T-Mobile Bundling Wi-Fi, Cellular Services

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-1000501.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-100...rt=dtx&tag=ntop</a><br /><br /></div>"T-Mobile USA on Thursday took a preliminary step toward simplifying the mobile worker's life. The Bellevue, Wash.-based wireless phone company announced that customers can now consolidate charges for its HotSpot Wi-Fi service on their monthly cellular phone service bills. The company will do the same for subscribers using its new General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) cell phone network in the next few months, it announced. T-Mobile said customers can add a monthly $19.99 unlimited access Wi-Fi service to their monthly wireless bill. The charge is at a 50 percent discount over the company's regular HotSpot rate plans. The service also will continue as a stand-alone offering by subscription or on a pay-for-use basis."<br /><br />What I don't understand in the article, though, is the bit about "doing the same for GPRS subscribers". My GPRS service is already aggregated onto my T-Mobile cellular bill, so what new thing is happening? Could they come up with an aggressive pricing plan that combines both HotSpot and GPRS? I'd probably go for it if that were the case.

[Vincent M Ferrari]

Suddenly my employee plan is starting to look obsolete.

$40 month, 20 megs of data, 1,500 anytime minutes.

I'm beginning to think that consumer plans are going to pass me by soon. 8O

[jgrnt1]

I bundled mine a couple weeks ago. I've had T-Mobile as my cellular carrier for about a month. I switched from AT&T TDMA when T-Mobile became the first GSM carrier in the US to cover enough of the country to make it useful for me. I have 2500 anytime minutes, unlimited night and weekend minutes and nationwide long distance for $99.99/month. Two weeks ago, I inquired about HotSpot service and whether I could have it on a combined bill (my company reimburses my cellular bill). They gave me the $19.99 plan. There are over 2300 HotSpots in the country -- almost all Starbucks have them, as well as many Borders Books and a bunch of airports. I've always stopped at Starbucks when I travel. Now I bring my laptop and PPC. I've even stopped outside in the parking lot to download email, in the afternoon when I already had my daily allotment of coffee.

[ricksfiona]

I bundled mine a couple weeks ago. I've had T-Mobile as my cellular carrier for about a month. I switched from AT&T TDMA when T-Mobile became the first GSM carrier in the US to cover enough of the country to make it useful for me. I have 2500 anytime minutes, unlimited night and weekend minutes and nationwide long distance for $99.99/month. Two weeks ago, I inquired about HotSpot service and whether I could have it on a combined bill (my company reimburses my cellular bill). They gave me the $19.99 plan. There are over 2300 HotSpots in the country -- almost all Starbucks have them, as well as many Borders Books and a bunch of airports. I've always stopped at Starbucks when I travel. Now I bring my laptop and PPC. I've even stopped outside in the parking lot to download email, in the afternoon when I already had my daily allotment of coffee.
This is a great deal! I'm so there! I think $20 is very reasonable.

[bdegroodt]

All I can say is :clap: Signed up yesterday. A no brainer in my opinion.

[don dre]

If only they could put hot spots somewhere that served good coffee. I wish they would avoid these corporate chains and establish some sort of revenue sharing plans where smaller operators could get involved. It might just be that I live in a city and have greater choice in coffee and book options but I need more options ot make it useful. If I had to travel though, this would be the best of the plans versus the overpriced boingo. I don;t undertand these places, if I'm staying at a hotel I don't need wireless...it probably means I rented a room at which point I can use wired access. I like T-mobile though as it seems they are aggressively experimenting to see what works.

[bdegroodt]

If only they could put hot spots somewhere that served good coffee. I wish they would avoid these corporate chains and establish some sort of revenue sharing plans where smaller operators could get involved. It might just be that I live in a city and have greater choice in coffee and book options but I need more options ot make it useful. If I had to travel though, this would be the best of the plans versus the overpriced boingo. I don;t undertand these places, if I'm staying at a hotel I don't need wireless...it probably means I rented a room at which point I can use wired access. I like T-mobile though as it seems they are aggressively experimenting to see what works.

Didn't we already cover Cosi being a chain in another thread? :)

Your post pretty much answers your own question. You can't get economy of scale by going to Joe's Gut Burning Coffee House" as Boingo is showing us. You either pay up as the end user or you pay up as the coffee shop owner if you are a small shop.

Basically it goes like this - T-Mobile likes business phone lines because they spend lots more than an average consumer. T-Mobile needs ubiquitous coverage in any service they offer to achieve profit. Starbucks is about as ubiquitous a chain as any I can think of. T-M + Starbucks=Critical mass=Profits.

[daS]

What I don't understand in the article, though, is the bit about "doing the same for GPRS subscribers". My GPRS service is already aggregated onto my T-Mobile cellular bill, so what new thing is happening?

I think that they are talking about adding Wi-Fi for customers that have GPRS-only (i.e. no voice) plans. These use PC Card adapters for laptops and are sold for corporate use where the company doesn't want to pay for employee's voice service.

