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Cingular Forced To Stop TDMA Prepaid Sales

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Ouch!

SmartAccessCCrep

Oct 18, 2005, 2:12 PM
Well what do u think Cingular is going to do now?
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yunaderis

Oct 18, 2005, 2:21 PM
they probably will continue to sell phones and subscription services to people not from the ghetto 😳
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Shoota

Oct 18, 2005, 2:22 PM
yunaderis said:
they probably will continue to sell phones and subscription services to people not from the ghetto 😳



i hate the go phone
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SystemShock

Oct 18, 2005, 4:04 PM
So they stopped the GoPhone?

Sorry couldnt resist.
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Amy55

Oct 18, 2005, 5:01 PM
No. GoPhone is GSM. TDMA prepaid is Free2Go.
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tropicalhaven

Oct 18, 2005, 5:45 PM
Free2Go from legacy AT&T Wireless, and KIC from legacy Cingular.
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bigshaun

Oct 20, 2005, 8:02 PM
🙂 🙂 Thank you God, TDMA prepaid phone =hassle for us Cing reps. I cannot wait for the day we release the TDMA technology. Sometimes people call in with bricks and get upset that they don't work.
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lordrevan05

Oct 24, 2005, 4:25 PM
look i work for cingular and let me tell you, both prepaqid platforms were/are a joke. Only thing is TDMA was a lil more reliable than the piece of crap that is Go Phone 👿 I wouldn't sell Go Phone to my worst enemy!!
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SystemShock

Oct 18, 2005, 5:46 PM
Oh I'm sorry. In that case, they stopped Free2Go.

s' still kinda funny.
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Roadkill

Oct 18, 2005, 6:20 PM
In other words, they're gonna have to change the name to Required2Stop. 😉
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colione112

Oct 23, 2005, 10:17 PM
the "go phone" is just a brand name for prepaid... so what do you really hate?
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sangyup81

Oct 18, 2005, 5:39 PM
It's BCGI that's screwed. 🤣
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muchdrama

Oct 18, 2005, 7:16 PM
sangyup81 said:
It's BCGI that's screwed. 🤣


What? You think Cingular sold those TDMA prepaid phones and service for free? Believe me, it'll hurt the bottom line.
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rcadden

Oct 18, 2005, 7:56 PM
Are you kidding me? It won't hurt Cingular that much at all. They have already gotten paid for the equipment, and have been collecting from those users since the phone was purchased. They recently started really pushing the GoPhone, which is GSM prepaid, and thus not currently affected by this. I would say that a VERY small percentage of Cingular's prepaid customers are still on TDMA prepaid. Not a huge deal, but it will have some ripple effects on GoPhone, both positive and negative. Positive because now those people might be forced to switch to GoPhone and buy a new phone, and negative because they will need to check up on the patents that could affect GoPhone.
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Amy55

Oct 19, 2005, 12:33 AM
Are you stupid? Do you have any idea how many Prepaid customer's are still on the old AT&T accounts? Check your facts before posting. You must not even work for them.
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sangyup81

Oct 19, 2005, 9:07 AM
only someone with no business sense would see 400,000 people, most of whom will switch to Cingular GoPhone anyway, as a big loss
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SystemShock

Oct 19, 2005, 11:55 AM
How do ya know they'll switch to GoPhone? There's a lot of good options out there.

Overall, it ain't a good thing. Not a train wreck, but not good neither. Thats just keepin it real.
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sangyup81

Oct 20, 2005, 10:04 AM
And you should know people hate change. Changing phones is one thing, changing phones AND carriers is even worse.
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muchdrama

Oct 19, 2005, 2:20 PM
Amy55 said:
Are you stupid? Do you have any idea how many Prepaid customer's are still on the old AT&T accounts? Check your facts before posting. You must not even work for them.


Kapow! Thank you, Amy.
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colione112

Oct 23, 2005, 10:20 PM
We've been informed that current customers will be supported, but will be encouraged to upgrade to GSM. Makes sense since the TDMA network is scheduled to begin coming down at the end of 2008. They will be paying a royalty fee of .03 for every minute a customer talks on TDMA prepaid.
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muchdrama

Oct 19, 2005, 2:19 PM
rcadden said:
Are you kidding me? It won't hurt Cingular that much at all.


So, all the costs associated with manufacturing and configuring the handsets, setting up the service, and maintaining said TDMA service will magically disappear? Right.
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tropicalhaven

Oct 19, 2005, 4:31 PM
The TDMA service won't disappear, but TDMA prepaid will. Since Cingular is phasing TDMA out anyway, I highly doubt they're looking for more traffic on the TDMA network just because they still have it running. The prepaid users will go now, and the post paid users will continue to be phased out until the shut down date (which may coincide with the AMPS sunset date).

