Verizon takes a larger share of the wireless market

At 24 Jul 2008 02:42:17 +0000 Dennis Ferguson wrote:
> > But realistically it's a non-issue- the landline companies
> > have already diversified into internet, VoIP and cellular. Verizon
> > isn't really going to cry a river when a $30 landline customer
> > dumps it for a $50 Verizon wireless cellular plan!
>
> Verizon might not cry a river, but I'll bet they'd shed a few
> tears. 100% of a $30 landline is better than 55% of a $50 cell
> plan.

Fair enough. OTOH, Verizon Wireless is a nationwide company, whereas
Verizon is regional- that 55% of $50 comes from 60+ million people, the
majority of whom are inaccessable to Mother Verizon's copper embrace.

Mark Crispin wrote:
> On Wed, 23 Jul 2008, Todd Allcock posted:
>> Didn't Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless put it ahead of Verizon a
>> few years ago? The Dobson acquisition was only a few million customers.
>
> Nope. The ATTWS acquisition put it close, but Dobson brought it over.
>
>> Although I really don't know why anyone cares about the "most
>> subscribers"
>> total anyway.
>
> I agree. That comment was just to tweak the noses of the fanboys who
> think that there is something significant about AT&T currently having
> the "most subscribers".

Actually they don't have the most subscribers, they have the most people
using their network, when you include MVNOs. Verizon's been ahead in
subscribers for a long time.

Where "the most" subscribers makes a difference is in being able to have
more mobile to mobile calls that don't use plan minutes.

At 24 Jul 2008 21:40:55 -0700 SMS wrote:


> Actually they don't have the most subscribers, they have the most
> people using their network, when you include MVNOs. Verizon's
> been ahead in subscribers for a long time.


Ok, they have the most "customers" or "users", since MVNOs are customers as
well.


> Where "the most" subscribers makes a difference is in being able
> to have more mobile to mobile calls that don't use plan minutes.


True. Assuming, of course, you often call complete strangers at random.
In reality, what matters to you most (for M2M) is what carrier most of YOUR
friends, associates, and family members you call most use. If you wax
poetic about the Splendor that is Verizon to those you call most even half
as much as you do to us here, I'll wager everyone you know has switched to
Verizon just to avoid your nagging! ;-)

Given the current subscriber numbers, however, the odds that a family
member or friend will have either AT&T or Verizon is just about even
(except in your sphere of influence, obviously.)


Of course, as a T-Mobile MyFaves customer, my phone bill isn't dependent on
conning my family or friends into using the carrier of MY choice... ;-)

Todd Allcock wrote:

> True. Assuming, of course, you often call complete strangers at random.

Not really. The more subscribers, the more likely the people that you
need to call will be on the same network. Just think, when the
acquisition of Alltel is complete we'll be able to call Larry for free
(at least until he goes somewhere else).

> In reality, what matters to you most (for M2M) is what carrier most of YOUR
> friends, associates, and family members you call most use.

Actually it's those people that I don't worry about anymore. Most are in
the SF Bay Area, where it's almost heresy for anyone to not be on Verizon.

It's people I call only occasionally that I'll sometimes ask what
carrier they're on if the call is turning into a long one. If the person
is in the Bay Area then more often than not they're on Verizon.

I remember some friends that moved to Lafayette, and they sent me their
new address and phone numbers (Cingular cell phones) via e-mail with
this gem (names and number's x'd out):

Steve,
here are our numbers:

925-945-xxxx (Home)
510 919-xxxx (xxxxx's cell) - no reception at home
408 568-xxxx (xxxxx's cell) - no reception at home.

By the time we visited them, they were both on Verizon, the only carrier
with coverage at their house. I had never discussed anything about the
relative coverage quality with them, they figured it out all on their
own! For some reason AT&T really has a big problem with East Bay
coverage out in the Moraga/Lafayette area, Navas's protestations to the
contrary notwithstanding.

