Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Fretters and Ameritech: Cellular Ripoff Message-ID: Date: 20 Nov 89 20:25:39 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 30 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 525, message 6 of 11 In article , telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: > So if you see ads saying 'minimum service commitment to Ameritech' > when you purchase at Fretters, remember that Ameritech and Fretters > have some sort of very cozy deal where the telco heavily discounts the > units in return for a captive (very captive!) customer. GTE Mobilnet in San Francisco has a deal that requires a minimum commitment of one year, but it works somewhat differently. Normal service is $45/month and .45/.20/min. (peak/offpeak). If you commit to a one year (no advance payment required) contract, you get service for $39/month, same per minute charges, and all custom calling features including voice mail thrown in for free. After you sign up, you get a one-time credit of 33 minutes of on-peak airtime. There is no equipment involved with this deal. I have noticed that ads on the radio for cellular phones now have the following disclaimer: "Service activation not required, but service is available on...". I think the PUC cracked down on these deals that were tied in to service kickbacks. BTW, service on GTE Mobilnet is outstanding. They would be well advised to drop the "GTE" from their name. It would help business. I believe Cellular One (PacTel) has some similar plan, but they don't discount the monthly rate, offer the free air time or have as many custom calling features, nor is the system as large. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !