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Does anyone have an expected release date for this yet? I may be moving from the UK to the US soon so just wondering what to get and where to get it!
HTC insn't going into full scale production untill autumn.
And it's usefullness in the USA wil be somewhat limited.
It only has Tri band GSM so will be incompatible with some networks, also the 3G radio is a different standard in the USA to the Euro 3G - CDMA V W-CDMA I believe, but I'm sure someone will highlight what the acronym is. Thats why no USA networks have expressed any desire to release the Universal - maybe there will be another model bought out for the USA markets...
There will be a USA release eventually. HTC would be stupid to not make a version of the Universal that worked well in the USA.
There's lots of speculation on various message boards that HTC has already created a USA version of the Universal. Supposedly, it's being called "Apache" while it's still in testing.
There are lots of people in the USA using HTC devices right now. I can't imagine HTC deciding not to accept anymore money from those USA customers.
Pretty much everyone with an HTC device (or any other brand of Pocket PC for that matter) will give the Universal serious consideration when it's released. If HTC just ignored them, well that would not be a sound business decision.
Expect a version of the Universal to be released in the USA for use on the new EVDO networks (Sprint and Verizon).
Now Sprint and Verizon may decide not to carry the device, but I fully expect HTC to at least offer it to them.
do sprint and verizon even offer gsm(sim) cards? i bought my jam from dubai when i was over there for summer vacation and now i'm using it with cingular. and if the device is released in the US it would be a while after its released in the UK and rest of the world. If you haven't noticed USA is really behind in the cell phone market.
USA may be behind in the cell phone market, but all of the previous HTC products were released in the USA, so I don't see why the Universal would be any different.
The Wizard will be released in the USA, so why not the Universal? I could definitely see HTC ,aking a version for the USA. And probably making a CDMA version as well.
It could be
Sorry Guys, But Cellphone Networks in USA sux! Your mobile phone carries got the "older model" planns to sell devices. Europe and Asia is at leats 5 years advanced than USA.
Here in Brazil GSM Networks are since 2002 so we got euro carriers with new terminals, 3G is already here.
HTC is preparing a special edition for you guys
[]s'
pH
What are you talking about? USA networks may be behind, in general, but both Sprint and Verizon have EVDO networks. That is pretty up to date technology.
HTC may very well be preparing a special version, but I highly doubt Brazil is getting anyting more technically advanced than the USA (from HTC at least)...
HTC sent the same Harrier and Blue Angel to the USA that they sent everywhere else. HTC is also sending the same Wizard to the USA that they sent everywhere else. Why should the Universal be any different?
Well, it might be a little different (hopefully it will be made for CDMA/EVDO).
your carriers are well behind the uk and most of the rest of the world-maybe not 5 years though!the universal will be the same as the jam release wise-asia then europe then the us.just a shame your carriers are so slow that they cannot utilise the new technology the universal bringsand what is with using a different frequency (850) is it just to be awkward?!lol.l have no doubts the universal will be available everywhere including the us
First off, I have to say that the Apache is not a CDMA version of the universal. Rather, it is a CDMA version of the wizard.
Second, yes the USA networks are a little behind the rest of the world. It sucks that we have to wait for new devices months after they have been released to the rest of the world. However, that may be changing. Check out the last couple pages of this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=22813&start=125
It is looking more and more like the new 6700 sprint will be releasing is the Apache. Right now the target release date is sometime from August to October. This would be amazing because it would be (as far as I know) the first 5.0 device released anywhere. It would be released in the US before Europe and Asia, and it would even be release before the wizard was released anywhere.
So maybe the US is catching up. Here's hoping
The USA networks are not lagging behind Europe and Asia. At least not all of them. Again, both Sprint and Verizon have EVDO networks. That is not lagging in any way. EVDO is a 3G technology, and it fully supports all the features on any of todays cell phones (even the Universal). The only thing is the networks are CDMA. But CDMA is not lagging behing the rest of the world either.
Actaully saltydawg, only verizon has EV-DO right now. Sprint won't be lauch there's till the end of the year. We should start seeing EV-DO phones coming out soon though.
As for what I said abou the USA being behind, that was mainly in reference to the delay in getting new phones to the US.
