
T-Mobile CEO: “This industry blows,” biggest carriers offer “horseshit” - coloneltcb
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/01/t-mobile-ceo-this-industry-blows-biggest-carriers-offer-horsesh/
======
themckman
I bought the iPhone 5 outright, unlocked and switch to T-Mobile after doing
so. In the city (Chicago) the service can't be better. Really like that
tethering is just included. LTE tethering has come in handy at a few coffee
shops that don't have WiFi.

I also recently went to Europe and took advantage of the free worldwide data;
was fantastic. Phone calls while roaming in Europe were reasonable, too.
Something like 10 cents a minute back to the States.

All for ~$70/month. Beats the pants off AT&T.

~~~
nardi
For the past year or two, AT&T and Verizon have also offered free LTE
tethering.

~~~
mindotus
Where is this free LTE tethering? Have been told it still requires the extra
monthly fee.

~~~
MartinCron
I got free LTE tethering (on AT&T) once I switched from my grandfathered
unlimited plan to the newer metered plans.

Which is ironic, as tethering is the only context in which I would come
anywhere close to using up my monthly bandwidth allocation.

------
justanotheratom
I have been a loyal AT&T customer for over 5 years. Currently I have a Nokia
Lumia 920 for a contract that is 1 year old. I am going on a one month
vacation out of the country. So I requested AT&T to unlock my phone so I could
use it overseas. Customer service said go fill out an online form. A day after
filling the form, received email saying I am not eligible for an unlock. Went
to the store. Same thing.

Now, I am wondering, is AT&T afraid that I am not going to finish my contract
if they unlock the phone? If they think I was lying about the trip abroad, I
could show them my tickets. But this kind of behavior just seems outright
sadistic.

I just bought an unlocked Nexus 5 to use overseas and I am definitely
switching to T-Mobile after I return. Fuck you AT&T.

~~~
mikestew
Do not get me started. Dude, I was an AT&T wireless customer back when they
were AT&T, still a customer when they were Cingular, and then when they
switched back to being AT&T again. Probably ten years, maybe more? But every
time I bought a new iPhone I had to call them and tell them I wasn't paying
their $36 upgrade fee. They would then waive it after acting like it was a
huge favor. The last time the rep said she'd do it "just this once". I told
her that I would have to then reconsider my options for mobile service when my
contract was up.

I didn't wait until my contract was up. 14 months later I paid the ETF on two
phones and switched to Tmo. I think we'll come out about even versus just
waiting until the contract ended. I grew weary of AT&T's nickel-and-dime
bullshit, and the lack of signal at my house. Though I will credit AT&T with
quickly unlocking the phones after the ETF was paid.

------
dakrisht
You have to hand it Legere. He's bold. Provocative. And speaks his mind. In
the best interests of the company of course, but with a direct emphasis on
making customers happy.

What's important to note is that T-Mobile is quickly becoming a company that
delivers a great product and is customer-centric. And when the incumbents
start playing catch up (AT&T in particular) you know they're making the right
moves.

I've been with Verizon for a few years and I can't say their service is what
it's marketed to be. Data is fast but the inability to simultaneously do data
and voice is just idiotic. The monthly fees are also totally insane. I pay
$140 / month for a single data line (iPhone). In contrast to Verizon, with
T-Mobile you get unlimited voice and data for a little over $70, no contract
and stellar customer service. I called T-Mobile to switch last month and with
a little negotiating, they sent me a _free_ iPhone 5S. No contract. No
bullshit.

T-Mobile's latest announcement of up to $650 in credits for switching over
will increase their subscriber base by millions of new users, no question.
It's bold, aggressive and customer-centric.

I can't personally speak on AT&T's network but we all know it's one of the
worst companies in the world to deal with. Their service is spotty for many,
many users. Their customer service is non-existent. Their data practices are
borderline unethical (with hidden data caps, throttling, etc). AT&T is just an
awful company. I'm stuck with their uVerse Internet service and it's just a
disaster. Unfortunately, many of us have no other choice but their lousy
broadband product. Let's not even talk about Time Warner.

T-Mobile's coverage, from what I have experienced, is stellar. Up and down the
California coast. Mexico. Europe. NYC. Seattle. I'm always at 4+ bars. Data is
fast (~18Mbps downstream). International roaming is perhaps one of the most
impressive features of TMO. I remember paying $20 / MB with Verizon and that's
just absolutely criminal. And they can get away with it because many customers
aren't even aware of this until they get the bill.

