Contract Up, WANT S3 desperately. Which carrier should I choose?

[Tailgun]

T-Mobile's LTE network won't start up until sometime in 2013 (I've read "summer" several times). And like with all of the other carriers, it will be limited at the beginning as far as active markets. I haven't seen a target date for the entire network to be active. Sprint is hoping to have their entire LTE network up an running by the end of 2013.

Thanks for the info! Looks like I'd be waiting quite awhile for assurance that I'd have 4G coverage for my shiny new toy. Guess I'll try customer retention at VZW and hope for the best (I'm sure they won't grandfather in my current unlimited data plan).

 

[liftedplane]

Very true. Sprint, as the third-place carrier in the U.S., has hung onto it in an effort to have something that stands out from AT&T and Verizon and might draw in a few more customers. T-Mobile, sitting in fourth place, has decided to do the same. I seriously doubt Verizon or AT&T will bring back unlimited data because they have no reason to.

Hopefully when sprint gets their lte up and running they'll be able to start competing again and may force vzw into giving us better deals. It might take a year or two (more like 4) but i could see unlimited coming back once everyone has lte up and running.

Sent from my frozenly delicious bionic.

 

[bsweetness]

Hopefully when sprint gets their lte up and running they'll be able to start competing again and may force vzw into giving us better deals. It might take a year or two (more like 4) but i could see unlimited coming back once everyone has lte up and running.

Sent from my frozenly delicious bionic.

Personally, I don't see that happening. Faster speeds means more people will be using the network more often and for lengthier periods of time, especially as devices get faster and operate more smoothly. LTE is one of the main reasons why AT&T and Verizon have shifted away from unlimited data. If everyone on either network had unlimited data, things would get overwhelmed extremely fast. Sprint's overall coverage will expand a bit when their LTE deployment is done, but it still won't be as far reaching as Verizon's. So, I don't see Sprint being able to force Verizon or AT&T into offering unlimited data again. Sprint's able to continue offering unlimited data because they don't have a customer base that's nearly as large as AT&T and Verizon. And if they're able to add a sizable amount of new customers, I wouldn't be surprised if Sprint starts moving away from unlimited data as well.

If something major were to happen, and Verizon were to find itself taking a major nosedive as far as market share and customers go, it's possible that they might run a limited promotion offering some form of unlimited data, like they've done with double data in the past. But I really don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[cybertec69]

If you have an unlimited data plan with Veri:icon_ devil:zon, I suggest you go out and buy a S3 on eBay or Craigslist and be done with it, or you can buy the unlocked version directly from Samsung, all the other carriers are WAY behind Verizon and their network. I surely do not trust a company that consistently plays commercials "T-Mobile" stating they have LTE, HSPA+ is NOT LTE.

 

[syndicate0017]

If you have an unlimited data plan with Veri:icon_ devil:zon, I suggest you go out and buy a S3 on eBay or Craigslist and be done with it, or you can buy the unlocked version directly from Samsung, all the other carriers are WAY behind Verizon and their network. I surely do not trust a company that consistently plays commercials "T-Mobile" stating they have LTE, HSPA+ is NOT LTE.

T Mobile doesn't say they have LTE. They say they have 4G. And according to a ruling, HSPA+ is, in fact, considered 4G. To be fair, technically, none of the providers offer true 4G yet.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[bsweetness]

T Mobile doesn't say they have LTE. They say they have 4G. And according to a ruling, HSPA+ is, in fact, considered 4G.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Yep. The International Telecommunication Union - the organization responsible for the definitions and designations for a lot of cellular technology - adjusted their original definition and the requirements for 4G to include both HSPA+ and LTE. Originally, not only was HSPA+ not considered to be 4G, but LTE wasn't even technically considered to be 4G either. The changes came about from significant pressure from carriers, particularly carriers in the U.S. and Canada. Here's a good article that gives a brief overview on it all, along with a follow-up about "true 4G" (which is the technology that 4G was originally supposed to be).

 

[kparks]

I've had my first smartphone, a Droid 1 for two years now and my contract is finally up in 2 days. For months I have lusted after the Galaxy SIII and it is now within my grasp!

The question I have is: which carrier should I go with, and for what reasons? I currently am a Verizon customer but am willing to look elsewhere; I liked the look of the Sprint unlimited data but have been reading a bit about how their network isn't very good and may be slow to roll out 4G LTE everywhere. I'm in the Lehigh Valley (Allentown) area of Pennsylvania - if that matters.

I'm shopping on Wirefly/Cellular Choices because I used them for years to get other phones but are there any other, better deals for the S3 out there? I am thinking of calling Verizon anyway, just to see if I can squeeze a good deal out of Customer Retention.

All help and advice is appreciated!

None the s3 is garbage ill be selling mine in about 2 weeks and use a DROID x till a phone worth my money comes out

 

[sweeeeet]

None the s3 is garbage ill be selling mine in about 2 weeks and use a DROID x till a phone worth my money comes out

hilarious

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Debala]

None the s3 is garbage ill be selling mine in about 2 weeks and use a DROID x till a phone worth my money comes out

And I willingly gave up my Droid X for this S3 and love it!!

 

[sweeeeet]

I'm not a Sprint fan but just a heads up that Amazon has it for 80 bucks

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Tailgun]

I'm not a Sprint fan but just a heads up that Amazon has it for 80 bucks

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

I took an extra two days to consider it and I missed out on this deal, as they just increased the price to $120 (still a good deal!).

VZW offered me the S3 for $170 (after a $30 credit) and that price matched what I had been seeing on Cellular Choices/Wirefly, so I took it. I know I could have saved some money by taking the Amazon Sprint deal but all the talk of the inferior Sprint network compared to Verizon led me to stay with Big Red. I'm just going to not think about the price tags and just focus on my new baby, hopefully arriving by Thursday.

Thanks for the help, guys! :yr1:

 

[sweeeeet]

nice!... Congrats... awesome phone awesome network... imma get one soon

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[k1ngr4t]

Does anyone have any personal stories about the Sprint network being so terrible? Or have we all just heard it so much it makes sense? I mean, if you live in a strong 4g area (Atlanta), are usually on wifi anyways blah blah....I mean, is it really THAT bad??

 

[sweeeeet]

Does anyone have any personal stories about the Sprint network being so terrible? Or have we all just heard it so much it makes sense? I mean, if you live in a strong 4g area (Atlanta), are usually on wifi anyways blah blah....I mean, is it really THAT bad??

wifi has nothing to do with phone calls.. u know phones still do that lol... I had sprint for a few years and it was a miserable experience and I'm in NYC.. not sure how much more city u wanna get than that lol

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[k1ngr4t]

wifi has nothing to do with phone calls.. u know phones still do that lol... I had sprint for a few years and it was a miserable experience and I'm in NYC.. not sure how much more city u wanna get than that lol

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

Well actually I was referring to data cutting out, since it's their "4g" network we're talking about. What made it so miserable? Lots of dropped calls?