Zach
***Double post removal***
Sprint does have EVDO right now man. Currently the only devices that officially support it are laptop data cards. People have got it working on their PPC-6600's as well though.
But yes, we should start seeing lots more EVDO devices released soon...
You have got to be kidding me if you think US networks do not lag behind European networks. By the time we get something new, Europe is already moved on to the next best thing. We are at least 2-3 if not 5-7 years behind.
SaltyDawg,
That makes more sense. I guess they just aren't really promoting that. It's pretty cool that some of the 6600s have got that to work though. There is supposed to be an official sprint update for the 6600 coming out in october I think.
Zach
We can argue all day about whether or not the US lags behind in mobile network technology. Whan I can say is that when US carriers decide to go with a technology, it does take awhile to rollout.
HOWEVER, let's think about this. All of the countries we're being compared to are approx 10% of the size of the US. Individual European countries and their respective carriers have NO IDEA what a rollout in the US takes in terms of material, resources, and most importantly, money. Even the whole of Europe doesn't compare in size to the Continental USA.
Cut us a break, guys...
GSM Technology in the US
well, you can argue all day about this but i would say that the US is way behind but we've been catching up some how ... the three main countries which keep on using CDMA is the US, Japan& Korea ... so if anybody really wants a really good phone for the verizon and sprint networks just look at what's available in japan ... they actually have 8.0Mp camera phones out ... while everybody's working on catching up here in the US ... Verizon is actually owned by VODAFONE that is why verizon was first in coming out with 3G with the help of their cousins across the pond ... which i am wondering why t-mobile doesn't use their connection being t-mobile ... the largest global wireless company (they have service in most of the countries in the industrialized world ... they even have dibs on singtel which is one of the powerful wireless carriers in asia) ...
t-mobile usa and t-mobile uk don't even work together (as per comment by one of the tech support people from t-mobile usa) ... i was trying to set up blackberry connect on my Sony Ericsson P910i which was from T-Mobile UK but our friends from T-Mobile US told me that they can't assist me ... so i ended up doing it myself ... as usual ....
hopefully the US gets hold of more phones, marketing somewhat sucks y'know ... i guess it's all about the blackberry over here in the US .... which, personally has an ugly interface and worse conventional phones which are almost as expensive as Palm, Pocket PC, and Symbian devices ...
Well the bottom line is not all USA networks a lagging way behind Europe and Asia. At least not anymore. Sprint and Verizon both have EVDO. EVDO is a 3G technology. So no way can anyone say Sprint and Verizon are lagging way behind Europe and Asia.
Now the phones they release on those networks may be a different story. But again, that has nothing to do with HTC. HTC releases the same phones in the USA that they release in Europe and Asia. So anyone saying HTC won't release the Universal in the USA is not looking at the recent history. And anyone saying all USA networks are lagging behind Europe and Asia is not looking at the present. Sprint and Verizon, with their EVDO, specifically.
UMTS in the USA
All I can say is soon, as in September/October UMTS will be deployed in 9 major cities in the US. The carrier in question already has a re-branded BlueAngel for sale. Word from marketing is that shortly after UMTS is deployed they will start carrying one of the re-branded HTC Universal devices .
Hot off the press: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-12-2008/0004923677&EDATE=
dont get too excited yet!
remember the launch date for uk? 9/30/2008? haha
by the time this X1 is out in USA, it already 2009!
Unlocked = crippled!
Sure....an $800 unlocked phone for the US that will only fully work with a single carrier...riiiiight.
Could Sony Ericsson have possible botched the Xperia any more than they have??
Any bets on the date that SE announces they're withdrawing the Xperia from the US market?
Be seeing you,
The Duck
You ever wonder why people complain that Europe and Japan get all of the "cool" phones and the U.S. doesn't? It's because the way our 3G network is setup. Everyone has different frequencies, and it's almost impossible to make a chip to carry all of them. Europe has a bunch of different carriers that use the same 3G frequencies, which is why it's easier to roll out the phones there. Helps the consumer, helps the carrier, helps the manufacturer.
So when some manufacturer DOES decide to bring a phone to the U.S., you lambaste them because of it's high unlocked price, even though all unlocked phones are expensive. (I was in best buy today and they're selling the N95-4 for $750 still!). Guess what, the X1i is free on contract in Europe. It would be free here too if our 3G network weren't so backwards.
