RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events can you hear me now? good.

we all got'em.

what cell phone service do you use? pros / cons?

how is your phone?

reception?

I use Virgin Wireless.

"Reach out and touch someone for the very first time."

well, we don't all got 'em.

i refuse to be tethered down.
I mean when i can't be bothered to answer my own home phone, why would I choose to be inconvenienced 24/7?

I live in England and I use those Virgin pay as you go cards.

I only bought the phone because a few years ago I was training to be a news journalist and you have to have one if you're going to phone-in copy for stories.

These days, three people know my number. I try not to use the phone too much because I have a pretty firm hunch that those aerial masts that they erect on the top of blocks of flats do cause health problems.

I would say reception is pretty average but I couldn't really give a fuck.

I have a cell phone, but it was disconnected back in 2001, due to unemployment, lack of money, and lack of them getting paid. But I was using Celone, and had no complaints. In fact, a friend of mine works for them and was the one that set me up with my first phone, which was a Nokia, and when I lost it just weeks, something like 2, before my 1 year contract was up, she got me going with another phone, and didn't charge me the normal fees I'd be charged in a situation like that. :) Now that I have steady work again, I'm going to get it reactivated, even though it's an older phone, I sitll like it and will keep it if I can. But rather than go the route of a contract, I'm thinking of doing the pay as you go route, just to be on the safe side money wise.

Wireless leash? Never had one! I don't need one and I can't afford one. When I graduate and move out (in that order) I'll buy one. 'Till then I'm using the dorm phone.

You should've said "most of us" Lane . . . tch tch tch!


As for me, I've had a cell phone since the summer of '98 and I've been with AT&T the entire time.

I currently have a Nokia 6130 and it's a good phone and has excellent reception. I've only come across one "dead zone" in my neck of the woods, but from what I've heard (I've asked around) it's one stretch of road that no carriers seem to cross, so everyone is out of luck there. Good thing that stretch of road isn't overly long.

I have an older plan (that the no longer advertise) and get about 500 minutes a month plus free nights & weekends for about $41.50 after taxes.

I'm looking to re-evaluate my plan though.

I own one but disconnected it because I never used it. So I'd say I don't have one..mostly because I hate the phone.

I own the free*gimme* Nokia phone you get when you sign up with AT&T.

I LOVE mine, but not for the "wireless" conveniences. I disconnected my home phone because I am not here so much, I already have cable modem, and just don't like talking on the phone - period.

I just use the cell as my main line.

So - no long distance bills, plans, no $30+ monthly fee JUST for having it on - no telemarketers, no name in phone book, I give the # out to who needs it and that is that. Shows you the # same as caller ID when someone calls, comes with voicemail so you can screen it if you wish, I just find a lot of advantages to keeping a cell instead of a land-lined one.

I'm on one of the cheaper plans so I am limited to like 500 minutes a month, which I never go over. Also have free night and weekends, so ....

As for dead zones, I run into a lot of them out in the country, but for the most part anywhere i would have problems is covered.

I have to admit a big pet peeve of mine is seeing someone driving and talking on a cell phone. Nearly every wreck I've witnessed that could have been easily avoided involved one of those things. Ever see some teenage girl flying down the highway @ 80, smoking a cig in one hand and talking to someone on the phone in the other while trying to put on lipstick? Makes you pray your mom is driving somewhere ahead of her.

They should make a law where you have to pull over and stop to talk on your phone.

I have Cingular. I like them, they've done good by me so far. I have some Ericson model thats a GAIT phone. It kicks ass because anywhere I go in America I'm still in service.

I got a Nokia 3510i & I use the O2 pay & go network!
I`ve never had any real problems with reception even in more countryfied areas where you expect to get no signal!

I cant afford to not have a mobile as I`m rarely home cept late at nite & then I`d rather they phone the mobile as the land line will wake everyone up if it rings!

I use Verizon.......I have a Motorola and my plan lets me use it anywhere in the country which is cool. I don't think I could function without it. I hardly ever use my phone at home....because when I am home I want to relax and talking on the phone is not my idea of fun.

Don´t own one, and can´t imagine I will for a long time....

as stated above by Whomod, if I can´t be bothered by the stationary phone, why should I be bothered 24/7

what´s that called? two minds, one thought or somethin´?

