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T-Mobile Announces LTE Network

Posted by timothy on from the fertig-oder-nicht dept.

MrSeb writes "In a beautiful twist of fate, T-Mobile USA has announced that it will be launching an LTE network in 2013 using the money and AWS spectrum that it obtained from AT&T after its failed acquisition. According to T-Mobile, this upgrade comprises of a three-phase process: free up 2G spectrum, move HSPA+ to formerly 2G spectrum, and deploy LTE on formerly HSPA+ spectrum. The end result will be a much faster network that can compete with AT&T and Verizon, and download speeds of up to 74Mbps in 75% of the top 25 markets in the US. International visitors should enjoy better roaming thanks to the deployment of PCS HSPA+, too — and finally, an AT&T LTE iPhone would also work on T-Mobile's upcoming network."

58 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. The US market is really confusion by Jack+Malmostoso · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I will visit the US this summer from Europe. Can anyone point me to a link where I can get some maps/explanations about roaming in the US?
    I am horrendously confused about the US market and their current standards.
    I will come with a N9 and an iPhone so I should be fine, but I'd like to be sure ahead of the time.

    1. Re:The US market is really confusion by QuasiSteve · · Score: 5, Informative

      There is barely any 'roaming' in the U.S. You might get some plans that will give you free calling to other people on the same network, but unless you send all the people you interact with while there a survey indicating what network they're on and basing your decision on that... well.

      You're coming from Europe with an N9 and an iPhone that, presumably, take SIM cards and run on the GSM networks. This is what limits you mostly - to AT&T and T-Mobile - if you want to stick to those phones and want to pick up a local SIM card. And yes, you'd want to pick up a local SIM card unless your European cell company doesn't gouge customers for actual roaming costs from using your European SIM in the U.S.

      The reason I mention "if you want to stick to those phones" is because you have a much greater choice if you just pick up a plan+phone, or prepaid phone, from any provider you please, and use it to make actual calls - keeping your N9/iPhone around for chatting, internetting, etc. on e.g. WiFi networks (your hotel / place you stay, starbucks, mcdonald's, book stores, whatever).
      You can then keep that phone and just bring it with you every time you visit the U.S. (note that prepaid options expire after a while (at least at AT&T) unless you top it off, so if you visit again in a year, you might have to pick up a new prepaid SIM/plan and deal with having to send people new U.S. numbers each time).

      If you do pick up an AT&T Go Phone or SIM, please note that topping up is best done at an AT&T store location. The reason for this is that, as recently as January, their web interface does not accept non-American Credit Cards and their call-in service puts you first through a speaking menu, then a 'press # to...' menu, then finally decides to also not accept your credit card, puts you on hold for a queue to an actual person, and by the time you get through to them, will be out of the credits that were left (yes, calling the top-up service costs you credit.) Maybe they fixed that, maybe mashing buttons to get through to a person asap works as well, but in my opinion.. just go to one of the stores, much less hassle and they can help you out better with options in case your usage indicates a better plan, too.

      That's my personal experience - a simple search query will yield many sites that give advice to travelers, though.

    2. Re:The US market is really confusion by yincrash · · Score: 1, Informative

      Your N9 and iPhone will get 3G reception from AT&T only. You can get 2G reception from T-Mobile (until this plan rolls out, then you can get 3G).

      Verizon and Sprint are not compatible with your phones.

    3. Re:The US market is really confusion by characterZer0 · · Score: 1, Informative

      If you will primarily be in urban areas, AT&T and T-Mobile will be fine.

      If you want to get coverage in rural areas, Verizon might be your best bet. AT&T is getting better, but I frequent areas of rural New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia where Verizon is the only option. By "rural" I mean small towns of 1500 people and farmland, not the wilderness.

      --
      Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
    4. Re:The US market is really confusion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's according to where you're at. I live in very rural southern Indiana (1/2mi from my nearest neighbor and a county population of 20k) and AT&T is the only service I can get, plus it's 3G. I have to walk to the end of my driveway to get a couple bars on Verizon and it's not 3G. Service is solid and I rarely have a dropped call.

