1 YEAR UPGRADE BUYER PROTECTION PLAN Consumer’s Guide to Everything You Need to Choose the Right Brand, with the Right Feature Sets, for Your Needs: • Complete Coverage of All Major Vendor Phones and Service Plans, Including Nokia, Motorola, Sprint, Ericsson, Verizon, AT&T Wireless, Nextel, and More! • Answers Your Questions About Family Plans, Roaming Packages, and Prepaid Plans • Tells You What “Free Long Distance” Really Means and Deciphers Misleading or Confusing Service Plans GetConnected, Inc. Jeff McLaughlin Beverly LeDonne 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:57 PM Page i [email protected] With more than 1,500,000 copies of our MCSE, MCSD, CompTIA, and Cisco study guides in print, we continue to look for ways we can better serve the information needs of our readers. One way we do that is by listening. Readers like yourself have been telling us they want an Internet- based service that would extend and enhance the value of our books. Based on reader feedback and our own strategic plan, we have created a Web site that we hope will exceed your expectations. [email protected] is an interactive treasure trove of useful information focusing on our book topics and related technologies. The site offers the following features: I One-year warranty against content obsolescence due to vendor product upgrades. You can access online updates for any affected chapters. I “Ask the Author” customer query forms that enable you to post questions to our authors and editors. I Exclusive monthly mailings in which our experts provide answers to reader queries and clear explanations of complex material. I Regularly updated links to sites specially selected by our edi- tors for readers desiring additional reliable information on key topics. Best of all, the book you’re now holding is your key to this amazing site. Just go to www.syngress.com/solutions, and keep this book handy when you register to verify your purchase. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve your needs. And be sure to let us know if there’s anything else we can do to help you get the maximum value from your investment. We’re listening. www.syngress.com/solutions 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:57 PM Page ii 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page iii Consumer’s Guide to GetConnected Inc. Jeff McLaughlin Beverly LeDonne 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page iv Syngress Publishing, Inc., the author(s), and any person or firm involved in the writing, editing, or production (collectively “Makers”) of this book (“the Work”) do not guarantee or warrant the results to be obtained from the Work. There is no guarantee of any kind, expressed or implied, regarding the Work or its contents.The Work is sold AS IS and WITHOUT WARRANTY.You may have other legal rights, which vary from state to state. In no event will Makers be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out from the Work or its contents. Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you. You should always use reasonable care, including backup and other appropriate precautions, when working with computers, networks, data, and files. Syngress Media®, Syngress®,“Ask the Author UPDATE®,” and “Career Advancement Through Skill Enhancement®,” are registered trademarks of Syngress Publishing, Inc.“Mission Critical™,” “Hack Proofing™,” and “The Only Way to Stop a Hacker is to Think Like One™” are trademarks of Syngress Publishing, Inc. Brands and product names mentioned in this book are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. KEY SERIAL NUMBER 001 H3N5A7S9C9 002 M93C5S5SB2 003 CMN23CBN25 004 JRN21AEN54 005 DEN55KJN81 006 ACS26DMD27 007 QRD34MNB54 008 D94H97S983 009 EMS36JVP35 010 W2KNOAD147 PUBLISHED BY Syngress Publishing, Inc. 800 Hingham Street Rockland, MA 02370 The Consumer’s Guide to Wireless Phones and Service Plans Copyright © 2002 by Syngress Publishing, Inc.All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, with the exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ISBN: 1-928994-52-0 Technical Editor: GetConnected, Inc. Freelance Editorial Manager: Maribeth Corona-Evans Co-Publisher: Richard Kristof Cover Designer: Michael Kavish Acquisitions Editor: Catherine B. Nolan Page Layout and Design: Reuben Kantor Indexer: Rich Carlson Copy Editor:Adrienne Rebello Distributed by Publishers Group West in the United States and Jaguar Book Group in Canada. 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page v Syngress Acknowledgments We would like to acknowledge the following people for their kindness and support in making this book possible. Karen Cross, Lance Tilford, Meaghan Cunningham, Kim Wylie, Harry Kirchner, Kevin Votel, Kent Anderson, and Frida Yara of Publishers Group West for sharing their incredible marketing experience and expertise. Mary Ging, Caroline Hird, Simon Beale, Caroline Wheeler,Victoria Fuller, Jonathan Bunkell, and Klaus Beran of Harcourt International for making certain that our vision remains worldwide in scope. Annabel Dent of Harcourt Australia for all their help. David Buckland,Wendi Wong, Daniel Loh, Marie Chieng, Lucy Chong, Leslie Lim,Audrey Gan, and Joseph Chan of Transquest Publishers for the enthusiasm with which they receive our books. Kwon Sung June at Acorn Publishing for his support. Ethan Atkin at Cranbury International for his help in expanding the Syngress program. A special thank you to Janis Carpenter at PGW.Thank you for your excellent service and all your kind words Janis. v 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page vi 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page vii Thanks and Acknowledgments We would like to thank three special GetConnected customer service gurus for their help in compiling the information for this book. Martin,Veronica, and Ali have been working tirelessly to make sure our customers get all the answers they need to make their telecom pur- chase painless and simple.Their industry expertise is truly a huge advantage that our customers enjoy when researching and buying any telecom service—they know all from wireless to DSL to long distance. They are inspirational in their ability to switch from one incredibly complex topic to the next without missing a beat. We also could not have completed this work without the support of the entire team at GetConnected. From our marketing staff to our programmers, everyone here has devoted themselves to the mission of finding the right type of communication services for every customer who comes to our site, and making sure everyone has the best infor- mation possible to choose the best service for their hard-earned money. Special thanks to the co-founders of GetConnected, Inc.,Tracy Lawrence and Sasha Novakovich.These two had the vision to create an electronic resource to help consumers get the most telecommuni- cations service for their money.We are proud to be able to extend their vision into this Guide for wireless consumers. vii 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page viii 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page ix About GetConnected, Inc. Founded in 1999, GetConnected, Inc. provides a suite of software tools that facilitate the sale of wireless, broadband, local phone, long distance, cable, and satellite television services. The Telecommunications Deregulation Act of 1996 was the cata- lyst for a proliferation of telecommunications services which made the process of selecting the best providers and plans a daunting task for consumers.The Internet offered a tremendous opportunity for consumers to easily find and compare all options available to them and make the right choice through an informative and intuitive elec- tronic shopping process.The Internet was also the ideal medium to help telecommunications service providers cost effectively acquire customers. www.GetConnected.com resulted from the confluence of these three market forces. Named by Newsweek as one of the 103 Best Web Sites and by PC World as Best Cell Phone Site, GetConnected.com, the showcase of the GetConnected functionality, is an easy-to-use Web site that empowers users with the information necessary to help them select the services that best meet their individual needs. In addition to being a source of the most comprehensive and accurate information avail- able, the GetConnected site, shopping technology and transaction processing capability make the purchase process simple and straight- forward. Consumers are shown all plans, products, and special offers available in their area. GetConnected.com also provides highly intu- itive and interactive wizards and bill calculators that allow the user to customize searches and make it easier to locate and buy the most suitable plans.The end result? Consumers get the most for their telecommunication dollar. GetConnected, Inc. offers consumers and small businesses access to its services directly through its Web site www.GetConnected.com, and through a network of partner Web sites. Consumers will also be able to access the GetConnected telecommunication shopping services in pri- vate labeled applications at retail, where GetConnected will power the shopping experience and order processing for its retail partners. ix 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page x 165_cell_ aFM.qk 11/12/01 1:58 PM Page xi Contributors Jeff McLaughlin is the Senior Director of Wireless Partnerships for GetConnected, Inc.