I'm not sure the financials of VZ translate all that well to the financials
of VZ Wireless. VZ has been losing landline business for the past few years
and is not doing all that well (neither is ATT landline). VOIP and cell
service is taking business away from traditional phone companies. Comparing
the aging part of Verizon to Apple is not a fair comparison. Comparing
growth in VZ Wireless is more appropriate, which you have not done. BTW,
they are related but seperate companies (as is VZ Online).
I'm glad you like your iPhone. I've known others who do, too. Frankly, my
Verizon XV6800 can do more than your iPhone, and a lot faster. It lacks your
great browser and music player, but for business use my phone is much more
capable, has a MUCH faster and broader data network, has many more useful
applications and a much cheaper data plan. Also, it tends to be able to make
and recieve calls in a much broader geographic area and the calling parties
can actually hear each other. Not that this is as important as an Apple logo
on the back, though.
"Oxford" <apony@pasture.com> wrote in message
news:apony-61F261.22503222072008@news.qwest.net...
> "Ness-Net" <richard.nodamn@nessnet.spam.com> wrote:
>
>> "Oxford" <apony@pasture.com> wrote in message
>> news:apony-F5C90E.20541022072008@news.qwest.net...
>> >
>> > so Verizon has flat lined... thanks for pointing out how much of a
>> > serious affect the iPhone is having to the poorly managed Verizon
>> > business.
>> >
>> > as they say, Verizon is doomed without access to the iPhone... this is
>> > further proof.
>>
>> Are you actually SERIOUS??
>>
>> And delusional - as always. Making something out of absolutely NOTHING!!
>>
>> The only thing the above proves is that you don't have a clue.
>
> no, you are forgetting i only use facts...
>
> Verizon has "flatlined" against Apple.
>
> Here is absolute proof:
>
> http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=VZ&t...z=m&q=l&c=aapl
>
> Please learn about the facts next time...

"Prilosec" <purple@nni.net> wrote in
news:VYmdnZtSGbvgtyDVnZ2dnUVZ_uudnZ2d@rcn.net:

> I'm not sure the financials of VZ translate all that well to the
> financials of VZ Wireless. VZ has been losing landline business for
> the past few years and is not doing all that well (neither is ATT
> landline). VOIP and cell service is taking business away from
> traditional phone companies. Comparing the aging part of Verizon to
> Apple is not a fair comparison. Comparing growth in VZ Wireless is
> more appropriate, which you have not done. BTW,
>

Of course he hasn't done the comparison with VZW. As much as I just HATE
VZW, the most dispicable sellphone company on the planet from personal
experience, I have to admit they're the BIG GUN in the USA, about to
swallow whole my beloved Alltel, which to me is akin to Russia swallowing
Georgia.

VZ isn't VZW at all.....but, of course, that truth wouldn't look so good in
his troll....(c;

On 2008-09-02, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> "Prilosec" <purple@nni.net> wrote in
> news:VYmdnZtSGbvgtyDVnZ2dnUVZ_uudnZ2d@rcn.net:
> Of course he hasn't done the comparison with VZW. As much as I just HATE
> VZW, the most dispicable sellphone company on the planet from personal
> experience, I have to admit they're the BIG GUN in the USA, about to
> swallow whole my beloved Alltel, which to me is akin to Russia swallowing
> Georgia.
>
> VZ isn't VZW at all.....but, of course, that truth wouldn't look so good in
> his troll....(c;

But VZ badly wants to be VZW, bad enough that you'll find speculation
concerning them swallowing much, much, much bigger fish than Alltel to
get it. See, for example

http://seekingalpha.com/article/9178...-over-vodafone

Dennis Ferguson

Dennis Ferguson wrote:

> But VZ badly wants to be VZW, bad enough that you'll find speculation
> concerning them swallowing much, much, much bigger fish than Alltel to
> get it. See, for example
>
> http://seekingalpha.com/article/9178...-over-vodafone

Interesting, but I question the supposition that Sprint will get its act
together in the U.S., and I question the idea that the integration of
Alltel will take 2-3 years. It's not like the absorption of AT&T
Wireless where Cingular was dealing with a technology change and a lot
of unhappy AT&T customers. Other than Larry, most Alltel customers will
be thrilled to be moved over to Verizon with their plans grandfathered
in--it's the best of both worlds for them.

At 03 Sep 2008 07:47:39 -0700 SMS wrote:

> Other than Larry, most Alltel customers will be thrilled to be moved
> over to Verizon with their plans grandfathered in--it's the best of
> both worlds for them.

