Tethered to My Wireless Carrier

Khoi

20 years ago

All year long, I’ve been waiting for the FCC’s mandate on wireless portability to become law, so that I could switch from Sprint PCS without having to give up my number, and without having to send out one of those unseemly emails imploring friends and family to “Please note my new cell phone number.” This situation finally became reality on 24 Nov, but as I began to casually shop around for a new carrier I found that the coverage quality provided by the competition is generally even poorer than Sprint PCS.

A friend of mine who switched to T-Mobile earlier in the year describes it as “half as good as Sprint,” which sounds to me like doubling one’s frustrations in life. What I want is the quality of Verizon Wireless, which I had several years ago and which provided truly excellent coverage in New York City, but their handsets are completely lackluster, a problem they’ve had for as long as I can remember.

So, after all that waiting, I’m very nearly inclined to actually stick with Sprint PCS, the main reason being that they’ve begun offering the very sexy Handspring Treo 600. I know at least four people this month who have bought this phone, and two weeks ago I had a chance to look it over in person when a friend showed me his, and I was duly impressed by its size and build. What makes it so tempting is that Amazon.com is offering an almost ridiculous combination of rebates on it which would lower the US$599 price to somewhere around US$250. That’s cheaper even than a new PDA, which I’ve been trying to convince myself all week that I really, really need anyway.