Legere is right - the mobile landscape is just horrendous and it's mainly
because of AT&T and Verizon. I hope T-Mobile continues this push towards
making customers happy and simply offering better products. Their bottom line
will be the ultimate proof of how this is working out for them - and from what
I'm seeing, their new subscriber numbers are growing exponentially. You could
say they're disrupting the industry. And that's rare from these monoliths.

~~~
jcdavis
T-mo's coverage in California at least is noticeably worse than Verizon's. In
SF its absolutely slower, and elsewhere it is non-existent where Verizon has
LTE.

I'm overall quite happy though. I switched from paying Verizon $100/mo to
$30/month with T-Mobile ($250 etf paid for itself in 4 months). Its also worth
mentioning that since I moved over my CDMA iPhone 5, I am using HSPDA+ (on
1900mhz where it exists) not LTE

~~~
smithzvk
I use T-Mobile and am quite happy with it; I pay $30 a month for basically
everything I need and no contract.

It is worth noting, however, that T-Mobile has some serious problems. There
are large swaths of this country where T-Mobile simply doesn't have service.
For instance, last time I drove from Denver to Chicago I lost reception 1 hour
into the trip and got it back a few hours before I arrived. There was perhaps
one town where I had service during the drive. I thought that this couldn't
possibly be right, but I stopped by a T-Mobile store and confirmed that this
is the case. I thought that mobile providers worked to ensure that your phone
would work at least when you are on an interstate, but not with T-Mobile.

Also, unlimited Internet doesn't really mean unlimited Internet in practice.
They throttle so heavily after I hit my 5 GB cap that they might as well have
cut off the data plan. Programs stopped working as the requests would time out
and the app would assume I had no connectivity.

~~~
untog
_Also, unlimited Internet doesn 't really mean unlimited Internet in practice.
They throttle so heavily after I hit my 5 GB cap_

Genuine question- what do you do to hit that limit? I have the same $30 plan
and my phone data usage shows me nearly hitting 2GB a month on average.

~~~
DufusM
Your $30 plan must be grandfathered in.

Their current deal is $50 for an "unlimited" plan that switches to EDGE after
500MB and $60 for a similar plan with a 2 GB limit (or 3 GB, can't remember
which).

~~~
jcdavis
He is talking about the $30 prepaid plan, which is both still available and
doesn't start throttling until 5gb.

------
jessedhillon
Unsolicited advice as a former T-Mobile customer: offer a real microcell and
lose those shitty boosters, integrate Wifi calling with stock Android phones
as it is currently unavailable for the Nexus phones, and move your call
centers back from the Philippines.

I normally am not one of these America-centric culture warriors, and I have no
problem understanding even very thick accents. But the specific form of
ingratiating behavior that their call center employees are trained in is
egregious. They are trained to, apparently, wrap every sentence front-and-back
with terms of politeness and overt demonstrations of respect. A conversation
can follow like this:

    
    
      Rep: Please may I place you on hold sir as I 
      look up your account so that I can better be 
      able to serve you and fulfill your request?
      Me: Sure
      Rep: Thank you so much and please hold I will 
      return shortly to further assist you.
      ...
      Rep: Yes, hello thank you sir for waiting your 
      patience is very much appreciated and I was 
      able to access your account so that I can 
      provide you now with an adequate resolution to
      your request.
    
    

I really hate to pick on the reps this way because this is very good work for
them and they try hard to accomodate a foreign culture. They are just trained
in the worst combination of verbosity and obsequiousness.

------
timo614
I'm on some Walmart T-Mobile plan. I heard about the plan after getting my
Nexus 4 so went to a local T-Mobile store and asked them if they could give it
to me as a new customer and they did.

$30 monthly, 100 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data with the first 5 GB
at 4G speeds.

I mean the 100 minutes bit is a bit nasty as all minutes are rounded up so
even a 1 second incoming call I pick up counts against a whole minute. I
rarely go over the limit though and usually just throw an extra $10 in the
account to deal with it if I go over.

My fiance has the same plan and uses her tethering for her Apple TV Projector
setup in the art class she teaches since her school wifi is pretty bad. You
get a small amount of free tethering with the plan but it's only $15 for
unlimited tethering in addition.