Arguably, since Verizon and Alltel operate in many of the same markets,
many Alltel customers have already deliberately chosen NOT to be Verizon
customers.

The grandfathering will likely placate them for awhile, unless/until
Verizon pulls an "AT&T" and forces them out of those grandfathered plans
the next time they upgrade their handsets, like the "new AT&T" did to "old"
AT&T blue customers...

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in newssxvk.40204$ZE5.16866
@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:

> Other than Larry, most Alltel customers will
> be thrilled to be moved over to Verizon with their plans grandfathered
> in--it's the best of both worlds for them.
>
>

Maybe where you live, but certainly not where I live.....

A large majority of Alltel customers in SC buy the REGIONAL plan Verizon
will delete at takeover. More minutes in less area is fine for most users
who rarely, especially now as gas skyrockets in price and buying an
airplane ticket is like buying a house, travel outside the state.

It's stupid to buy "Nationwide Service" when you rarely leave the county
you live in.

Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in
news:g9md3k$5cb$1@aioe.org:

> The grandfathering will likely placate them for awhile, unless/until
> Verizon pulls an "AT&T" and forces them out of those grandfathered
> plans the next time they upgrade their handsets, like the "new AT&T"
> did to "old" AT&T blue customers...
>
>
>

Most Alltel customers I know fled Cellular One, here, when GTE bought up
Cellular One. More customers fled GTE Wireless when Verizon sucked them up
and jacked up prices while reducing actual service and features like
regional plans.

Most of us on Alltel are Verizon Refugees, fed up with being lied to and
screwed. And, once again, most are planning to churn, once again, as soon
as Verizon tries to screw us, yet again, with forced nationwide service we
don't want and don't need, turning our truly unlimited tethered internet
plans into mush by tripling rates while telling us we can only have 5GB per
month for three to four times as much money.

Notice I said WHEN, not IF. I'm hoping some kind of WiMax becomes
available before it happens. With Skype and Wimax, I wouldn't need
Sellphones.

Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 03 Sep 2008 07:47:39 -0700 SMS wrote:
>
>> Other than Larry, most Alltel customers will be thrilled to be moved
>> over to Verizon with their plans grandfathered in--it's the best of
>> both worlds for them.
>
> Arguably, since Verizon and Alltel operate in many of the same markets,
> many Alltel customers have already deliberately chosen NOT to be Verizon
> customers.
>
> The grandfathering will likely placate them for awhile, unless/until
> Verizon pulls an "AT&T" and forces them out of those grandfathered plans
> the next time they upgrade their handsets, like the "new AT&T" did to "old"
> AT&T blue customers...

Historically Verizon has not forced existing customers to adopt current
calling plans when upgrading handsets and going back under contract. I
keep worrying that they will do this, but so far they haven't. They've
gone to great trouble to even keep the greater coverage of the older
Americas Choice Plan available (plus they don't ever seem to charge for
the off-network AMPS roaming that shows on the handset as roaming that I
should be charged for). They're under no obligation to keep offering
service at prices from the older plans, but they do so anyway.

Part of the way Cingular forced AT&T Wireless customers to switch to
higher cost plans was due to the change from TDMA to GSM. All those
super-cheap TDMA plans went away with the technology change.

Verizon saw the horrible churn numbers of Cingular/AT&T that resulted
from the acquisition, as well as the class action lawsuits. It would be
unwise for them to alienate the Alltel customers and increase churn.

I think Verizon will likely stop offering new plans that only cover the
Alltel native service area, but very few customers sign up for the
Alltel local plan anyway because the service area is extremely limited,
and it costs so much to roam. Of Alltel's approximately 13 millions
subscribers, less than 2 million use the regional plans. Also, Alltel
charges a lot more for additional lines on their plans than Verizon, so
family plan users will see a decrease in monthly costs if they move to
Verizon's plans.

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:4QAvk.36476$co7.33169
@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com:

> and it costs so much to roam.

Actually that's not true. 10c/min.

What you do is when you want to travel outside the regional plan, you call
611 and tell them you want to buy 100 minutes of nationwide service. They
charge $10 to your bill and these minutes only countdown as your roaming
outside your coverage area, making occasional roaming at 10c/min quite
cheap, compared to other options from other carriers.

