GoPhone Goes Awry

As wireless customers just like you, we get to encounter various levels of customer service. I deal more with wireless resellers (MVNO's) who do a good job handling customers online. Recently, I tried to activate an AT&T GoPhone SIM for short-time use which normally involves just assigning a phone number and plan to a SIM.  Easy, right?

We normally head to the nearest AT&T store where they can set up a new GoPhone SIM, plan and number within minutes.  Lately, the AT&T store has been too busy.  Business is good, and that's OK. An agent threw me a new SIM and told me to activate it online...unless I wanted to wait. Fair enough.

However, I could find no way to activate a plain AT&T SIM online.  If I could get far enough to choose a plan, there is no option for the "10 Cents a Minute" plan (because I have a Smart phone?). Failing that, I am directed to call a certain phone number to activate a GoPhone SIM. That person there could not do what I wanted...the computer wouldn't let her.  Why not?

She eventually transferred me to "customer service". The person I spoke with there had a heavy foreign accent but knew exactly what to do and asked for no more than my ZIP Code, SIM number and desired plan.  Done!  I was able to add my own Discount Refill and life was back to normal.

GoPhone is good but I can see why the Prepaid re-sellers can make inroads on the major carriers.  For the MVNO's, Prepaid is their main business.  For AT&T, and possibly others, Prepaid still gets second class status...unless you connect with the right department, by choice or by accident.  Or, how about online?

The PTCI Network Upgrades

It's always great to see one of the smallest networks make a significant upgrade to their network.  Recently, PTCI wireless, in the Oklahoma Panhandle, decided not only to upgrade to 4G, they also took the bold step to switch the entire network to GSM.  They now claim a roaming relationship with AT&T that will serve their customers better than before, and we agree.

So far this year there have been few network shutdowns.  There are several carriers who are barely holding on so we expect this to be a temporary situation.

Mobile-Friendly

For the last few months we have been encouraged to make all of our web sites more "mobile-friendly."  We have spent hours doing just that and have not been adding any blog posts.  Most of the big news has been available elsewhere but there have been a few stories among large and small carriers worth noting.

So far, our biggest story is AT&T's entry into Mexico.  After purchasing 2 wireless networks there, what will happen next?  AT&T has already said they will upgrade coverage to 4G LTE.  What else?  TelCel will probably shrink, either their network or their customer base, which is required by Mexican law.

The next step is less clear.  Will AT&T start using a new name, or perhaps just...AT&T?  Will across-the-border wireless roaming become transparent? Will T-Mobile need to find a way to charge less than their $1.79 per minute roaming charges (.20 per minute on some plans)?  And what happens to Verizon and Sprint CDMA roamers?  AT&T already owns the only CDMA network in Mexico (Iusacel).  Why keep it running?  Fortunately, the future is mostly 4G, so many newer phones will just need a SIM compatible with the new AT&T Mexican network.  And how about Data roaming?

We need to have some competition from other US carriers just so AT&T will be encouraged to create the kind of beneficial deals they will be capable of providing.  Also, keep watching Cricket Wireless who will be using their Mexico advantages in the prepaid arena.  This is almost a daily project for our Mexico Cellular web site.

Total Wireless Competition

There is now quite a bit of wireless competition at the $35 level but it has been mostly for people using GSM phones.  For users with CDMA phones, mostly from Verizon Wireless, there has been just one easy choice...Page Plus.  Now there is another: Total Wireless.  Total is being offered by the company that owns Page Plus, America Movil, so, yes, they are competing against themselves.

The Total Wireless product was created to be sold at Walmart, but savvy visitors here know it is also available online, just like Straight Talk, also a Walmart/America Movil product.  Just like Straight Talk, you get Unlimited Talk & Text and up to 2.5 Gb of data for 30 days, but unlike Straight Talk, it only costs $35, plus tax.

This seems to be a method of Walmart and America Movil to compete at this price level without affecting Straight Talk and other existing customers who will remain at the $45 level for (almost) the same product.  "Almost" means Total Wireless is limited to 3G which Verizon probably supplies at a good wholesale price as they shift their own customers to 4G channels.  Keep in mind all America Movil products also add sales tax which is not added by some competitors.  Cricket Wireless is one $35 competitor that not only doesn't add tax, but also provides 4G coverage.

We have talked about Walmart as being a real wireless player before, and now you can play 'find the cheapest plan' at your nearest Wally World, or even online.

AT&T Expands Deeper into Mexico

AT&T has agreed to buy another Mexican wireless carrier, Nextel of Mexico.  This will be combined with their now-completed purchase of Iusacell of Mexico to create a wireless carrier with excellent coverage across the entire country.  It means that AT&T (and Cricket) will have a substantial advantage over other US wireless carriers when offering roaming in Mexico.  It also means Mexico wireless users will soon have top notch wireless broadband available as AT&T improves both networks to 4G LTE.