~~~
blacksmith_tb
This is (or was) available to anyone signing up online (I bought my Nexus 4
from the Play store and then signed up for it about a year ago).

~~~
rogerbinns
You can't get it directly from tmo any more, but you can get it from Walmart
[http://see.walmart.com/t-mobile/](http://see.walmart.com/t-mobile/) (jump to
plans)

~~~
dangrossman
No? It's still advertised by T-Mobile, same page it's always been on (halfway
down): [http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans](http://prepaid-
phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans)

It should be in the plan list when you activate a SIM at [http://prepaid-
phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-activate](http://prepaid-
phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-activate). It was never advertised available in-
store, only online.

------
pkulak
Well, the talk is nice, but with AT&T's $15 off per phone if you own it,
T-Mobile isn't really cheaper anymore, especially with family plans. And with
AT&T you can get coverage between cities, not just in them. I'm thankful to
T-Mobile for forcing AT&T to keep up, but since they have, I'm going with the
better network.

EDIT: My cost comparison for two people who own their phones:

4 Gigs shared on AT&T: $120

2.5 gigs each on T-Mobile: $100

So I guess T-Mobile is still cheaper. But, for me, T-Mobile data does not work
at all outside of my home city. Data coverage everywhere is worth 20 bucks to
me.

~~~
r00fus
Horses for courses, but AT&T's other anti-consmer polices and missed deadlines
are what got me to move.

When I went over data allotment on AT&T, I got charged extra for that month
(especially infuriating late in the cycle). Here on Tmobile, I just get bumped
down to 2G (acceptable - esp. if it happens 27 days into the cycle).

When TMobile launched the iPhone5 with HDVoice, AT&T and VZ loudly proclaimed
that HDVoice was coming "late 2013". Still no news. How long does it take for
them to support an additional codec that improves voice and lowers their
bandwidth? I'm only waiting for them b/c I have a relative that is still on
AT&T, and I'd love the calls to be HDVoice.

TMobile's coverage outside of metros sucks. And I doubt it will get better
soon (likely they'll double-down on becoming _better_ than ATT/VZ in-city than
worry about low-density areas). If you really need coverage in exurban and
rural areas, then yeah, go with one of the two biggies - but you'll definitely
pay more.

~~~
alttab
This is a great strategy for gobbling up marketshare. Definitely an 80/20 move
by T Mobile. Couple that with a customer centric product that isn't offered
anywhere else and most people will realize they travel in between cities by
plane.

Once t mobile establishes a foothold, it will have enough agency and capital
to gain access to wider coverage. The biggies will be bleeding revenue and
will have to license out their network to T Mobile to compensate.

Sure, their network is not a blanket. But that is temporary. T mobiles
approach is likely possible due to differences in their operations which
provides a competitive advantage that the biggies can't easily replicate.

Mobile networks will evolve faster than backbone. I'm excited to see what lies
ahead.

~~~
pkulak
> most people will realize they travel in between cities by plane.

With T-Mobile I can't even get get 5 miles out of the metro area without
losing coverage. We're not talking about road trips across North Dakota, we're
talking about a 40-mile drive to the next city over. Hope you weren't super
into that Pandora song!

------
tomp
> start with one line at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text, and Web with
> up to 500MB of 4G LTE data

Thank god I live in Europe (in the UK, the equivalent costs about 20GBP per
month).

~~~
flixic
In Lithuania, Europe, I spend about $9 for this (even more, with 1GB of data).
Very happy about the competition between carriers in our country - it is
constantly making everything better and cheeper.

~~~
adventured
I'm curious what happens if you drive to Germany (Italy, Romania etc)? How do
your local carriers handle that kind of coverage?

~~~
tomp
They don't. You pay for roaming. However, in summer 2014 there will be no more
roaming charges for the EU (forced by the EU commission on the carriers - the
carriers were playing dirty all along, e.g. TMobile and Vodafone have
companies in many EU countries, but customers still pay roaming charges in
"different" networks provided by different subcompanies). This still won't
mean free mobile for the whole EU, as most networks only offer free
calls/texts/data in their local networks, while you have to pay a little if
you're in another operator's network (in the same country).

------
Touche
This guy reminds me of the Poochie character from the The Simpsons. Poochie
was a dog on the Itchy and Scratchy show that they created to try and make the
show more edgy and cool. Poochie wore sunglasses, a backwards hat, and carried
around a surfboard saying hip things.

~~~
fatjokes
Nice try AT&T rep.

Seriously though, Poochie had no substance---that was the joke. This guy has
brought on some real change at T-Mobile, and consequently the US wireless
industry. Unlocked phones? Free roaming? I never dared hope!

~~~
TulliusCicero
"Poochie had no substance"

You take that back about Poochie!