I use this service on my NC/SC $39 regional plan when I go to Florida
sailing. When I get in range coming in from sea I simply dial 611 and add
the minutes for $10. The system warns me when I'm down to 5 or 10 minutes
that I may need a recharge and will autosell me another 100 minutes by
pressing one of the keys. Works great....until Verizon takes over, I'm
assuming.

I roamed on Verizon in FL one time and it was like 89c/min....like roaming
in some 3rd World Country run by a Despot....a complete ripoff.

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:4QAvk.36476$co7.33169
@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com:

> Of Alltel's approximately 13 millions
> subscribers, less than 2 million use the regional plans.

Where's the reference for this statistic? I've never seen it anywhere.

Larry wrote:
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:4QAvk.36476$co7.33169
> @nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com:
>
>> and it costs so much to roam.
>
> Actually that's not true. 10c/min.
>
> What you do is when you want to travel outside the regional plan, you call
> 611 and tell them you want to buy 100 minutes of nationwide service. They
> charge $10 to your bill and these minutes only countdown as your roaming
> outside your coverage area, making occasional roaming at 10c/min quite
> cheap, compared to other options from other carriers.
>
> I use this service on my NC/SC $39 regional plan when I go to Florida
> sailing. When I get in range coming in from sea I simply dial 611 and add
> the minutes for $10. The system warns me when I'm down to 5 or 10 minutes
> that I may need a recharge and will autosell me another 100 minutes by
> pressing one of the keys. Works great....until Verizon takes over, I'm
> assuming.

That's such a hassle. No wonder so few Alltel subscribers sign up for
ther regional plans.

> I roamed on Verizon in FL one time and it was like 89c/min....like roaming
> in some 3rd World Country run by a Despot....a complete ripoff.

It was Alltel charging you the 89¢ per minute, not Verizon. Alltel paid
Verizon very little for the roaming, and it could have been nothing at
all depending on what reciprocal agreements were in place.

At 03 Sep 2008 21:05:37 -0700 SMS wrote:
> The system warns me when I'm down to 5 or 10 minutes that I may
> need a recharge and will autosell me another 100 minutes by pressing
> one of the keys. Works
> great....until Verizon takes over, I'm assuming.
>
> That's such a hassle. No wonder so few Alltel subscribers sign up for
> ther regional plans.


Oh p
ease- it's completely automated and reasonably priced. If my carrier
offered that option I'd switch in a heartbeat. I'd take me a year to use
1000 minutes ($10 worth) out of market, and I'l wager Larry saves at least
$10/month on his regional plan. That $100+/year savings.>

At 03 Sep 2008 11:37:41 -0700 SMS wrote:

> > The grandfathering will likely placate them for awhile, unless/until
> > Verizon pulls an "AT&T" and forces them out of those grandfathered plans
> > the next time they upgrade their handsets, like the "new AT&T" did to
"old"
> > AT&T blue customers...
>
> Historically Verizon has not forced existing customers to adopt current
> calling plans when upgrading handsets and going back under contract.

True, but those are grandfathered Verizon plans. I'm not sure how many
wing ut Alltel plans Verizon is going to want to support in their billing
systems.

> I keep worrying that they will do this, but so far they haven't.

To be fair, the same could be said of Cingular- it was primarily the
acquired ATTWS customers they shafted.

> They've gone to great trouble to even keep the greater coverage
> of the older Americas Choice Plan available (plus they don't ever
> seem to charge for the off-network AMPS roaming that shows on
> the handset as roaming that I should be charged for). They're under
> no obligation to keep offering service at prices from the older plans,
> but they do so anyway.


True, but the same can be said of most if not all carriers. Last time I
spoke to him (three months ago or so) my cousin was still on an old ATTWS
GSM "charter plan" that offered unlimited voice calling for $99. (The
recent ccrop of unlimited plans has made this less impressive, but he's had
it for six years or so!)

> Part of the way Cingular forced AT&T Wireless customers to switch
> to higher cost plans was due to the change from TDMA to GSM. All
> those super-cheap TDMA plans went away with the technology
> change.