      That said, when I lived in LA and SF, AT&T sucked.

    5. Re:The US market is really confusion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The Nokia N9 is pentaband supporting the 1700 Mhz used by Tmobile so you should get HSPA speeds with it. Iphone will be limited to EDGE.

    6. Re:The US market is really confusion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You are coming with what is possibly the best phone to have for international roaming N9 with pentaband. That'll work on both AT&T and T-mo with 3G. No point buying a phone + plan here. T-mo has some pretty good prepaid plans http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans. If you are coming for just a couple weeks you could also go with the $2 or $3 per day plans. That's probably going to be the cheapest option. If you don't need data then you can also just use the pay as you go plans.

    7. Re:The US market is really confusion by segin · · Score: 1

      The N9 has UMTS-AWS support. Nice try, though.

    8. Re:The US market is really confusion by segin · · Score: 1

      But Verizon is CDMA2000, and thus doesn't work with his phone. (Not that they work with their own phones as it is.)

    9. Re:The US market is really confusion by yincrash · · Score: 1

      Oops. Apologies. Yes the N9 will work on Tmo's current 3G

    10. Re:The US market is really confusion by rwa2 · · Score: 1

      If you could somehow set yourself up with data access, something like Google Voice or maybe Skype might work well. Then you just have one number to give out to people to reach you that you could set up to ring whatever temporary number(s) you have set up at the time. That way you only have one voicemail to check as well, esp. if you forward all your temporary vm accounts to this service as well.

    11. Re:The US market is really confusion by Anthony+Mouse · · Score: 1

      The reason I mention "if you want to stick to those phones" is because you have a much greater choice if you just pick up a plan+phone, or prepaid phone, from any provider you please, and use it to make actual calls - keeping your N9/iPhone around for chatting, internetting, etc. on e.g. WiFi networks (your hotel / place you stay, starbucks, mcdonald's, book stores, whatever).

      It surprises me that more domestic US users don't do the same thing. It's to the point that you can get second hand Android phones on eBay and elsewhere for $100-$200. (They sometimes have a "bad ESN" meaning the carrier won't activate it for some reason, e.g. the user filed an insurance claim thinking the phone was broken but then someone either realized it wasn't or fixed it and resold it, or because the carriers are just jackasses who refuse to activate used phones etc. But if you're only going to use it on WiFi then what the carrier thinks doesn't much matter.) Then put Cyanogen on it, use it on WiFi and get yourself a cheap flip phone for actual phone calls.

    12. Re:The US market is really confusion by k_187 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but he could get a verizon burner for what the SIM would cost on AT&T. not a perfect solution, but better than no signal.

      --
      11 was a racehorse
      12 was 12
      1111 Race
      12112
    13. Re:The US market is really confusion by schnikies79 · · Score: 1

      If you go to a corporate AT&T store, they will give you a pre-pay sim card for free.

      --
      Gone!
    14. Re:The US market is really confusion by Mousit · · Score: 1

      Going along with QuasiSteve's message, I too recommend a local pre-paid local cellular service when traveling to America. Price gouging on roaming can get extreme, on both sides of the pond (American cell companies screw us on roaming in Europe too). And indeed, I'd also recommend buying a local phone with it if you don't mind having a third phone on you.

      I've often suggested TracFone to my various European friends when they visit. It's a GSM reseller that sits on top of AT&T's network, so you get widespread national coverage, and it's extremely cheap. You can buy a phone (which usually includes 20 minutes of service to start with) for as little as US$10. You can refill the minutes via a telephone number, their website, on the phone itself through menus, or by going into most any store and buying a 'minutes card' (TracFone's minutes cards can be found in almost any grocery and convenience store or gas station, and most any consumer store that has an electronics section). Much like Steve's suggestion, going into a physical store is the easiest when using a foreign credit card (and it's the only way to buy using cash), but since such a WIDE array of stores sell their cards it can hardly be called an inconvenience.