------
jsnk
T-mobile is awesome.

I am not sure if this plan is still available, but I am on $30/month no
contract plan. This has unlim. data, text and 100 voice minutes. It works
perfectly with unlocked Nexus 4 which I got in Jan 2012. I'm never going back
to contracts anymore.

~~~
byoung2
My wife lost her T-Mobile G Slate tablet and she was going to replace it with
a WiFi only one, so she called T-Mobile to cancel the data plan. Even though
it was not covered by insurance, they sent her a replacement (upgraded to
Samsung Galaxy Tab) and they converted the plan to a 200MB 4G/month plan for
no monthly charge. That is great customer service.

------
andrewjsledge
As a long time TMo subscriber, what is he willing to do for me and my loyalty?
Sure, offering ETF payoffs for new customers is great, but shouldn't you treat
your loyal customers even better?

~~~
jrockway
Why would they incentivize you to do something you already do?

~~~
allsystemsgo
Because the other companies will pay you to leave?

~~~
jrockway
"All"? I thought it was just AT&T. Verizon is the only network in the US
that's compelling, but they don't have unlimited plans, so T-Mobile is the
only reasonable carrier for people that don't want to count every bit they
transfer.

------
ewang1
I was just overseas for 2 weeks and used the free international data and text
roaming. Worked flawlessly.

------
memset
Can someone help me understand the economics of these incentive plans (where
these companies subsidize your early termination fees, etc, to attract
customers?)

Is this along the lines of what all these other companies (Amazon, Netflix,
etc) are doing where they bring you in at low rates, sell to you at
unsustainable prices, and then plan to increase prices over time (or do what
they have to do to start turning a profit?)

Or is there a chance that, even after these incentives, prices will remain
competitive?

~~~
s3r3nity
I am not an industry expert, but it seems like a lifetime value play: even if
a customer only stays with T-Mobile for one contract term @ 2 years, and
assume the cost per month is $50, the total value gained would be the 24 * $50
= $1,200. No matter how much it costs for early termination of another
contract, there's no way it matches $1,200 (or maybe for a VERY VERY select
set of customers.)

Then, assuming people warm up to T-Mobile and say "hey - this is a good
company!" , then you lock them in longer.

The cost of paying for an early termination fee could be considered equivalent
to a Marketing and/or Distribution fixed cost.

~~~
zanny
Also consider the margin costs of cell service are almost non-existent. The
overhead is covering huge expenses like towers and wireless spectrum, or
leasing them from another major player.

After that, you just want as many people on your network as possible so long
as they don't largely degrade the service for each other. And if you dominate
a market you don't even care about that part because your customers have no
choice.

------
dangayle
I was on Verizon for a decade and I just switched to T-Mobile a few months
ago. You cannot imagine how surprised I was at just how easy they made it for
me to switch.

I purposely switched because I wanted a GSM phone because I've been toying
with Arduino cell phone kits, but when it came down to the decision between
AT&T and T-Mobile, it quickly became clear that T-Mobile offered a better
product.

What I hadn't expected was that I wasn't going to miss Verizon one iota.

------
rubyn00bie
Not to troll, but how is this newsworthy? Everyone knows telecoms blow and
offer horseshit-- from CEO to customer. Maybe if good ol' Señior Stevenson
said this it'd mean something, but coming from the T-Mob CEO it ain't nothin'

He even goes to create some horeshit when he says "T-Mobile's network is
fastest." I call bullshit, and ask "where is it faster, asshat?"

T-Mobile has always had pretty good customer service, but their network isn't
nearly as large as other providers...

For those who don't know, providers have different licenses in each area, more
licenses = more spectrum = better reception. T-Mobile, in general, as the
least amount of spectrum available (by a huge margin). They also operate at a
much higher frequency than their competition so their building penetration is
worse (especially over 3G/4G).

This same thing goes with network speed; some areas have more spectrum and
thus can offer better speeds. Some can't. So any measurement of "we're faster"
is very, very geographically specific.

Note: I worked in the wireless industry for 5 years (with a few of those at
T-Mobile).

~~~
e28eta
Where's the cable company exec who's willing to admit their industry blows? I
think it's refreshing to hear him acknowledge how crappy telecoms are. I think
it's even better that they're shaking things up.

------
adamkittelson
I'd be on T-Mobile in a heartbeat if they had, like, any coverage.