It wasn't just the TDMA customers- Cingular refused to transfer
grandfathered ATTWS GSM plans to Cingular/"new AT&T" SIMs and phones,
forcing them to take new Cingular plans. My forementioned cousin has had
to use unlocked phones to keep his plan since Cingular/new AT&T phones
won't accept his "blue" SIM. He also can't add current data or text
packages to his charter plan. (For that reason he was considering
switching to either a new unlimited AT&T or Verizon plan now that they've
"caught up" to his charter plan's value, last I heard.)

On 2008-09-04, Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote:
> At 03 Sep 2008 11:37:41 -0700 SMS wrote:
>
>> > The grandfathering will likely placate them for awhile, unless/until
>> > Verizon pulls an "AT&T" and forces them out of those grandfathered plans
>> > the next time they upgrade their handsets, like the "new AT&T" did to
> "old"
>> > AT&T blue customers...
>>
>> Historically Verizon has not forced existing customers to adopt current
>> calling plans when upgrading handsets and going back under contract.
>
> True, but those are grandfathered Verizon plans. I'm not sure how many
> wing ut Alltel plans Verizon is going to want to support in their billing
> systems.

Should get an example of what they'll be doing early on, though.
Verizon's acquisition of RCC was approved by the FCC on August 1
(that's one year after the acquisition was announced), so they'll
probably do whatever they are going to do to Unicel's oddball plans
before they get around to Alltel.

It seems plausible that the accumulated variety of all their acquisitions'
plans might cause some heartburn to their billing system, though I'm
not sure they have any choice other than entering them for existing
customers even if they stop selling those plans.

Dennis Ferguson

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:w8Jvk.18936$LG4.4088
@nlpi065.nbdc.sbc.com:

> It was Alltel charging you the 89½ per minute, not Verizon. Alltel paid
> Verizon very little for the roaming, and it could have been nothing at
> all depending on what reciprocal agreements were in place.
>
>

Nope. I was a VERIZON customer. Doesn't wash.

Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in
news:g9nt6k$t3i$1@aioe.org:

> At 03 Sep 2008 21:05:37 -0700 SMS wrote:
>> The system warns me when I'm down to 5 or 10 minutes that I may
>> need a recharge and will autosell me another 100 minutes by pressing
>> one of the keys. Works
>> great....until Verizon takes over, I'm assuming.
>>
>> That's such a hassle. No wonder so few Alltel subscribers sign up for
>> ther regional plans.
>
>
> Oh p
> ease- it's completely automated and reasonably priced. If my carrier
> offered that option I'd switch in a heartbeat. I'd take me a year to
> use 1000 minutes ($10 worth) out of market, and I'l wager Larry saves
> at least $10/month on his regional plan. That $100+/year savings.>
>
>
>

Alltel's 2-state NC/SC plus a large area of the states that surround the
2 states from New Port News, VA to south of Brunswick, GA and up into
about Knoxville, TN is $39.95 for 700 mins, plus 100 bonus minutes for
being a great customer. The plan has all the bells/whistles, free LD,
free M2M, 5 My Circle was a bonus a couple years back for free,
voicemail, etc....$40!

Add $25 for truly unlimited EVDO broadband for my Nokia N800 Bluetooth
tethered to the Motorola ROKR Z6m that's NOT all hobbled up so you can't
use its music and camera functions straight off the microSD card and
it's a helluva deal compared to the forced nationwide nonsense and
hobbling on Verizon. COPY, MOVE, make your own ringtones (an MP3 from
usenet of the Star Trek bosun's whistle intercom), takes jpgs straight
to the memory card, plays usenet's MP3s straight off the card, no funny
business.

We're sure gonna get screwed with Verizon, who I'm sure is going to
force their shitty hobbled firmware on us as soon as they think they can
get away with it. After all, we can't have the NEW VZW Alltel customers
with much better phones than our loyal customers, can we? They might
compare notes and the old guys DEMAND what the new guys are still
enjoying! THAT would be very dangerous, indeed!

Bend over, boys....Verizon's comin'!

At 04 Sep 2008 14:23:07 +0000 Larry wrote:

> Alltel's 2-state NC/SC plus a large area of the states that surround the
> 2 states from New Port News, VA to south of Brunswick, GA and up into
> about Knoxville, TN is $39.95 for 700 mins, plus 100 bonus minutes for
> being a great customer. The plan has all the bells/whistles, free LD,
> free M2M, 5 My Circle was a bonus a couple years back for free,
> voicemail, etc....$40!