I have Sprint.

I don't really need one but the employee plan is good.

I get more minutes than I'll ever use for 15 bucks.

I even got the phone for free when someone from work bought a new phone.

I like the damn thing.

Perhaps because I use it more as a toy than I do a phone.

I also get free Mobile Web so I can use yahoo, MSN messenger from the phone, sports scores, movie listings, short mail(another form of text messaging.

The phone also has a memo recorder which I mainly use to keep track of what comics I need to pick up when I hit the store so I don't forget anything.

I have a Sanyo 5150

I agree with whomod (the end times are upon us :) ), but I DO have a cell phone for emergency purposes. I pay as I go and I've used it maybe 5 times in almost a year.

i have ATT. the reception is okay but when i'm in the city it's great. the plan is good and i have a sony ericsson.(T306) the model is not that great...it always shuts off on me. even if i'm on the phone for to long it will just shut down (no it's not programed to shut down). it's a headache....

Sprint Adding TV Service for Cell Phones
By BRUCE MEYERSON, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - Sprint Corp. is adding a television service for cell phones with real-time programs, albeit somewhat choppy, from cable networks including CNBC and ABC News.

The new MobiTV service, available starting Thursday, will cost $9.99 per month in addition to the monthly fee of $15 that Sprint subscribers pay to use the Internet data connection on their mobile phones. Other networks featured on the service include MSNBC, Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel.

Although the audio for MobiTV programs will play in a continuous stream, the cell phone screen will not display the equivalent of full-motion video like that seen on a real television. Instead, the video will play at a rate of one or two frames per second, as compared with more than 20 frames per second for real TV.

The programs on most of the MobiTV channels will be identical to the actual programs playing at that hour on the corresponding cable channels, although with a lag of perhaps a minute due to the time it takes to process and transmit the content for a wireless (news - web sites) device.

The announcement brings at least one cellular carrier a step closer to transforming the over-hyped concept of next-generation wireless services to reality.

Multimedia services such as Web browsing, music and video have been held up by limitations in the capabilities of both handsets and wireless networks. But ongoing improvements in the phones and network technology are now enabling richer content.

Still, both Sprint and MobiTV provider Idetic Inc. were careful to not to set expectations for the new service too high.

"This isn't the kind of thing where you're going to watch a movie, but it is the kind of thing where the frame rate is fine" for viewing a program such as a newscast, said Paul Scanlan, a co-founder of Idetic. He also cautioned that normal limitations of mobile phone use will still apply.

"It's still cell phone technology, so just like you may get disconnected on a phone call, you could lose the program. If you don't have good reception for a phone call, you're not going to be able to get good reception (for MobiTV)."

While wireless technology is expected to improve enough to provide full-motion streaming video as soon as next year, some handset makers are also trying to bring video to cell phones without the cellular network: Samsung is due to introduce a cell phone with a TV tuner inside that can pick up local television channels over the broadcast airwaves.

Sprint and other wireless carriers are hoping enhanced features like MobiTV will fuel far greater usage of subscription data services, helping cover their hefty investment in wireless spectrum and network upgrades — and eventually driving profits. At the end of September, about 2.7 million of Sprint's 17.8 million cell phone customers also subscribed to the company's wireless online service, PCS Vision.

MobiTV was developed and operated by Idetic Inc., a privately held technology company based in Berkeley, Calif.

Telephone Industry Sues Over Number Rule

By JONATHAN D. SALANT, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A trade group representing local telephone companies sued Friday to block a new rule that will allow customers to transfer their landline number to a cell phone.

The United States Telecom Association said the rule, which takes effect Monday, gives an unfair boost to the wireless industry. The trade group asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for an emergency motion stopping the rule.

In an effort to spur competition and lower prices, the Federal Communications Commission approved rules allowing cellular customers to keep their number when they switch providers and for landline customers to keep their number if they switch to all-cellular service.

The rule for switching cell phone providers, which also takes effect Monday, would not be affected by the lawsuit.

URG am use AT@T,they am ok

URG am not like stupid little phone. It am omly 5 inches long-the phone,smart ass,not other thing-It am offten pain in ass to dial number on little phone.