~~~
poopsintub
I'd leave T-Mobile in a heartbeat if I had, like, poor coverage.

~~~
LandoCalrissian
It's interesting to me because people always say this is a huge issue with
T-Mobile. I've been with them for a decade now, and have had very little
coverage problems. I've been across a lot of the country and the two places I
can actively remember where I got zero coverage was in northern Minnesota and
Death Valley.

Their data does get a little flaky the when out of fairly populated areas, but
I have seen this improving very quickly and can make many long drives with
full data coverage.

I don't know, I think it might just be marketing.

~~~
anonymoushn
There's a hole in their network that contains my apartment and office in
downtown Austin.

------
Osiris
I've been using Republic Wireless for over a year. They've also tried really
hard to provide disruptive options by integrating Wi-Fi calling/texting/data
into the phones.

I pay for the phone off contract ($299 for Moto X), then $5 to $40 / month for
various service options (all unlimited, from WiFi calling only up to 4G LTE).

The Sprint network isn't the fastest, but it's hard to beat $25 / month for
unlimited talk/text/3G data. I even went a whole month on the $5 WiFi only
plan (You can change your plan twice a month).

I love not being locked into a contract and only paying < $50 / month for 2
unlimited phones.

------
pikachu_is_cool
Am I the only one here who just doesn't have a phone plan? Seriously, unless
if you're a cab driver or something, WiFi hotspots are more than enough.

Actually, even if you are a cab driver, GPS + offline maps are completely
free.

~~~
HowardJ
If I planned my life around it, I could live without voice and texting, and
rely on instant messaging and Email instead, however I must have LTE. I can't
rely on WI-FI everywhere. So, I would be paying some cellular service for LTE,
and then I might as well get voice/text.

That said, I just noticed T-Mobile $30/month 100 minute voice, and unlimited
data (4G up until 5GB) plan. That's pretty amazing and I will probably jump
ship from Verizon.

------
sparkzilla
I tried to move my family from AT&T to T-Mobile. I have to say first that AT&T
has IMHO excellent customer service. They have worked with me many times to
reduce the bill. Anyway, I liked the look of the $100 family plan, but the
problem with switching to T-Mobile is that they only support LTE so families
like mine with out-of-contract iPhone 4s have to upgrade the phones too, which
is a major expense.

~~~
mikestew
Hmm? When we switched to Tmo my wife used an unlocked 4S I had lying around
while we waited for AT&T to unlock our iPhone 5s. I heard no complaints from
her. As part of my job I run plenty of phones on Tmo's network, and non-LTE
phones work fine for both data and voice. Your current phones will work fine.
Is it possible you misunderstood something?

------
tn13
As person who travels very little by road I like T-Mobile. They have good
coverage in cities and way more cost effective than AT&T or Verizon.

------
brianmcdonough
I'm changing my service today: two lines at half the cost of Verizon. I have
to support companies when they reach out like this. This is also why I quit
Facebook. They don't listen to their users and I was tired of being a product.
I encourage others to speak with their wallet and their choice of social media
providers.

------
linuxhansl
And he's right. In the past I have bought a Nexus S outright and used their
no-contract plan. Recently I upgraded to the Nexus 5, went to a T-Mobile
store, they just switched me and suggested a better plan for the same price.

Coverage and bandwidth is great (where I am), and the no-contract plans are
certainly great.

------
shmerl
I hope T-Mobile will remain independent and DT won't ruin the little
innovation we are seeing in the carriers market by selling it to some other
company (especially some content related).

------
Aloha
Have you noticed that ever carrier claims to have the biggest, best, fastest
or most reliable network?

To reuse a famous quote "The nice thing about standards is, there are so many
of them"

------
the-kenny
The funny thing is that the biggest operator in Germany, T-Mobile, offers the
biggest horseshit there.

------
satyap
It's true, the industry does "blow" and the biggest carriers offer... nothing
good.

------
Bahamut
While the deal sounds good, I have heard multiple bad things about T-Mobile's
support of the military. I have multiple friends who T-Mobile tried to prevent
from being allowed to abrogate their contracts due to poor coverage
surrounding military bases, as allowed by law.

------
phireph0x
Anyone have experience with T-Mobile coverage around Tulsa, OK?