      The other primary reason I suggest it? Privacy. Sure, your two existing phones may work with T-Mobile's or AT&T's networks (their 2G/GSM networks work with most any GSM phone, but their 3G networks operate on wholly incompatible frequencies and most phones usually only support one or the other), and you could get pre-pay service with them if your phones are SIM unlocked (I would figure they are). However, the big telcos require a bunch of personal information to sign up for their service. Admittedly, I haven't used T-Mobile in a long time, but I was recently using AT&T's pre-pay and they insist on your full personal details, name, address, all that sort of thing. TracFone doesn't ask for jack unless you use their website. If you buy the phone and minute cards at stores it's completely anonymous.

      The anonymity also means TracFones are very easy to sell off when you're done with them, though being so cheap they're generally not going to sell for much unless you've still got a lot minutes left on them. They're basically disposable phones. My friends usually just drop them into a local cell phone recycling box when they're leaving for home. Stores like Best Buy have these, which probably will be one near you if you're visiting major cities.

    15. Re:The US market is really confusion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Second this -- the N9 + T-mobile's $3/day gets you everything you can expect, unless you plan on heavy downloading (your first 200MB/day is unthrottled HSPA, after that it's throttled to EDGE speeds). You could also look into MVNOs to find one using GSM (either AT&T's or T-mobile's network, but the N9 doesn't care), and might get a better rate, particularly if you expect to be here a month or more.

    16. Re:The US market is really confusion by King+InuYasha · · Score: 1

      The Nokia N9 works on T-Mobile's HSPA+ network as it is, and as it will be (the Nokia N9 has a pentaband HSPA+ radio). The iPhone will only work on T-Mobile's 2G network for now, though.

    17. Re:The US market is really confusion by John.Banister · · Score: 1

      First off I should explain my perspective: I am a T-Mobile customer. I don't buy data service for my N900 as I live and work too far from urban areas to get data coverage. When I want data service while traveling, what works best for me is to bring my laptop to a McDonald's or a Coffee shop that has free wifi, buy an overpriced beverage, and camp at a table for a while.

      There are currently primarily two separate voice hardware specifications used in USA, CDMA2000 and GSM. I don't know of any phones that will talk to both CDMA and GSM.

      The USA nationwide carriers that use CDMA are Verizon & Sprint. US Cellular, Alaska Communications Systems, and others use CDMA in some geographically restricted markets, and smaller carriers that sell access to the larger carriers networks also exist. If it's contractually allowed, CDMA phones can roam for voice calls on another carrier's CDMA network.

      The major carriers in USA for GSM are ATT & T-Mobile (& GCI in Alaska). ATT won't sell you a SIM card unless you have made an agreement to have a contract with them which will last for a year or more. ATT seems not to want you to buy service from them on any phone other that one they sell, and doesn't want you to have any service on a data capable phone unless they sell you data service on it. T-Mobile phones can roam on ATTs nework. I have the unlimited talk & text plan from T-Mobile, and it has paid for calls I have made from everywhere I've been that there's GSM signal, except Unalaska Island in the Aleutians. If I'm near the border with Canada, T-Mobile will also remove any charges incurred if my phone accidentally gets picked up by a Canadian tower. I suppose roaming could work the other way, but a comparison of ATT's and T-Mobile's coverage maps will show that the question is somewhat moot.

      The carriers have coverage maps on their web sites. No one sells prepaid cellular data service in USA. One of the cheapest Data plans is from Virgin Mobile who sells pre-paid voice on Sprint's network. A great resource for prepaid cellular purchasing are the general purpose electronics stores Radio Shack & Best Buy. They're not the least expensive, but the convenience is often worth the expense. General purpose merchants (eg WalMart, etc) also sell prepaid phones inexpensively, but the selection is much more limited.

      If you plan to roam, make sure that you purchase a plan of the "nationwide no roaming" type as if you make calls while roaming without such an agreement, you've given the operator of the network on which you roam permission to financially rape you, and they likely will.

