OVERALL

PacBell/Cingular allows me to use the phone I wanted (Nokia 8290), but their coverage leaves a lot to be desired. Although call quality is generally very good (and better than with my previous carrier, Cellular One), I frequently get dropped calls and "system busy" when trying to place calls. If you're happy with the various Motorola flip phones or the offbeat Samsung and Sanyo phones that Sprint offers, I'd probably reccomend another carrier.

NETWORK

PacBell/Cingular has a GSM 1900 infrastructure. Phones that work on GSM 1900 are all-digital, meaning that they don't have an analog cellular mode like Cellular One (for example) phones. This means that whereas there might be analog cellular coverage in some rural areas, you won't be able to make use of that analog signal with your GSM 1900 phone. If you intend to use your phone in urban areas, that won't be an issue.

Another note, GSM 1900 is not the same as GSM used in Europe or other countries. There are actually three GSM bands: 900, 1800 and 1900. Most phones sold to work on GSM 1900 in the US are single-band; if you want a phone that works worldwide, you'll need a multi-band GSM phone such as the

Nokia 8890.

COVERAGE

I use my (Nokia 8290) phone in San Francisco, and on frequent business trips -- mostly to Boston and New York, where coverage is picked up by VoiceStream. Coverage in SF is fair enough; I have coverage in some places that CellOne didn't cover (Broadway tunnel), but overall this is balanced out by the many rural areas that don't have any coverage at all (e.g. Stinson Beach, etc). In the city itself, coverage overall is pretty good. There happens to be an annoying gap on Hayes between Market and Gough.

- My main complaint with the coverage is the frequency of dropped calls and system busy signals. Quite often I'll be in the middle of a call, and the signal indicator will fade to zero, the call will drop, and then the signal will come back up to full strength. On the other hand, I quite often get system busy when trying to place a call. This is especially annoying when trying to redial a dropped call. A third problem is that the phone will ring once very briefly, and then indicate a "missed call".

- In Boston and New York, coverage (via Voicestream) is OK, but (big gap on the Mass Pike out by Waltham) the dropped calls and system busy problem is even worse. It often takes 5+ attempts to place a call, and the "missed call" problem happens more often as well.

CALLING PLANS / COST

+ Cingular calling plans are pretty much par for the course. Sprint beats everyone as usual, but I'm happy enough with 900 minutes of nationwide time for $99/month.

FEATURES

+ two-way SMS/email. You can receive and SEND both SMS and email messages on the Cingular network. The difference is that SMS goes directly via the GSM network to/from other GSM phones, while of course email is, well, email. You really can send email to any internet email address; I don't use this often, but once in a while it can be VERY useful. Note that incoming emails are broken up into 120-character messages and in some cases cut off, and so you aren't going to want to receive lengthy emails on the phone.

+ The GSM network allows you to take you SIM card from your phone and put it into any other GSM phone (even overseas), and use your same number and billing.

+ Network time update (your phone picks up the correct time from the GSM network).

- No WAP (wireless web) service! For some reason, Cingular hasn't figured out how to offer this yet.

PHONES

+ The Nokia 8290 & 8990 are two of the best phones around. In fact, I chose the PacBell/Cingular service primarily because it was the only service with which I could use the 8290. If you're happy with the various Motorola flip phones or the offbeat Samsung and Sanyo phones that Sprint offers, this probably isn't as much of an issue for you.

URL's

Cingular wireless products & services:
http://www.pbwireless.com/cingular/products_services/products_services

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 100/month