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All You Can Eat Minutes: Myth to Reality |
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Written by Markar
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Monday, 05 June 2006 |
Sounds like a buffet, doesn’t it? The idea is not really that different. Ever since the arrival of MetroPCS, people have been wondering, before and after the fact, whether there was such a thing. Now that there is and it is an established fact, people want a rundown of how well the service works etc. etc. etc..
As tradition holds, first the good news, then the bad. The good news is that the service offers unlimited minutes. Yes, that was deliberate, let there be no mistakes about it. It doesn’t matter what time or day it is: weekend, weekday, at night, during the day – anytime. The good doesn’t stop there. The service is also relatively cheap. $35 gets you unlimited local calling, whereas for an additional $5 you get domestic long distance as well. Yes, its still unlimited. Text messaging is a meager $3 – unlimited within the US. For international text-messaging it is an additional $3, again, unlimited. Because MetroPCS is a prepaid service, you prepay the month you want to use it and voila no late payment fees! Kind of getting the idea? The service is all about unlimited ‘this service feature’ or unlimited ‘that service feature’ without postpaid restrictions or maintenance.
Now, the bad. The service is limited to specific areas. In other words, you can’t get service everywhere and it is only available in a handful of markets (region specific coverage areas). Although, to be fair they have started a new package where they allow the user to travel outside of the coverage area using their Travel Talk Package at a ghastly rate of $.49 to $.79 per minute!
Next, the reception. MetroPCS uses CDMA technology along the lines of Verizon and Sprint. Given that the largest network in the United States is the CDMA based technology of Verizon as opposed to, say, a major competitor such as GSM based Cingular, we can safely say that MetroPCS has taken the safer route with respect to call quality and reception. Due to the lack of actual network infrastructure, meaning a lot of cell phone towers to send calls and receive calls, it may not work in certain areas that have thick walls or too much interference between the user and a cell phone tower.
Overall, MetroPCS has gained a lot of admirers, and like all things, detractors. The credit and blame revolves around many factors: from the various unlimited packages that MetroPCS offers to ill-informed sales people that sell the service to users who don’t fit the service profile. If you don’t travel, travel once in a blue moon or travel but only need the phone for emergencies, MetroPCS has a lot of advantages. But the only way to find out is to try the service out for yourself – the best part is there are no contracts!
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CDMA
Domestic Long Distance
International Text Messaging
MetroPCS
Unlimited Local Calling
Unlimited Minutes
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