Data Connect North America

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Robert A. Fink, M. D. - 03 May 2007 23:07 GMT

A follow up on some previous questions which I asked here a few weeks
ago.

I am getting ready to go to Cancun for a week later this month. I
have spoken with the Cingular people about data connection there and I
apparently have two possibilities.

1. "Standard" connection (GPRS) using my 3G card at 2 cents a KB of
data. This is $20.00 (US) a megabyte!

2. "Data Connect North America" which gives me unlimited data
transmission in the USA and up to 100MB/month in Canada and Mexico
with an "overage charge" after that (I forget what that is, but 100MB
should be enough for me during the 10 days or so that I will need the
service. The price for this plan is $109.00/month (I am currently
paying $60/month for my present Laptop Connect service, so this would
be $49/month extra. The kicker, however, is that I have to take the
plan for a year, otherwise I will have to pay a $175 "termination
fee".

Sounds like neither of these options is very attractive, but it is
necessary that I have data access while traveling. I am going to
follow my inbox activity for the next few days to see just how many
KB/MB I receive during a "normal" period and that may be the way that
I can determine whether I am justified in the expense. I figured that
it will cost me about $600 extra per year to take on the "North
America" service (or $175 to terminate it).

Any other ideas? It sounds as if Cingular/ATT has folks by the short
hairs.....

Best,

Bob

Robert A. Fink, M. D., FACS, P. C.
Neurological Surgery
2500 Milvia Street Suite 222
Berkeley, CA 94704-2636 USA
510-849-2555

"Ex Tristitia Virtus"

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John Navas - 04 May 2007 01:15 GMT

>2. "Data Connect North America" which gives me unlimited data
>transmission in the USA and up to 100MB/month in Canada and Mexico
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>plan for a year, otherwise I will have to pay a $175 "termination
>fee".

Per Cancellations/Early Termination Fee in the Terms and Conditions
<http://www.cingular.com/b2b/downloads/terms_wirelessDataService.pdf>,
you should be able to cancel without penalty within 30 days, paying only
for the month you used.

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Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

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Todd Allcock - 04 May 2007 01:15 GMT

> Sounds like neither of these options is very attractive, but it is
> necessary that I have data access while traveling. I am going to
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> it will cost me about $600 extra per year to take on the "North
> America" service (or $175 to terminate it).

Which means about $300 total ($109 for the month plus ETF and taxes.)
Certainly cheaper than carrying the NA plan for a year unless you'll be
making multiple trips to Mexico or Canada.

> Any other ideas? It sounds as if Cingular/ATT has folks by the short
> hairs.....

I'm not sure that's fair. Cingular doesn't operate a network in Mexico.
They pay a wholesale roaming rate to Telcel or Movistar for their
customers roaming in Mexico, then mark it up and pass it on to you. I
was as frustrated as you are now with the options available when I
visited Cancun in January. You might consider a two-pronged approach-
use the $20/mb rate and set your e-mail program to download headers-only
so you can manually retrieve just the most important ones to reply to,
and switch to the overpriced resort hotel's wi-fi if you need to download
large files and attachments, or do any long web sessions. (Wi-fi is
usually available in several packages- my hotel sold it in 15 min., 30 min.
and hourly bundles, usable over a 24-hour period- i.e. you could buy an
hour but log on for just a few minutes repeatedly over the course of a day,
or you could buy a full day. At Crown Paradise they charged $7 for 15
minutes, $11 for 30, $17 for an hour and $35/day, IIRC. I only needed to
deal with e-mail once a day, so I'd typically buy 15 or 30 minutes,
download my e-mail, disconnect, reply "off the clock" and log back on to
send my collective replies. (It took me back to the "good old days" of
$6/hour a-la-carte Compuserve dial-up plans!)

By timing it right, I could get two days out of a bundle (i.e. download
Monday's e-mail at 8PM, then download Tuesday's earlier- like at 6 or 7pm
and get my replies out before the 24-hour "window" ended at 8PM. I
just bought a couple of half-hours and used them this way. My wi-fi tab
for my week there was only about $30 or $40 IIRC.

Given what a week in Cancun costs, whatever you do, I doubt the data will
be the most expensive part of the stay! ;-)

Good luck and enjoy the trip!

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