Nice- I iss my old T-Mo regional plan: 3000 minutesand 50 text messages for
$50. Back then (2001-2003) I didn't have GPRS, but could tether via dialup
out of my voice minutes. The T-Mo plan didn't have LD though, so I ditched
it eventually.

> make your own ringtones (an MP3 from
> usenet of the Star Trek bosun's whistle intercom)...

I take full credit for that idea! When I hear that whistle, I know
it's my phone ringing and no one elses!


> We're sure gonna get screwed with Verizon, who I'm sure is going to
> force their shitty hobbled firmware on us as soon as they think they can
> get away with it.


I doubt it- they'll be content to wait until you all upgrade to ther
crippled handsets- no point rocking the boat too early. Verizon is patient-
they have the rest of your life you screw you! ;-)

Dennis Ferguson wrote:
> On 2008-09-04, Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote:
>> At 03 Sep 2008 11:37:41 -0700 SMS wrote:
>>
>>>> The grandfathering will likely placate them for awhile, unless/until
>>>> Verizon pulls an "AT&T" and forces them out of those grandfathered plans
>>>> the next time they upgrade their handsets, like the "new AT&T" did to
>> "old"
>>>> AT&T blue customers...
>>> Historically Verizon has not forced existing customers to adopt current
>>> calling plans when upgrading handsets and going back under contract.
>> True, but those are grandfathered Verizon plans. I'm not sure how many
>> wing ut Alltel plans Verizon is going to want to support in their billing
>> systems.
>
> Should get an example of what they'll be doing early on, though.
> Verizon's acquisition of RCC was approved by the FCC on August 1
> (that's one year after the acquisition was announced), so they'll
> probably do whatever they are going to do to Unicel's oddball plans
> before they get around to Alltel.
>
> It seems plausible that the accumulated variety of all their acquisitions'
> plans might cause some heartburn to their billing system, though I'm
> not sure they have any choice other than entering them for existing
> customers even if they stop selling those plans.

Trying to keep track of which calls are roaming if they were still on
Alltel regional plans would be a real pain in the butt. They may just
let those customers keep the plan but no longer charge for roaming out
of the region. Since so few Alltel customers choose the regional plans
it wouldn't be a huge hit on revenue.

Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in news:g9ovkb$vr2$2
@aioe.org:

> I take full credit for that idea! When I hear that whistle, I know
> it's my phone ringing and no one elses!
>
>

A whole restaurant will look my way when that thing goes off on a Z6m ROKR.
It's really LOUD! I have no trouble hearing it at 70 mph on the interstate
on the motorcycle even without wearing the S9.

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:WDTvk.8520$np7.3555
@flpi149.ffdc.sbc.com:

> Since so few Alltel customers choose the regional plans
> it wouldn't be a huge hit on revenue.
>
>

One more time.....where is this info coming from? Got a reference or is
this just your opinion??

Larry wrote:
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:WDTvk.8520$np7.3555
> @flpi149.ffdc.sbc.com:
>
>> Since so few Alltel customers choose the regional plans
>> it wouldn't be a huge hit on revenue.
>>
>>
>
> One more time.....where is this info coming from? Got a reference or is
> this just your opinion??
>

I remember reading this back around 2003 or 2004 in one of the trade
publications. I think it was RCR Wireless ("http://www.rcrwireless.com").

This was 2-3 years after when Alltel came out with their "Always Up2Date
Guarantee," which would recommend the most cost effective rate plan to
customers, as a way of reducing churn (which was a huge problem for
Alltel when they didn't have a national plan that included roaming).

They had initially planned this guarantee to cover only their new Total
Freedom National plan, but then they expanded it to cover their regional
plans because they saw that a high percentage of their regional
customers were paying more in roaming charges than the cost difference
between the regional rate plan and the national rate plan for comparable
amounts of minutes. Very few new customers sign up for regional plans
according to Alltel, and over time the customers that did opt for
regional plans have been migrating to national plans.

