US -> UK SMS?

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Andy Ball - 01 May 2004 07:24 GMT

Hello,

It looks likely that I'll become a U.S. T-Mobile customer in
July (if I don't find anything off-putting in the terms and
conditions of their unlimited GPRS plan). Will T-Mobile let
me send SMS messages to their U.K. customers? If so, do they
cost more than SMS messages to other U.S. customers? Has any
-one here had success in sending SMS messages from T-Mobile
to other networks (either here in the U.S. or abroad)?

- Andy Ball

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Joseph - 01 May 2004 14:49 GMT

>It looks likely that I'll become a U.S. T-Mobile customer in
>July (if I don't find anything off-putting in the terms and
>conditions of their unlimited GPRS plan). Will T-Mobile let
>me send SMS messages to their U.K. customers?

Yes, though sometimes it depends on the network. Calling to the
T-Mobile UK network I've sent and received without any problems. I've
been able to send to Vodafone, but not receive. This is not
unexpected as I've had problems with other Vodafone networks as well
such as Vodafone NL.

>If so, do they
>cost more than SMS messages to other U.S. customers?

I've called multiple times and at the time of this writing SMS sent
anywhere is the same price i.e. 5 cents per message to send or receive
or deducted from any allowance "bucket" you may have. The T-Mobile
web page states that they will charge 15 cents per message to send SMS
to international destinations. I've asked T-Mobile about this and
they still claim that there is no extra charge. That said I've heard
that there's a possibility that as of 1 June 2004 they will impose a
15 cents per message charge to send international SMS. So at this
point all I can say is that for the present we are not charged any
more for SMS to international locations than we are to send SMS to
domestic locations. This may change within the next couple of months.

>Has any
>-one here had success in sending SMS messages from T-Mobile
>to other networks (either here in the U.S. or abroad)?

Yes, successful to send to Telstra in Australia, T-Mobile in the UK
and Orange in Israel.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply

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Andy Ball - 01 May 2004 15:54 GMT

Hello Joseph,

J> Calling to the T-Mobile UK network I've sent and
> received without any problems.

Excellent news, thanks!

J> I've been able to send to Vodafone, but not receive.
> This is not unexpected as I've had problems with other
> Vodafone networks as well such as Vodafone NL.

I hope that they get that fixed eventually.

J> ...at the time of this writing SMS sent anywhere is the
> same price i.e. 5 cents per message to send or receive
> ...The T-Mobile web page states that they will charge
> 15 cents per message to send SMS to international
> destinations.

Five cents is great, and I wouldn't balk at 15 cents either
(it's less than a postcard, and should get there quicker :-)

J> Yes, successful to send to Telstra in Australia, T-
> Mobile in the UK and Orange in Israel.

Thanks a lot for the info.

- Andy Ball.

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What's In A Name? - 01 May 2004 19:53 GMT

It's on Streamline that international SMS willl go up to 15 cents per
message, and if I remember correctly, it does say June 1st.

> >It looks likely that I'll become a U.S. T-Mobile customer in
> >July (if I don't find anything off-putting in the terms and
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply

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Dan W. - 06 May 2004 20:01 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> - Andy Ball

I SMS regularly to The Netherlands, works with no problem at all. I
think of all the US carriers, TMobile certainly has the best grasp on
international sms, roaming, and calling. I also call frequently to
Holland, UK, Taiwan, and Japan, no problems at all.

Right now, through June 1, TMobile has a special that International
SMS'ing cost the same no matter the destination, as long as you are in
the US.

http://www.t-mobile.com/international/textmessaging.asp

Reply to this Message

Andy Ball - 09 May 2004 02:42 GMT

Hello Dan,

DW> I think of all the US carriers, TMobile certainly has
> the best grasp on international sms, roaming, and
> calling...TMobile has a special that International
> SMS'ing cost the same no matter the destination, as
> long as you are in the US.

That's excellent news, thanks for the comments and the link!

- Andy Ball

Reply to this Message

Dan W. - 11 May 2004 19:41 GMT

> Hello Dan,
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> - Andy Ball

You bet! Now....If TMobile can just get their TZones working as good
as their SMS and we'll be in business=)

Reply to this Message

Andy Ball - 22 May 2004 05:49 GMT

Hello Dan,

DW> You bet! Now....If TMobile can just get their TZones
> working as good as their SMS and we'll be in
> business=)

Is TZones their WAP service?

- Andy Ball

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Nigel Poncewattle - 29 May 2004 14:10 GMT

> Hello,
>
> It looks likely that I'll become a U.S. T-Mobile customer in
> July (if I don't find anything off-putting in the terms and
> conditions of their unlimited GPRS plan). Will T-Mobile let
> me send SMS messages to their U.K. customers?

I've sent SMS to UK no problem, but I have trouble receiving from there. I
get the message, but it comes out looking like "@??@@?@?+" for example.
Might be a character set issue, but I can't find any settings on my phone
to deal with it. When I was in UK, whenever I received a message from
another UK subscriber while in UK, I had the same problem.

(Love to figure out a fix for that if anyone knows...)

Reply to this Message

Donald Newcomb - 29 May 2004 16:02 GMT

> I've sent SMS to UK no problem, but I have trouble receiving from there. I
> get the message, but it comes out looking like "@??@@?@?+" for example.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> (Love to figure out a fix for that if anyone knows...)

Could someone's phone be set to Arabic or Greek?

Signature

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

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Nigel Poncewattle - 31 May 2004 03:16 GMT

>> I've sent SMS to UK no problem, but I have trouble receiving from
>> there. I get the message, but it comes out looking like "@??@@?@?+"
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Could someone's phone be set to Arabic or Greek?

No. It's in the UK. I'm wondering if it's a setting on HER phone. I have no
intention of running out there just yet to check it out!

Reply to this Message

Donald Newcomb - 31 May 2004 05:08 GMT

> > Could someone's phone be set to Arabic or Greek?
>
> No. It's in the UK. I'm wondering if it's a setting on HER phone. I have no
> intention of running out there just yet to check it out!

Perhaps her phone is set to binary or some other unusual format.

Signature

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

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Nigel Poncewattle - 31 May 2004 15:15 GMT

> Perhaps her phone is set to binary or some other unusual format.

She text's other people in UK with no problem. I just got a Nokia 6600 and
the characters still come up like that, so it's either on her end or her
service provider (never asked who it was).

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