SE t68i and Nextel US network

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abs - 22 May 2004 14:35 GMT

Hi.

I'd like to ask if my Sony Ericsson t68i will be working fine in american
Nextel network ?

Regards,
ABS

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Donald Newcomb - 22 May 2004 15:19 GMT

> I'd like to ask if my Sony Ericsson t68i will be working fine in american
> Nextel network ?

No. Not at all. Nextel uses a technology called iDEN which is only vaguely
similar to GSM. They do have SIM cards, and in theory you can put a GSM SIM
in a Nextel phone and roam. However, all (well 99.9% of) Nextel phones are
locked to Nextel SIMs and won't work with your SIM. Nextel GSM roaming is an
illusion. It really only works one way; for Nextel customers traveling
overseas.

You may be able to roam one or more of several GSM-1900 networks.

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Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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abs - 22 May 2004 15:29 GMT

> No. Not at all. Nextel uses a technology called iDEN which is only
> vaguely similar to GSM. They do have SIM cards, and in theory you can
> put a GSM SIM in a Nextel phone and roam. However, all (well 99.9%
> of) Nextel phones are locked to Nextel SIMs and won't work with your
> SIM.

What a pity. I thought about buying used iDEN phone on ebay but if you claim
that they are locked it can be difficult to start using it. I'd have to
remove the lock first.

> You may be able to roam one or more of several GSM-1900 networks.

Thanks, I know. But only in Nextel I'd have SMS service to my country for
free. Normally it's quite expensive in roaming.

Regards,
Pawel.

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abs - 22 May 2004 15:48 GMT

> I'd have to remove the lock first.

I've just found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43312&item=5700859609
&rd=1 Does it really work ?

Regards,
Pawel.

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Donald Newcomb - 22 May 2004 16:13 GMT

> I've just found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43312&item=5700859609

> &rd=1 Does it really work ?

That is the first I've ever heard about anyone being able to unlock an iDEN
phone.

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Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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AndreA - 22 May 2004 18:13 GMT

Il giorno Sat, 22 May 2004 09:19:28 -0500, "Donald Newcomb"
<drnewcomb@attglobal.NOT.net> con una bandiera della rinata Fiorentina
in mano e lo striscione "Meglio liberi all'inferno che schiavi in
paradiso" nell'altra cosi' parlo':

>Nextel GSM roaming is an
>illusion. It really only works one way; for Nextel customers traveling
>overseas.

ehm... http://www.cellhire.net/wind/i2000.htm (in italian but maybe
you can understand a little bit about the rent of unlocked i2000 :) )

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Andrea de Florence ©, PrepaidGSM Staff
- ISCF online: www.iscf.info - Know 3: www.mondo3.com
- Prepaid Sim Card of the "Entire World": www.prepaidgsm.net

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abs - 23 May 2004 00:33 GMT

> ehm... http://www.cellhire.net/wind/i2000.htm (in italian but maybe
> you can understand a little bit about the rent of unlocked i2000 :) )

So, if I buy used i2000 on ebay, it will work in roaming in Nextel network
with my GSM card ?

Regards,
Pawel.

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Donald Newcomb - 23 May 2004 00:48 GMT

> > ehm... http://www.cellhire.net/wind/i2000.htm (in italian but maybe
> > you can understand a little bit about the rent of unlocked i2000 :) )
>
> So, if I buy used i2000 on ebay, it will work in roaming in Nextel network
> with my GSM card ?

Remember I said that 99.9% of Nextel phones were SIM locked? The 0.1% I left
out were those few sold to Cellhire to rent to foreign roamers, just so that
they could say roaming works. As always, if you pay for a rental for two
weeks, you could have bought the phone.

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Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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John Cummings - 22 May 2004 15:45 GMT

> Hi.
>
> I'd like to ask if my Sony Ericsson t68i will be working fine in american
> Nextel network ?

No, not on the Nextel iDEN network. It will work on the
1900 MHz GSM networks of T-Mobile, Cingular, and ATTWS
(and other minor nets). It won't work on the 850 MHz
networks (larger portions) of Cingular and ATTWS.

John C.

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