------
brianbreslin
has anyone signed up for the global unlimited roaming deal yet? What is the
service like overseas?

~~~
andrewpi
There's nothing to specifically signup for. Any post-paid Simple Choice plan
now has unlimited global data in most countries. Service is capped at 128k
up/down speeds. Everything I've read has been positive.

------
jtchang
Anyone else have a Nexus 4 on tmobile in SF? I barely get coverage sometimes.
I must be missing some setting.

------
digitalpacman
T-Mobile user here. Worst coverage ever in a state's capitol, Austin TX. Just
sayin'.

------
notdrunkatall
I've been resisting getting a smartphone for years because I didn't want to
either pay $300+ for a phone or $80+ per month with one of the big carriers.

Then a couple of weeks ago, someone on an HN thread told me about the Nokia
Lumia 520. I checked it out, decided to buy one, and I'm damn glad I did!
Windows Phone is frankly amazing - it does everything I need it to do, it's
beautiful, and it just works. I ordered a sim card from Straight Talk for
their Bring Your Own Phone program for $7, and voila, I have unlimited
everything on ATT's network for $45 a month.

~~~
zanny
The other service I advocate for people is Ting, since its only $6 per phone,
though you have to buy the device. But the Nexus 5 is such good value for
hardware it isn't even that expensive, and they have that same early
termination relief deal.

I have around a dozen people on one Ting plan, and since the monthly bills
adjust for usage I usually only owe around $120 total, and literally $60 of
that is from the few people that use 1k+ minutes / texts a month. By
comparison I know a family of 4 on Verizon with iphones and such that pay $400
a month for not even unlimited service.

~~~
seoguru
+1 for ting.com. We have 6 phones on it, including the nexus 5 which _rocks_.
bill is $74 this month. I love the web interface that enables me to turn off
voice/sms/data on a per phone basis if they hit thresholds or if my kids don't
get their homework done :-)

------
larrys
Separately the CEO comes across as a total wack job using language like that
in a business setting. Especially given his age.

~~~
not_that_noob
He needs to stand out from the noise. Don't confuse the persona he's
articulating with the person.

He's doing a damn fine job, for what it's worth.

~~~
larrys
From what I see he has been the CEO for a little over 2 years.

In business, 2 years is not a long time at all.

My personal opinion is it's unprofessional and not appropriate language. (I
can see by the downvotes that others don't agree).

If you are an entertainer that's one thing and you can be outrageous so you
stand out (but you probably wouldn't even in all entertainment venues). [1]
But you also don't want to come across as a lose canon either. In business
people need to feel they can trust you and one of the things they look for is
a certain amount of conformity to accepted standards.

Maybe this example will make sense. You meet the woman of your dreams. You
want to marry her. You would die if you lost her. It's that important. You
meet her father and grandfather. How will you behave? Will you watch what you
say a bit? Or will you act the same way as with your fraternity brothers or
friends when you are just hanging out?

[1] And yes I can definitely see the PR value of what he is doing.

~~~
r00fus
You throw around that phrase "in business" a lot. Guess what, TMobile is "in
business". They do lots of business. So it works.

Sorry if the profanity bothers you. I consider the anti-consumer stance of
other telecom CEOs to be more profane.

Substance > Formality, and so far TMobile has been delivering.

~~~
larrys
"They do lots of business. So it works."

It works? For how long? The person using the language has been at tmobile for
+-2 years.

Tmobile has been around for way longer than that, right and before that afaik
a public facing person didn't use that languag.

Add to that the fact that the rest of the traditional business world (not
talking about startups) doesn't use that language.

------
lqdc13
I live in San Francisco and there is no coverage when walking around the city
with T-mobile. Verizon has coverage everywhere.

I'm not even talking about elevators. Just sidewalks of major central
pedestrian roads like Bay St and Hyde St. I also have no coverage in my
apartment with them or at work.

Coupled with the cancelation of Cel-Fi, it is impossible to use their service
in many densely populated areas.

~~~
simoncion
I live in San Francisco and have T-mobile service, and don't see what you're
seeing. I'll hop on up to Bay and Hyde tomorrow to double-check, but in the
past I've gotten adequate coverage everywhere aboveground I've been in the
city.

Also, you are aware that ATT and TMO have a roaming agreement?
[http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/20/2649023/t-mobile-to-
get-s...](http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/20/2649023/t-mobile-to-get-seven-
year-3g-roaming-deal-128-markets-of-aws)

~~~
lqdc13
The voice calls were cutting out on a Nexus 4 on those streets when walking on
the right side of the sidewalk North from Broadway to Bay and walking East on
Bay from there. I also never used ATT so I don't know how their service is.

Basically, the only time I've ever gotten good quality calls from T-mobile was
when I was calling the emergency number from an area I normally have no
service in.