In terms of the expenses configuring the handsets, and the costs of migrating or losing prepaid customers...those are costs would be had anyway. It's just that Cingular is getting them now with the publicity rather than the phase out.
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sangyup81

Oct 20, 2005, 10:02 AM
TDMA customers are mostly those who have been customers for a long time. That being said, GSM is a much more cost effective solution than TDMA so in the long run, it'll cost Cingular more to keep TDMA Pre-Paid than to get rid of it.
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SystemShock

Oct 20, 2005, 11:35 AM
Don't know why you're yelling at Muchdrama and tellin' him he don't know nothing. He seems to make a lot of sense to me.

If you're gonna disagree, try to disagree more agreeably. Dig?
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sangyup81

Oct 21, 2005, 2:19 PM
TDMA is a dying network but Cingular has to keep the towers and equipment up and maintained. The only reason it's still up is because the Feds mandate that it stays until a future date. This court order gives Cingular an excuse to cut off part of the problem.
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SystemShock

Oct 21, 2005, 2:44 PM
That ain't the only reason its still up. You still got millions of people on TDMA, from what I understand.

So Cingular is gonna just pull the rug out from under them all at once, buh-bam! and lose 'em as customers? No, I don't think so.
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sangyup81

Oct 22, 2005, 9:14 AM
Millions of people who need to switch to GSM one day or another. This just brings the day closer for Pre-Paid.

With a drop of the 400,000 people on Pre-Paid, capacity is freed up. It's a big deal.

You're thinking short term Mr. SystemShock. Can you not see how this wouldn't matter in the long term? A big company like Cingular can absorb the shock of losing TDMA pre-paid..... and besides, corporate lawyers are expensive. You can't forget that either.
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Amy55

Oct 22, 2005, 12:28 PM
Exactly. Without TDMA the merger would have been nothing. The only reason Cingular is "supposedly" on top is because of the AT&T customer base.
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SystemShock

Oct 26, 2005, 2:46 AM
Amy55 said:
Exactly. Without TDMA the merger would have been nothing. The only reason Cingular is "supposedly" on top is because of the AT&T customer base.

Yep, that does make sense.
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muchdrama

Oct 20, 2005, 1:52 PM
sangyup81 said:
TDMA customers are mostly those who have been customers for a long time. That being said, GSM is a much more cost effective solution than TDMA so in the long run, it'll cost Cingular more to keep TDMA Pre-Paid than to get rid of it.


Go jump off a bridge. This is a venture that's in place, and up and running. Suddenly receiving a court order to cease and desist is a bad thing. Glad you're not running my company.
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sangyup81

Oct 21, 2005, 2:15 PM
Cingular would have ceased and desisted TDMA a long time ago if the Feds would have let them. Now they have an excuse to do it.

Keeping TDMA is costly and inefficient. So yeah.... you don't know about the industry.....

Stick to selling whatever non-Cingular product you are selling
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muchdrama

Oct 22, 2005, 6:48 PM
sangyup81 said:
Cingular would have ceased and desisted TDMA a long time ago if the Feds would have let them. Now they have an excuse to do it.

Keeping TDMA is costly and inefficient. So yeah.... you don't know about the industry.....

Stick to selling whatever non-Cingular product you are selling


A) I don't sell anything.

and

B) You don't have ANY idea what kind of profit Cingular was making in regards to the current subject.

Don't tell me to be quiet you punk.
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sangyup81

Oct 24, 2005, 9:13 AM
shhhhhh
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SystemShock

Oct 26, 2005, 3:32 PM
sangyup81 said:
shhhhhh

Does that ever work?

Probably only if muchdrama got bored and walked away, maybe.
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tropicalhaven

Oct 18, 2005, 9:33 PM
I'm not sure if it'll hurt Cingular as much. Cingular is wanting everything to go to GSM, and even though this is only a small percentage, it's a good reason to push GSM over TDMA...because it's the law (not in every case, but still). It'll cost them some money, and some bad publicity, but even bad publicity is better than no publicity. It'll be a punch to the company, but I don't see any long term affects, since it only seems to affect TDMA users.
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SystemShock

Oct 18, 2005, 11:27 PM
muchdrama said:
sangyup81 said:
It's BCGI that's screwed. 🤣


What? You think Cingular sold those TDMA prepaid phones and service for free? Believe me, it'll hurt the bottom line.


Yeah, that does make sense. 400,000 is a lot of peoples.
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tropicalhaven

Oct 19, 2005, 4:33 PM
Even 400,000 prepaid phones does not mean a lot of revenue. Prepaid users usually have them for low volume use, and it wouldn't be the blow the company would have with 400,000 post-paid users being forced off the system.
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SystemShock

Oct 19, 2005, 5:56 PM
Wow, people sure do have a hard time keepin' it real sometimes, yo.

