New Brand in Mexico: AT&T

AT&T has chosen the AT&T name for its new wireless product in Mexico.  They have combined the Iusacel and Nextel networks, started to add more cell sites, are upgrading the entire network to 4G-LTE, and should offer a very competitive product south of the border.  So, how do you pronounce "AT&T" in Mexico?  It should be: AH-TAY-Y-TAY...but their ads say A-TEE-N-TEE instead.

At MexicoCellular.com we now show AT&T as an official Mexico carrier and added Unefon as their prepaid brand, somewhat like GoPhone in the US.  Additionally, AT&T has expanded the international calling abilities of their Cricket Wireless prepaid brand to include most of the western hemisphere as a reasonable add-on.  The world indeed seems smaller.

3 More Networks to Exit

Wireless network consolidation continues.  NTelos, a player in the Virginias has sold some of their spectrum to T-Mobile and the rest of their network and customers to Shenandoah Telecom.  Shenandoah, a.k.a. Shentel is an affiliate of Sprint which means if you live in the Shentel area, your service looks, feels and smells just like Sprint...right down to the name on the stores.  NTelos has been one of our favorite networks.  At least their customers will not suffer any degradation in service.

A carrier in northeast Pennsylvania, NEP Wireless, is giving up their cellular operations.  AT&T bought their spectrum but not necessarily the network or their customers.  NEP users are free to go where they want.  Some transactions like this maintain the contract with the new carrier.  Not in this case.  AT&T may need to provide some incentives, even if it's just to bring your own phone.  NEP is going officially pull the switch on September 22nd of this year.

The other network slip sliding away is MTA Wireless in Alaska.  They haven't announced any shutdown of their existing network, but if you want to sign up with a nice new Smart phone, you need to sign up with Verizon, and MTA is an official retailer of Verizon products.  Verizon used MTA's newly-acquired spectrum to build their own 4G-LTE network and made it available to MTA users.  So, Verizon may or may not take over the MTA network, they really can take it or leave it.

Your Mexico Coverage

It was a big deal when AT&T purchased 2 of the wireless networks in Mexico.  There was hope that someday US vacationers could use their phones in Mexico just like they do at home.  While AT&T gears up to spend Billions to upgrade their new networks, T-Mobile comes up with a deal that opens that door, today, and for a much lower cost.  T-Mobile's roamers use the best Mexico networks available...today...and we get Canada thrown in, too.  In our world this also means Cricket Wireless, GoPhone and MetroPCS change their roaming story as well.

It's no small deal that AT&T customers get no data roaming...yet...and T-Mobile's do.  Of course this will change sometime in the future.  AT&T will construct a 4G LTE network and data will be included for Mexico roamers, but they may end up playing catchup for years.

To the benefit of Mexican wireless users, the other wireless networks in Mexico have also promised  Billions to improve their own networks to 4G LTE as well, which will also benefit T-Mobile roamers. We have no idea what will happen in Canada.  AT&T probably won't buy a network there.  They will need to eventually do what T-Mobile has already done.  Not only has the magenta network invaded the rest of North America with a pen, they continue to disrupt the wireless landscape in the US with a better idea.

Sprint is coming out with a similar plan, Open World, which offers free calls, text and Data while roaming in Mexico, Canada, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay.  There may be some limits with this plan unless your Sprint phone includes GSM circuitry.

We're following the deals at MexicoCellular.com.

Google Fi: New Opportunity, New Problem

Google's introduction of "Project Fi" (as in Wi-Fi without the "Wi") provides a unique opportunity.  Your can use whatever signal your phone can access among Wi-Fi, T-Mobile and Sprint broadband sources.  Google has changed the pricing and technical profile of using wireless, and usually, most things that Google touches benefits the average consumer.

So, does this mean Google will be an "MVNO", or a re-seller of network access from 2 of the top 4 wireless carriers, or something else?  As we peek over the horizon, instead of expecting the major carriers doing something different to compete,  we see other MVNO's going in the same direction and offering some kind of network combination.  Our challenge is to find where to classify Google's wireless.  Is it "Wireless," "Prepaid," or "Broadband"?  Instead of waiting to see what direction it goes, we'll just include it in every related corner of our Mountain Wireless Cellular networks and see if we can do our part to help this innovation grow.

To get in on the first round of the fun you only need a Gmail account and to request an "invite", which is similar to the start of other Google projects.  Then, let the wireless innovation begin.

Sprint Expands Foreign Roaming

Sprint has finally come to the table with an International Roaming package that finally puts them at par with the other major carriers.  Aggressive pricing, paying ETF's and Unlimited Data can only go so far. Now Sprint will offer a competitive International Roaming Value package that allows Text, Voice and Data at reasonable rates.  They also offer a Wi-Fi calling app that puts them into T-Mobile's arena that expands calling abilities to many extreme corners of the house and the globe.

Recognizing overall service improvements, Mountain Wireless has increased Sprint's "MW Rating" from a dismal "6" to a respectable "7".  Positive field reports from Sprint users might even improve that rating again.

We have noted these changes on our Mexico and International Roaming web sites. One odditiy is that none of these improvements include service in Canada.  We hope that's coming soon.

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.