      If you plan to buy additional time for a prepaid wireless phone, I recommend buying it online from someone like www.wirelessrefill.com I've found that the online prepaid airtime merchants have better rates. When you purchase time, they email you a code. You enter the code on your phone, hit send, and when the phone is done communicating with the network, it has the extra time. It's also worth noting that prepaid airtime expires if unused. The amount of time it takes for the unused time to expire positively correlates to the amount airtime purchased in one chunk.

    18. Re:The US market is really confusion by Algan · · Score: 1

      I suggest you buy a local SIM, otherwise roaming charges will kill you. Think $1-2 per minute, or more, depending on your home carrier.
      You will have to choose between AT&T or T-Mobile, they are the two (main) GSM providers. Both offer nationwide prepaid plans. Your N9 will work on both networks in 3G mode, your iphone will work on both networks in EDGE mode and on AT&T in 3G mode. In urban areas they're probably similar, but AT&T has significantly better coverage in rural areas. You can check their website for coverage maps. You can also check their website for pricing on prepaid plans (called gophone on at&t and pay as you go on tmobile).

      I am more familiar with AT&T plans, since that's what I buy for my parents when they come to visit from Europe: the SIM costs $25 to buy, but it gives you $25 credit to your account so it is essentially free. Some clueless salesperson might want to convince you otherwise, but prepaid SIM card purchases are so rare they don't really know what's going on. You have a choice of plans, $0.10/minute, $0.20/SMS or if you're going to use your phone a lot, $2/day for unlimited voice/SMS access. You can also add a data package to this, which will cost you extra.

      One thing you need to know about US cellular market is that you pay for incoming calls and texts at the same rate as for outgoing calls. This is compensated by the fact that rates don't differ if you're calling to a different network, either cellular or landline. Obviously, this does not matter if you decide to go for the $2/day unlimited plan.

      T-Mobile's plans are different, I don't think they offer an unlimited option, and they are a bit more expensive, depending on your usage. Also, not sure you can get a data plan with them.

      --
      If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
    19. Re:The US market is really confusion by mhbtr · · Score: 1

      I will visit the US this summer from Europe. Can anyone point me to a link where I can get some maps/explanations about roaming in the US? I am horrendously confused about the US market and their current standards. I will come with a N9 and an iPhone so I should be fine, but I'd like to be sure ahead of the time.

      Get H2O Wireless (www.h2owirelessnow.com), Jolt (www.joltmobile.com) or Fuzion (www.fuzionmobile.com). All these are MVNOs that operate on AT&T's spectrums (so you will get 3g) and offer competitive (read as "cheaper than AT&T") pay as you go plans. Of course you will need an unlocked phone, but these are all better options than AT&T and T-Mobile for short term subscriptions.

  2. LTE iPhone? by mspohr · · Score: 2

    I didn't think iphone offered LTE or 4G. Maybe someday?

    --
    I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    1. Re:LTE iPhone? by Andrio · · Score: 4, Funny

      T-Mobile needs to get ready for when Apple invents 4G, like the other carriers are doing.

      --
      The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
    2. Re:LTE iPhone? by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 2

      I'm unsure of the alphabet soup jargon, but it would certainly be nice if devices built and sold for AT&T networks would work at full speed on T-Mobile's network. I've been a fairly happy TM customer for a few years but have been frustrated by the selection of phones, while most of the ones I want are AT&T only. This is especially true of second-hand phones. I would love to be able to find something nice to upgrade to (used) without paying an arm and a leg so I can switch to SimpleMobile (T-Mobile's network) to save a few bucks. Hard to find good used TM phones at a reasonable price, and I absolutely do not want to sign another 2-year contract. Maybe this will all change, but I sure don't want to wait another year+.

      --
      This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    3. Re:LTE iPhone? by Chuckstar · · Score: 2

      iPhone is not LTE, but it is compatible with what AT&T is calling just plain 4G.