[bdegroodt]

What I don't understand in the article, though, is the bit about "doing the same for GPRS subscribers". My GPRS service is already aggregated onto my T-Mobile cellular bill, so what new thing is happening?

I think that they are talking about adding Wi-Fi for customers that have GPRS-only (i.e. no voice) plans. These use PC Card adapters for laptops and are sold for corporate use where the company doesn't want to pay for employee's voice service.

Ooooooh! I always wondered how you could pull this off. Seemed like there would be a conflict if a SIM was in a data card and was supposed to be in a phone as well. That explains it.

I bet if the GSM carriers actually allowed you to have multiple SIMs active at any one time, they could increase their data useage by a bit. I'd buy that. Charge me an extra couple of bucks to have a second SIM for data only. Like the cable company does for an extra cable box.

[anthonymoody]

bdegroodt,
Either I am not understanding what you're saying, or I believe you're incorrect. WiFi does not use SIMs, so this is not an issue of multiple SIMs, this is an issue of a single bill for your SIM (whether in a phone or in a GSM PC card in your laptop) AND WiFI access.

TM

[riverbruce]

I sure hope it means providing an unlimited data option for cell phone users like T-Mobile's PocketPC and Treo 270 phones. That's my read of the CNet story.

[bdegroodt]

bdegroodt,
Either I am not understanding what you're saying, or I believe you're incorrect. WiFi does not use SIMs, so this is not an issue of multiple SIMs, this is an issue of a single bill for your SIM (whether in a phone or in a GSM PC card in your laptop) AND WiFI access.

TM

Sorry, it's a sidebar on Janak's comment about GPRS. Apparently, there's a way of having a data only SIM/account. I have GPRS on my account (And now WiFi), but it would be real cool to me if I could have a PC card in my laptop to use for GPRS connectivity instead of IR/serial/Bluetooth (Though I've never tried the BT data connection on my laptop.).

[daS]

I bet if the GSM carriers actually allowed you to have multiple SIMs active at any one time, they could increase their data useage by a bit. I'd buy that. Charge me an extra couple of bucks to have a second SIM for data only. Like the cable company does for an extra cable box.
Actually, most GSM carriers do offer such plans, but generally only for corporate clients. This allows them to bundle their total data and voice usage over all of their accounts. I think such packages generally start with 4 or more SIMs. Some carriers, such as Cingular, are starting to offer "family" plans for consumers as well. It's the same stuff as the corporate plan, but with a different name. - Don't you just love marketing? :wink:

bdegroodt,
Either I am not understanding what you're saying, or I believe you're incorrect. WiFi does not use SIMs, so this is not an issue of multiple SIMs, this is an issue of a single bill for your SIM (whether in a phone or in a GSM PC card in your laptop) AND WiFI access.
The extra SIM that bdegroodt is talking about is for a GPRS-only (no voice) PC Card for a laptop - not for the Wi-Fi service

[ricksfiona]

All I can say is :clap: Signed up yesterday. A no brainer in my opinion.
Just finished signing up too! :lol:

[MitzEclipse]

Does anyone know if you can log into the T-Mobile Hotspot concurrently? (Be logged into two different computers in two different locations surfing the web at the same time?)

[bdegroodt]

Does anyone know if you can log into the T-Mobile Hotspot concurrently? (Be logged into two different computers in two different locations surfing the web at the same time?)

This would seem to defy physics as we know it. :D

[MitzEclipse]

Does anyone know if you can log into the T-Mobile Hotspot concurrently? (Be logged into two different computers in two different locations surfing the web at the same time?)

This would seem to defy physics as we know it. :D

I'm guessing that's a no? :confused totally:

[bdegroodt]

Does anyone know if you can log into the T-Mobile Hotspot concurrently? (Be logged into two different computers in two different locations surfing the web at the same time?)

This would seem to defy physics as we know it. :D

I'm guessing that's a no? :confused totally:

I don't know if it's technically possible (There's another thread that included this part of the discussion in the forums. You may want to ping the member that posted the same question there and see what he was able to do.), but it's certainly not the intent of TM to allow you to do this. From Section 6 of their T&Cs

6. Use of Service. Unless otherwise set forth by us in writing, you are receiving a single user account solely for your use of the Service through one unit per login session. You agree not to resell any aspect of the Service, whether for profit or otherwise, share your IP address or ISP Internet connection with anyone, access the Service simultaneously through multiple units or to authorize any other individual or entity to use the Service. You agree that sharing the Service with another party breaches the Agreement and may constitute fraud or theft, for which we reserve all rights and remedies...Blah, blah, blah...

If we suspect violations of any of the above, we will investigate and we may institute legal action, immediately deactivate Service to any account without prior notice to you, and cooperate with law enforcement authorities in bringing legal proceedings against violators. You agree to reasonably cooperate with us in investigating suspected violations.