August 6th, 2009
AT&T dropping calls like crazy, back to T-Mobile and their expanding 3G network
Earlier this morning T-Mobile issued their 2nd quarter report and as Larry stated their churn rate was up slightly this quarter. In case you didn’t know, churn is the term used to measure the number of customers who leave or switch to another service provider, usually stated as a percentage. The slight increase this quarter, from 1.9 to 2.2 percent, is tough to blame on a single cause. I personally left T-Mobile after 6+ years to switch my family to AT&T so I could reduce my family monthly fees by having a single carrier instead of two. I selected AT&T over T-Mobile because of AT&T’s 3G data and iPhone services. However, after spending the last 3 weeks experiencing constant dropped calls in areas where our various phones showed a full signal I had enough and switched back to T-Mobile last night.
I don’t make a ton of phone calls, I am a data hound, yet when I do I want my calls to be uninterrupted. My wife has a consultant business and good quality phone calls are essential for her too. Dropped calls in areas where we know coverage is weak can be planned around, but random, constant dropped calls are unacceptable.
In addition to the dropped calls issue, I had a few other reasons for returning to T-Mobile. These include the amazing customer service and support I always receive from T-Mobile, the recent (just last week) rollout of T-Mobile 3G data all around the areas where I live and work, the support I receive as a reviewer from their PR company (thanks Kristen!) and T-Mobile employees, their competitively priced voice and data plans, and their support for Android devices.
As I stated in my hands-on with the myTouch 3G article I met with T-Mobile reps and was quite impressed with the device. A follow-up article on the device will be coming next week. I recently chose the T-Mobile G1 as my Dead Finger Tech mobile phone and like the fact that I get the touch experience like an iPhone along with thousands of applications (including Google Voice) and a QWERTY hardware keyboard. Android gives me the best of the UI and functinality experience and I am quite happy with the platform.
T-Mobile credited back my $800 in early termination fees and also reinstated my grandfathered family plan and $10 unlimited family text messaging plan. I know $800 is a lot for ETF, but I have been updating my phones regularly (T-Mobile G1, BlackBerry Curve, and more) and was under contract on four of my five lines. I am pleased to be back with T-Mobile and also to be saving a few bucks each month during this uncertain economic time.
My next decision with T-Mobile is to figure out if I should get the myTouch 3G or go with the upcoming HTC Touch Pro2.
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 08/06/09