Almost half a million people is nothing? Pshaw, y'all. I'm with Amy and Muchdrama, I just don't buy it.
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tropicalhaven

Oct 19, 2005, 10:29 PM
I'm not saying that 400,000 people is nothing. I'm just saying that it may not be profitable. If 400,000 is such a huge number, how come the companies aren't fighting over who gets to cover North Dakota natively? Or West Virginia? Or Wyoming? The fact it, it's just not profitable to put much into those states, and it may not be *profitable* to put a lot into prepaid TDMA.
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Amy55

Oct 20, 2005, 12:02 AM
Well that's half a million customers that Verizon will gain. Good for them!
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tropicalhaven

Oct 20, 2005, 9:21 PM
When it comes down to business, does it really matter how many customers a company has?

Here is a theoritical (note emphasis on theoretical)
Let's say Verizon Wireless has 97 million customers, and makes a net income of 48 million per quarter, because a majority are on prepaid who barely use the phone. Now T-Mobile has 35 million customers with a net income of 57 million per quarter, and Cingular has a net income of 59 million per quarter with 53 million customers.

In this scenario, would VZW be better just because it has more customers?

If the TDMA users will cost Cingular more money than Cingular would collect with revenues, Cingular is actually better with a few less customers.

Would you pay $50 per month p...
(continues)
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Amy55

Oct 21, 2005, 12:30 AM
I don't care about the numbers that people spout off. I'm just saying that Verizon will gain more customers, thus continue to climb to the top once again. And I'm happy with them. Cingular is a dive.
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Amy55

Oct 21, 2005, 12:31 AM
That should read "happy for them".
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sangyup81

Oct 22, 2005, 9:20 AM
Amy55, do you know what they say about assuming?

Do you really think TDMA pre-paid customers really have the smarts to shop around? And even if they have the smarts, do you really think they would bother?

They would go to a Cingular store or call Cingular CS to ask WTF is going on. Then these guys would explain the situation, apologize, and offer a replacement. You're saying it's more likely those customers will say no, take the trouble of going to another store, and activating pre-paid with them?

I don't think so Amy.

Pre-Paid customers were free to leave whenever they wanted. If they really wanted to go to Verizon, they would have a long time ago.

And what is your reasoning for people switching to Verizon Pre-Paid? It i...
(continues)
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Amy55

Oct 22, 2005, 12:24 PM
If you worked for blue you would understand. But obviously not. This is just another reason that customer will get pissed off at Cingular, and believe me, I've heard it all.
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tropicalhaven

Oct 22, 2005, 10:40 AM
Amy...I have a question for you. Who is the "top" bank in United States?

Whether you determine "top" by the number of total customers, the physical area in which the bank has branches, the number of branch locations, the number of accounts that are open/current, the number of credit cards issued, the total deposits, total number of employees, total loan amounts, or total profits, the answer will not be the same every time.

Now, who is the "top" wireless company? Why are they the top? Do they have the most customers? The most revenue? The largest *coverage* area? The most licenses? The most minutes of use (and data use)? The largest number of cell tower locations? The higheest profitability?

I guarantee you that neither Ci...
(continues)
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Amy55

Oct 22, 2005, 12:26 PM
Well for one, your bank question I can't answer seeing as how I don't even live in the US. Second, quality (in my opinion) is what is most important with wireless service. You have no idea how horrible this merger has been. Try working for blue. End of discussion.
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tropicalhaven

Oct 22, 2005, 7:33 PM
If you don't live in the United States, how often are you here to even know how the wireless services are? Where specifically do you use your wireless service in the United States? What kind of wireless phone do you use in the United States? What wireless service do you subscribe to (or roam on) in the United States?

Now, here's another question: What would have been ideal resolution to the problem that AT&T Wireless was facing?

Would it have been better to let the customer base slowly churn, file chapter 11, and end up selling off the company individually asset by asset? Would it have been better to sell to Vodafone? The truth is, no one knows. But AT&T Wireless couldn't survive as it was, so it is obviously better with Cingu...
(continues)
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tropicalhaven

Oct 18, 2005, 5:44 PM
Well, they now have legal mandate to stop [some] TDMA service. I think they'll follow through.
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thegreatrep

Oct 18, 2005, 11:04 PM
Cingular won't be that affected (I admit some 400,000 customers is still a lot however), but I wonder what boost mobile and the other smaller carriers that use BCGI will do?

Cingular has wanted those TDMA holdouts to move to GSM for sometime now, and now they'll be forced to move by law, or go without service. I'm sure it'll be fun listening to people yell at me about how bad Cingular is when their phone no longer works in 90 days, even though it's not Cingular's (or Boost Mobile, etc for that matter) fault this happened.

Here's the most informative article I could find on this subject. Much more info then that link to wirlessweek.com.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article ... »

TheGreatR...
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