      I don't know the right terms for the underlying technologies, but AT&T refers to "4G" as 4x the speed of 3G and "4GLTE" as 12x the speed of 3G.

    4. Re:LTE iPhone? by mspohr · · Score: 1

      ATT 4G is not real 4G but kind of 3G "plus" and isn't even available in a lot of locations. Many users seem to be finding disappointing performance on the iPhone.
      I think this is just ATT marketing hype...

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    5. Re:LTE iPhone? by King+InuYasha · · Score: 1

      An LTE iPhone will probably become available this summer.

    6. Re:LTE iPhone? by sir-gold · · Score: 1

      Ironically, I left at&t and switched to t-mobile a year and a half ago because I thought at&t's selection of phones sucked compared to t-mobile. Android phone that I can't even sideload apps onto, let alone root? no way!

    7. Re:LTE iPhone? by PixetaledPikachu · · Score: 1

      T-Mobile needs to get ready for when Apple invents 4G, like the other carriers are doing.

      invents? INVENTS? Really?

  3. 75% of the top 25 markets by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Informative

    "75% of the top 25 markets" sounds like they mean there will be almost no coverage. A "market" could just mean a city, say the city centre. Assuming one enabled mast that could work out as about 18 square miles for the entire country.

    Presumably their plans are a bit grander than that, but it still sounds like they are saying their network has terrible coverage and won't be getting any better.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    1. Re:75% of the top 25 markets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Presumably their plans are a bit grander than that, but it still sounds like they are saying their network has terrible coverage and won't be getting any better.

      Yes, but it will be FASTER terrible converage!

    2. Re:75% of the top 25 markets by PReDiToR · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What use is 74Mbit/sec data if you're unable to download more than 500MB/month?
      Might as well stick to ISDN speeds and seem like you're downloading all day every day.
      Only when you're in a City though, nobody ever uses their mobile phones outside the City, do they?

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
    3. Re:75% of the top 25 markets by Rich0 · · Score: 1

      Well, I imagine they're aiming to have their LTE service where their 3G service was maybe 4-5 years ago. That wasn't bad - I had service in most metropolitan suburbs I visited, and 2G service anywhere that there were more people than bears. Today their 3G service is basically ubiquitous, and to be honest there aren't a lot of things that 3G isn't sufficient for. Their "4G" service is about as widespread as their 3G service as well.

      Sure, it isn't as useful as Verizon if you're camping in the woods, but I'll save the $40/month and stick with T-Mo.

    4. Re:75% of the top 25 markets by King+InuYasha · · Score: 1

      You can get high-speed buckets of 200MB, 2GB, 5GB, and 10GB. If you need more, you can get more. That being said, all data plans (except the 200MB one) are unlimited usage, with the exception of how much full-speed data you can use. After that, your speed is cut.

  4. Access to all of AT&T network not included? by Formorian · · Score: 1

    I like T-Mobile CS. But service in my home area is spotty at best and some of the places I go non existant. (One reason I like them is free Wi-Fi calling for home is awesome) But most of those places have good AT&T reception. Was almost hoping in a service way the deal went through but in CS way it didn't. I was hoping the failed deal would allow all T-Mobile access to AT&T in all area's, not just select few area's that AT&T/Tmobile agreements allow. (The one area I know of TMobile recept is fine but a deal exists. But in a few others Tmobile recept is terrible, AT&T is fine but no deal there). Oh well. I'll stick with them for now. See how it is when this stuff starts rolling out in 2013. Thing is since i'm 10 miles from Albany NY, i get 4g 5 miles from my house. Just wish they could add another tower in my area.

    1. Re:Access to all of AT&T network not included? by Rich0 · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately there is no way you'd get the best of both worlds. If the merger went through you'd get AT&T service, and soon after AT&T CS and rates. Oh, and not much later everybody would raise their rates so you'd pay more than current AT&T rates by the time it is done...

