Tatum and Denim blog

Filed under: Cellphones

Another one bites the dust, so to speak. This time around, we’ve got Verizon Wireless doing the acquiring, as it has just announced plans to pay $2.67 billion for “one of the nation’s largest rural carriers,” Rural Cellular. The news comes just over a month after AT&T handed over a staggering amount of its own to pick up Dobson Communications, and this agreement will expand the carrier’s coverage “in parts of the East Coast and the South, as well as in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Kansas, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.” Verizon did note that it planned on deploying CDMA service in Rural Cellular’s existing GSM markets in order to convert customers over, but it also mentioned that the existing GSM networks would remain to “serve the roaming needs of other GSM carrier’s customers.” Look for the deal to be finalized sometime during the first half of next year, and don’t be surprised if we see a few more consolidation efforts go down in the meantime.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

It would seem that the info we posted last week (it feels so good to be spot on sometimes) was right and Verizon was indeed set to release the BlackBerry 8830 today. While the hardware has been covered ad nauseam, the $199 price point — if you sign a new 2 year agreement of course — is a definitive plus for those of you just now taking the plunge to enjoy some of this brand spankin’ new, worldwide Berryin’ from Verizon. Also packed in your kit is the “Global Support Pack” which includes your SIM card and user reference guide to accessing the global 24 hour free tech support and a free calling card to do it with, no matter where you might be. Stay tuned for our hands-on.

[Via PR Newswire.com]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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We’ve already heard reports where consumers have their unlimited EV-DO accounts shut down by Verizon Wireless. CyberNet News did some reviewing of the current Verizon Wireless TOS and it’s now relatively explicit: if you’re eating through 5 GB of bandwidth per month, you’re summarily presumed guilty of using the service in manners not allowed, i.e.: streaming audio or video, running a server, etc…

While I can understand the business need to cap the service, I don’t understand how the company can advertise that service as "unlimited". Yes, Verizon Wireless needs to ensure there’s enough room in the pipe for all of their paying customers, but if you have a stated limit, then it’s not really "unlimited", is it? I also don’t get some of the restrictions as one of them is an "automated data feed"; you could loosely apply that definition to an RSS reader, Twitter, IM clients and more. Oh, and no redirecting a television signal either…the Sling and Orb folks might want to look into that one…

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Starting this Monday, March 26th, you’ll be able to try out the Verizon Wireless network for thirty days. Under a new plan called "Test Drive", Verizon will give you a month to try their phones and service. If you don’t like the "can you hear me now?" network, you’ll get a refund on your calls, equipment, activation fee and taxes. A few catches for any potential test drivers:

• Want the refund? You have to take your number to another carrier if I’m reading this right; you can’t just get a number, try it and then cancel service in 30 days.
• The Test Drive is for new America’s Choice plan customers.
• You won’t be refunded on data services and the like: if you’re looking for a month of free wireless broadband, this isn’t the plan for you. And if you find a plan that has that offering, let ME know.

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