Alternatives to MSN+Verizon Wireless?

a.h.s. boy asks: "I took a little visit to my usually-neglected Verizon Wireless online account site today, and found myself greeted with the following message: 'Attention This site will not be available for use after October 2002. Please go to http://vzw.msn.com to set up a profile and start using our new VZW with MSN portal.' And now what does it take to login to my wireless phone site? That's right, .NET Passport account. I want one of those like I want a hole in my bedroom wall, however I really do want the convenience of getting my phone information online. I'm sure more and more sites are going to start requiring .NET passports for access, and even if I use bogus information for the Passport, it's still tied to my (quite non-bogus) cell phone records, isn't it? I already sent mail off to the Executive Office of Verizon Wireless to complain, but I can't imagine they're going to care what I think. What are others doing to work around the growing need for a Passport account?" For current customers of Verizon wireless, the question basically boils down to: "Should I stay or should I go?". For those opting for the latter, based on this latest twist, are there other cell-phone companies offering similar features to Verizon's service?

Comments

ditch them

[austad]

Tell them it's a bad idea by dropping their sorry asses. ATT Wireless has what you're looking for, so does sprint.

I'm with ATT (GSM service), and I'm very happy with it. The coverage is kinda sketchy sometimes though, but they plan on having the same coverage as their TDMA network by the end of the year. If you're that worried about the coverage, they have the Siemens S46 which is TDMA and GSM and offers excellent coverage, wireless web crap, and lots of other features that aren't available on a TDMA phone. BTW, I think Verizon is TDMA anyway, go with the wave of the future and get yourself a GSM phone. Sprint's new service is CDMA 2000 which is technically superior to 2G GSM, however, it's unclear if most providers will support CDMA 2000, so you'll be SOL if you're in a roaming area. It appears that most providers in Europe are now considering WCDMA which is superior to CDMA 2000.

Re:What's wrong

[bmetzler]

Well, when you put it that way, it makes me wonder why you'd use a GPL'ed web browser when you can just use Internet Explorer. You limit the sites that you can visit by picking anything else.

I tried installing Internet Explorer 6 and it wouldn't install. Can you tell me what the problem is? I have the latest version of Debian 3, and I did an apt-get dist-upgrade to make sure that everything was up-to-date.

-Brent

What crack are you on?

[Andy Dodd]

Went to http://bill.verizonwireless.com/

Input my username/password

I now see my bill.

Nothing about MSN.

Yes, their online portal is a different story. They switched MyVZW from Infospace to MSN.

Not like I care.

My advice: Get a Kyocera Smartphone. No more need for the crappy $5/month Mobile Web WAP service, you now have a full-blown client side web browser, an excellent combo web/WAP browser (Blazer) is available for $20, and you get to use the hundreds of PQA apps that have been written for the Palm VII.