    2. Re:Access to all of AT&T network not included? by King+InuYasha · · Score: 1

      There's a website you can go to for requesting coverage improvements. http://www.t-mobile-takeaction.com/

  5. Scam. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What's the point of offering speeds up to 74Mbps for a phone, when service providers give you ridiculously low data plans at an extravagantly high price... So we can rip through that low data plan faster than before?

    1. Re:Scam. by sir-gold · · Score: 1

      For t-mobile, this would mean that you would have blazing fast internet for exactly 9 minutes and 13 seconds before you hit the 5gb "unlimited" cap, at which point you would spend the rest of the month reliving the year 1994 with a 48kbps (dialup!) speed limit.

    2. Re:Scam. by cbhacking · · Score: 1

      To be fair, that's still a better deal than most other carriers offer, where either you'll be cut off, or you'll pay through the nose. Sprint is vetter, but it's the only one.

      Also, they throttle you down to EDGE (sometiems called "2.5G"). It's slow, sure, but it's not unusable (I can even stream music on EDGE) and it's closer to 2004 than 1994 in terms of smartphone speeds (the first iPhone couldn't do better than EDGE at all!) I don't know what the "official" speed for EDGE is, but my (T-Mobile) phone get about 200kbps. That's good enough for most web browsing, uploading a photo to Facebook (if you don't mind waiting a few seconds), and streaming an MP3 (if you don't mind it streaming only slightly faster than real-time, which makes skipping ahead very slow).

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
    3. Re:Scam. by sir-gold · · Score: 1

      I wish they only throttled down to edge speeds, but its actually SLOWER than edge. When t-mobile first implemented 3g/4g throttling, you could manually switch the phone to 2g and get somewhat faster speeds from unthrottled edge. About a month later they started throttling edge too. When you hit your monthly limit, you can't stream anything, unless you are willing to wait 2 minutes between songs on pandora.

    4. Re:Scam. by rta · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, they'll continue to be terribly oversubscribed the same way they are now. Most places i go i only get between 150k and 500k even on their "4g" HSPA+ It's clearly a load issue since on holiday weekends or in the early morning it actually gets faster.

      i have no idea why they keep advertising all these stupid video services and when i can barely surf the web.

  6. Re:Wither AT&T by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If you can point to any other country that is even close in size and georgrpahy as the United States, that has a better land-line phone system, I would love for you to tell me about it. Bonus if they had all their rural homes hooked up 60 years ago like the US did.

  7. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by Locutus · · Score: 1

    it could also be that T-Mobile is not big enough to get a compatible God Phone so to do so, they are designing their upgrade path to result in not only a faster network but also one compatible with existing iPhone hardware.

    LoB

    --
    "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
  8. They need to do something! by Prod_Deity · · Score: 2

    Their corporate headquarters in is Factoria, just outside of Bellevue, Washington

    It is pretty much impossible to get a signal in it's general area. The surrounding stores & restaurants are a dead zone.

    If they build the network so you can actually get a signal, I will gladly leave AT&T for them.

  9. Why visit the USA? by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

    Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yer?
    See the løveli lakes
    The wonderful telephøne system
    And mani interesting furry animals

  10. They do have wireless bandwidth by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    At least one of the US carriers finally is realizing that they have bandwidth. Dump 2G and use those frequencies for more advanced protocols. Too many of them keep their "largest coverage area" by keeping 2G going, instead of replacing it.

  11. Tmobile's problem was by Spy+Handler · · Score: 1

    the tightfisted German owner (Deutsche Telekom) who was too cheap invest in 4G infrastructure or put down the money for the iPhone. As a result their market share kept dwindling.

    Now that they have some money and that new pink dress wearing spokesperson (C.Zeta-Jones was getting too old) maybe they will do better.

  12. Re:saw this coming a mile away by amRadioHed · · Score: 2

    It wasn't that stupid on AT&T's part, compensation for failed mergers are normal. Think of all the business T-Mobile due to FUD during the pending merger. There had to be something in the deal for T-Mobile to not get completely screwed when the merger failed or else they wouldn't have agreed to it.

