went back to the office, and activated it. Right off the bat, I'm offered the choice of going to an AT&T Store to pony up a deposit, or choose a prepaid plan. My credit is not the best, and while if I had to guess, my deposit wouldn't be more than $300 (based on experiences with other carriers), I didn't know how well AT&T's service would fare here in New York City. So, I chose a prepaid plan.
After a day of not being able to receive calls while my number was being ported over, and another two days after that not being able to send or receive text messages from anyone but AT&T subscribers, my iPhone was fully working.

Albeit with a pop-up message informing me of my balance after doing anything that used airtime, but that's a story for another day.

A few weeks later, and I notice that there are these large, bright white swaths developing on the screen. They took up the top 1/3rd of the screen, and would get brighter the more I used the iPhone (the longer the screen was on). So like any picky consumer, I headed down to the Apple Store to get it replaced.

Sure enough, after 14 days, you can't have it replaced in-store. They treat it like a computer rather than an iPod, which for most cases you can get an in-store swap past 14 days.

I inform the Genius that the iPhone isn't a computer at all, as it resembles the functions of an iPod in every way except for the fact that it makes calls. The Genius would have none of this, and insisted that my iPhone would have to be sent in for repair. I stand by my statement that the iPhone, in its current incarnation, is not a computer whatsoever, but that also is a story for another day.

The Genius takes my iPhone, wraps it delicately in its cardboard coffin, and offers me a loaner iPhone. (Protip: the loaner iPhones apparently have a different build of "mobile OS X" than regular iPhones.) I take the loaner iPhone, and go on my merry way.

Fast forward a week or so. I go to check the status of my repair. To my surprise, Apple's repair status page says that it has been delivered back to me! "But wherever could it be," I wonder. Clicking the tracking link leads me to a FedEx page that informs me yes, my repaired iPhone has been delivered... to someone in Louisiana. If you don't recall from earlier, I'm in New York. And no, my N's dont look like L's nor do my Y's look like A's. Besides, the paperwork from the Genius that sent out my iPhone had *printed* information, and it does indeed say that my shipping address is in New York. Thank goodness for that new-fangled laser printing technology, eh?

Anyway, after a day or two on the phone with Apple, I get a call from a very helpful gentleman at Apple Corporate, who apologizes for the situation and decides to just send me a brand new iPhone. Not too shabby.

I received the new iPhone yesterday. After erasing the loaner iPhone, I pop my SIM card into the new iPhone, and am greeted by the "Activate iPhone" screen. So I plug it into my MacBook Pro. iTunes pops up the screen, "Activating your new iPhone. Please enter your AT&T Wireless number, zip code, last 4 of your social." I follow my master's instructions, but after "verifying" my information, I'm informed that AT&T is "sorry, but your current account cannot be used with the iPhone."

Huh. I was already using two iPhones with this account - my original one, and the loaner one. So I try again, and again and again. Old SIM, new SIM, no difference.

I grab the office phone, and give AT&T a call. Cutting a long story short, I'm informed that I "cannot use the new iPhone with my prepaid account." So I call Apple. By the height of this Apple call, I'm on the line with one iPhone technician and two AT&T technicians at the same time. Helpful folks all around. But we just couldn't get the iPhone onto my prepaid account. We all decide that it might be best to head over to the Apple Store to try another iPhone, to eliminate bad hardware as the culprit. I get my Apple case number and the Apple tech's direct phone number. Total phone time: 4 hours.

Head over to my Apple Store, 10:10pm appointment. The Genius pops open a brand new iPhone, I put my SIMs in, and the same result - error messages. Genius informs me that they've "had nothing but trouble with prepaid accounts, if you were on a postpaid account it would work like (snaps fingers) *that*." I thank him for his time, and head home. Ticked.

This afternoon, after trying unsuccessfully to contact the same Apple tech, I decide to call AT&T. After talking to and getting bounced around 14 or so different people (most at AT&T, a few at Apple), total phone time 3 hours, here's the verdict, given to me from AT&T technicians and managers on high:

If you activated an iPhone with a new AT&T prepaid plan, you *must* keep using that iPhone. You *cannot* replace that iPhone with another iPhone. The only way to use a new iPhone with your prepaid account, is to *create a new account with a new phone number,* and have them move your balance over. Period. Apparently this is a "security feature" and the system was "designed that way," specifically for prepaid iPhone plans. (Based on the number of people at AT&T that either were, or were not, aware of this, I can surmise that their internal communication is dreadful.)

This is a "security feature" despite the fact that the *helpful* AT&T techs were able to, and did, change all IMEI numbers, make sure the proper SIM ID number was on my account, basically checked every last detail of my account to make sure that it would recognize this new iPhone. But, no dice. Nutshelled, it's all related to that first step where your iPhone is at the Activate screen, and it then requires communication with iTunes, which in turn communicates with AT&T, to really activate.

So if you have a prepaid account and you lose your iPhone, break it, have it stolen, anything that would mean getting a replacement iPhone, it cannot be used on your prepaid account. At all.

This poses quite a problem: I need to keep my number. I've had my number for at least 8 years, and I rely on my phone for *all* business and personal matters. Losing my number is not an option. If I want to use my iPhone with my phone number, I have to switch from a prepaid account to a normal postpaid postpaid account, by paying whatever my required deposit would be, simultaneously getting locked into a 2-year contract.

This situation allows me to state very simply: AT&T is holding my iPhone, and phone number, hostage. For me to use my iPhone with my phone number would require me to pay anywhere from $100 to $1000 dollars and be contractually obligated to continue paying AT&T for 2 years.

My other choice? Ditch my iPhone, pop my SIM into a regular GSM handset, and have them remove the add'l iPhone-specific items from my prepaid plan. Which is what I'm doing until I can figure out what to do. I have 13 days to decide (Apple's return period), because beyond that point, I can't argue that the new iPhone I received from Apple Dispatch qualifies as an item I can return to the Apple Store for a refund, even if I have to eat a restocking fee.

Whelp, that's the story. If nothing else, I hope this serves as fair warning to anyone looking to purchase an iPhone while they're AT&T-only devices. Especially if you think you're doing yourself a favor by choosing that no-contract prepaid plan they may offer you.

(Photo: daddytypes)