As frequent Mexico travelers, we'll offer continuous updates on the AT&T acquisitions and what it means to US wireless users.  We expect big changes in what we recommend on our Mexico Cellular pages. We also expect some other US carrier will try to remain competitive, otherwise, we'll just recommend switching to AT&T and head for the beach.

As this unfolds, we have added AT&T as a "local" carrier at Mexico Cellular and you can also check our Mexico Coverage Maps including zoomable, Mexico Interactive Maps.  Then head for the beach.

Putting on a Low-Cost Disguise

Last year, AT&T and T-Mobile entered a new mode of competition by acquiring some old networks.  Both companies picked up some spectrum, some customers, but more importantly, a way to compete in the low-cost arena without diluting their main brand.

Picking up a Cricket Wireless phone gives you a slick way to get "AT&T Light".  It's AT&T with a, "We'll do what it takes to compete" way to doing business.  The same is true with MetroPCS which gives T-Mobile a chance to push the low end without cheapening the T-Mobile name.  Both services have much to offer including a large selection of phones and competitive plans.  They both even have a Mexico roaming package.

As I drove across eastern New Mexico at Christmas, I noticed that my Straight Talk phone never switched away from "AT&T" instead of the old "Roaming" label it displayed last time (which happened to be GSM supplied by Verizon).  In this case, AT&T has taken over their recently-purchased Plateau Wireless network, eliminating my last objection to going with a single-network product like Cricket.  Of course I won't want to travel across Nebraska until AT&T makes a presence there.

As we dissect each of carrier's offers, the only difference we can find is that Cricket's Mexico add-on gives you 100 minutes for $10 versus MetroPCS's 200 minutes for the same fee.  Both are a great deal since going to Mexico either required a pricey roaming plan or the need to pick up a GoPhone phone or SIM.  Look for reasonable Mexico Data roaming charges in the near future when AT&T acquires their own network in Mexico, which should also give Cricket a leg up.  Chirp-chirp.

Takeover in Alaska

Alaska Communications has agreed to sell their wireless assets and customers to GCI (General Communications Inc.) .   Alaska seems so far away from us but it is an interesting study in what happens when the big wireless players come to town.  Alaska Communications and GCI watched AT&T arrive several years ago with their purchase of the old Cellular One network and weren't too worried about it.  But when they saw Verizon headed north to Alaska, and they were coming with a new broadband network, the locals decided to build up their defenses.

Alaska Communications and GCI teamed up to utilize their large coverage footprint to make it a superior broadband network.  Within a very short time, the local owners had the makings of a great network leaving Verizon to assemble their network from the ground up with new infrastructure and roaming agreements.

Alaska Communications is turning over their wireless operations to GCI to focus on their land line operations, which, believe it or not, are growing.  Since GCI now covers almost every populated spot in the state, they are Alaska's top dog and Verizon will be hard-pressed to catch up.  As supporters of maximum coverage and minimum costs, we're cheering on GCI.

If citizen's of the 49th state show some loyalty, this GCI acquisition will be a great benefit to Alaskans.  Sadly, this also means it will now be easier to package up the whole network and sell it to one of the Top 4, most likely AT&T, which has not been as aggressive in improving its Alaska network.  For now, we'll enjoy our new northern exposure broadband connections. They arrived as a result of competition.

AT&T to Buy Mexico's Iusacell

We thought AT&T was going to pick up a few pieces of the TelCel network that will be cast off to comply with future Mexico regulations..but no.  AT&T has decided to jump into the Mexico market with both feet and buy the existing Iusacell network.  This should create quite a shakeup in the Mexico wireless landscape and maybe even more so for Americas who use wireless when traveling south of the border.

AT&T currently has a favorable roaming agreement with TelCel, which we feel is the best network in Mexico.  That may change relatively soon.  Since Iusacell is the least developed of the top 3 Mexico cellular networks we expect AT&T to make a significant investment in bringing the technology up to fairly high standards, probably right up to 4G LTE.  This should mean better coverage and better deals for AT&T, and possibly Cricket, customers to roam in Mexico, and a potentially worse situation for Verizon and Sprint roamers.  Isuacel maintains what little CDMA coverage that is left in Mexico and I can see no good reason for AT&T to further upgrade the CDMA capabilties...maybe even turn it off.  That won't happen soon and there could be a another shoe to drop before all this shakes out.

We'll be watching the unfolding Mexico situation at MexicoCellular.com.