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  13. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

    Yeah, like remember when he decreed that big universal healthcare plan and it was passed without any opposition or compromise? That was so awesome how he totally bypassed the entire legislative process to get exactly what he wanted.

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  14. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by anagama · · Score: 1

    Oh, even Stalin had a health plan for the people (ours happens to be the "No Insurer Left Behind Act"), that didn't make him a nice guy. The real things Obama has accomplished however are much darker:

    - Rendered the War Powers Act moot, so future presidents can decide on their own without any congressional interference when and where to go to war.

    - Instituted a policy of due process free execution. This is death squad territory.

    - Made the once radical policies of GWB, such as due process free detention, the NEW NORMAL.

    - Excused torturers.

    - Excused AT&T's illegal domestic wiretapping program.

    - Attempted to undermine the treaty against cluster bombs even though we are not a signatory.

    - Has applied the Espionage Act against whistleblowers of gov't malfeasance six times in three years. Before Obama, it had been applied three times in the entire history of the US.

    - Drone bombing at a rate 14x that of GWB.

    - Continues the racist drug war (for reference, see: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness)

    That's just off the top of my head ... oh yeah ... Tried to convince Iraq to let our forces stay beyond 12/2012. Funny thing about, I hear so many people give him credit -- they say things like, "he's president right? and the war ended right?" --- do people not understand that when a person puts up a fight for X, but fails to win X, it makes no sense to congratulate him for the end of X?" I guess not.

    Anyway, Obama is just awful. Unless you are a neo-con, and then he's your wet dream of a president.

    http://nothingchanged.org/

    --
    What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  15. Carry two devices by tepples · · Score: 1

    pick up a plan+phone, or prepaid phone, from any provider you please, and use it to make actual calls - keeping your N9/iPhone around for chatting, internetting, etc. on e.g. WiFi networks

    It surprises me that more domestic US users don't do the same thing.

    Probably because they don't want to carry two devices and keep them both charged. Some men have a fear of carrying a bag on grounds that it might threaten their sense of heterosexuality. That's why they'll, say, hack their DS instead of buying a used Android phone to play homebrew on.

  16. Several months ago by tepples · · Score: 1

    Android phone that I can't even sideload apps onto

    To be fair: 1. AT&T issued an update several months ago that unblocked the "Unknown sources" checkbox in response to overwhelming customer demand for Amazon Appstore. 2. You can sideload with Android Debug Bridge on all devices with Android Market, and you could even when AT&T was still blocking "Unknown sources"

  17. 4G Lite by tepples · · Score: 1

    LTE is not real 4G either

    Yeah, whenever I read "4G LTE" I read it as "4G Lite".

  18. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by bluesky3 · · Score: 1

    You surely must be kidding. You think bypassing the constitution is awesome???? You're obviously not happy with our great republic of the U.S. of A, so why not just renounce your citizenship and take up residence elsewhere -- like maybe North Korea or Communist China??

  19. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

    It was sarcasm jackass, because he didn't decree anything. Or did you somehow miss the drawn-out debate over the healthcare bill and the numerous concessions he made?

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  20. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by bluesky3 · · Score: 1

    Or did you somehow miss the backroom wheeling and dealing that took place to shove the bill through in direct opposition to the will of 70% of the population? So much for representative government.

  21. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

    Did you somehow miss the fact that backroom wheeling and dealing is exactly how our congress has operated for pretty much all of its existence? However passing a bill opposed by 70% of the population could be considered bad governance, but it is in no way dictatorship. Over 500 people cast a vote on that healthcare bill. They are free to vote against the wishes of their constituents, and their constituents are free to not reelect them. Out system does not work especially well, and I frequently disapprove of the outcome but it is almost entirely unlike a dictatorship.

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  22. Re:AT&T Merger is Still Planned by bluesky3 · · Score: 1

    Tactics such as threats and intimidation sometimes do not allow one to be "free to vote against the wishes of their constituents," most unfortunately, and also unfortunately most constituents are not informed enough to know how to vote. Hence, the broken system of government.