As an aside, Cellular One in the SF Bay Area was running into a similar
problem. There were customers going to Sacramento to buy phones and
service on AT&T Wireless because Cellular One and GTE Mobilnet didn't
offer any national plans at the time. AT&T didn't like people doing this
because the subscribers were doing mostly off-network roaming onto other
networks. The problem was solved when AT&T took over Cellular One's Bay
Area operations.

Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 04 Sep 2008 14:23:07 +0000 Larry wrote:
>
>> Alltel's 2-state NC/SC plus a large area of the states that surround the
>> 2 states from New Port News, VA to south of Brunswick, GA and up into
>> about Knoxville, TN is $39.95 for 700 mins, plus 100 bonus minutes for
>> being a great customer. The plan has all the bells/whistles, free LD,
>> free M2M, 5 My Circle was a bonus a couple years back for free,
>> voicemail, etc....$40!
>
>
> Nice- I iss my old T-Mo regional plan: 3000 minutesand 50 text messages for
> $50. Back then (2001-2003) I didn't have GPRS, but could tether via dialup
> out of my voice minutes. The T-Mo plan didn't have LD though, so I ditched
> it eventually.

I had one of those plans for two days. A buddy and I both decided it
would be a way to make inexpensive calls in addition to our VZW phones.
This was pre "in" network. I found that tmobile had such poor coverage
that the phone was useless so I returned it the next day. tmobile tried
to ding me fifty bucks for less than 10 minutes of use and I remember
making a bunch of calls to make them go away.


>
>> make your own ringtones (an MP3 from
>> usenet of the Star Trek bosun's whistle intercom)...
>
> I take full credit for that idea! When I hear that whistle, I know
> it's my phone ringing and no one elses!
>
>
>> We're sure gonna get screwed with Verizon, who I'm sure is going to
>> force their shitty hobbled firmware on us as soon as they think they can
>> get away with it.
>
>
> I doubt it- they'll be content to wait until you all upgrade to ther
> crippled handsets- no point rocking the boat too early. Verizon is patient-
> they have the rest of your life you screw you! ;-)
>
>

SMS wrote:
> Larry wrote:
>> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:WDTvk.8520$np7.3555
>> @flpi149.ffdc.sbc.com:
>>
>>> Since so few Alltel customers choose the regional plans it wouldn't
>>> be a huge hit on revenue.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> One more time.....where is this info coming from? Got a reference or
>> is this just your opinion??
>>
>
> I remember reading this back around 2003 or 2004 in one of the trade
> publications. I think it was RCR Wireless ("http://www.rcrwireless.com").
>
> This was 2-3 years after when Alltel came out with their "Always Up2Date
> Guarantee," which would recommend the most cost effective rate plan to
> customers, as a way of reducing churn (which was a huge problem for
> Alltel when they didn't have a national plan that included roaming).
>
> They had initially planned this guarantee to cover only their new Total
> Freedom National plan, but then they expanded it to cover their regional
> plans because they saw that a high percentage of their regional
> customers were paying more in roaming charges than the cost difference
> between the regional rate plan and the national rate plan for comparable
> amounts of minutes. Very few new customers sign up for regional plans
> according to Alltel, and over time the customers that did opt for
> regional plans have been migrating to national plans.
>
> As an aside, Cellular One in the SF Bay Area was running into a similar
> problem. There were customers going to Sacramento to buy phones and
> service on AT&T Wireless because Cellular One and GTE Mobilnet didn't
> offer any national plans at the time. AT&T didn't like people doing this
> because the subscribers were doing mostly off-network roaming onto other
> networks. The problem was solved when AT&T took over Cellular One's Bay
> Area operations.

BTW, if you have some citation that says that a lot of Alltel customers
actually do sign up for regional plans, please post that as well. I've
seen you claim that this is the case, but I've never seen anything from
you that backs it up.

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:AL0wk.20988$xZ.3585
@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com:

> BTW, if you have some citation that says that a lot of Alltel customers
> actually do sign up for regional plans, please post that as well. I've
> seen you claim that this is the case, but I've never seen anything from
> you that backs it up.
>
>

Nope. My statement was that most Alltel customers I know are all on the
SC/NC regional plan as we rarely leave the region. We get lots more
minutes for less money on the regional plan.

We don't all live on airplanes.....any more that is.