So basically, all these manufacturers are producing 3G phones for the U.S. and they know fully well it only works on AT&T. That's why they only make a few phones compatible - it's not economical to bring them over just to work with one carrier.
dinan said:
You ever wonder why people complain that Europe and Japan get all of the "cool" phones and the U.S. doesn't? It's because the way our 3G network is setup. Everyone has different frequencies, and it's almost impossible to make a chip to carry all of them. Europe has a bunch of different carriers that use the same 3G frequencies, which is why it's easier to roll out the phones there. Helps the consumer, helps the carrier, helps the manufacturer.
So when some manufacturer DOES decide to bring a phone to the U.S., you lambaste them because of it's high unlocked price, even though all unlocked phones are expensive. (I was in best buy today and they're selling the N95-4 for $750 still!). Guess what, the X1i is free on contract in Europe. It would be free here too if our 3G network weren't so backwards.
So basically, all these manufacturers are producing 3G phones for the U.S. and they know fully well it only works on AT&T. That's why they only make a few phones compatible - it's not economical to bring them over just to work with one carrier.
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You're right that the US frequency mish mash is a mess....but don't think for a minute that phones can't include multiple frequencies and that the carriers are innocent! Verizon, for example, recently insisted that a mfr modify their phone to remove frequencies that would allow the phone to work on T-mobile's network (I forget the phone....a blackberry, I think). Who decides that a quad band phone should be released in the US as triband or dual band? The phone mfr...nah.
As microsoft said the other day....US carriers don't want to be considered "dumb pipes"; i.e., providing generic access to cell frequencies for customers to use any phone with at reasonable rates! It's the carriers that block phones from tethering unless extra fees are paid to do what the phone can do using the cell networks....its the carriers that create goofy MediaNet type "services" to extract extra fees for doing what the net provides on the unadulterated phones! Its reminiscent of when AOL made users think they were part of some special club that was better than the new fangled internet....even by rebranding a limited access to the net as their own service!
Ah well....I rant and I vent....and I still pay crazy high phone bills.
Bill Gates himself once said that we'd one day look back and view paying for telephone services based on time and distance as "quaint". Within a country we're clearly there (ever watch an old movie and see people run to the phone when a "long distance" call came through?...too funny). But we're not there currently internationally! One day we'll look back at Orange being able to offer a phone for free on contract compared with AT&T being able to charge $299 or even blackmail the mfr into not making a deal, forcing them to sell a phone (a few of them, anyway) for $800 as quaint.
I can't wait for the arrival of international voice and data packages that would allow customers to choose Orange or AT&T or whomever we want to give our monthly money to without being forced to accept bloated software crippled phones!!
Ahh...ok...NOW rant over.
Be seeing you,
The Duck
p.s. - the carrier greed doesn't excuse Sony for this goofyness! If they wanted to sell an unblocked phone they could have made it compatible with more networks than AT&T. It looks like they screwed up and built a phone that was only suitable for AT&T without locking up a contract with AT&T. The carrier probably used the position of strength to extract more than SE's ego would accept....but the phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face" comes to mind. Bad SE lawyers + greedy AT&T = bye bye Xperia.
TheDuck said:
Sure....an $800 unlocked phone for the US that will only fully work with a single carrier...riiiiight.
Could Sony Ericsson have possible botched the Xperia any more than they have??
Any bets on the date that SE announces they're withdrawing the Xperia from the US market?
Be seeing you,
The Duck
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Click to collapse
if you have to complains, u cant afford it!
did u also complain about HTC diamond selling for 699$ at bestbuy? haha
well, i bought diamond at bestbuy for 699+tax=748$, i know i can get it cheaper online, but i just hate waiting!
First off - I Private Messaged a couple of people about this, but realized that I should have just posted this in the forum. So, my apologies for anyone seeing this a second time.
I've been getting all sort of conflicting information about the Hero 130 (The Telus one) and which UMTS bands it supports.
Most of the information I see at places like PDADB says that it's UMTS enabled for 850/1900 only, which are the North American bands. FCC reports and the Telus user manual show testing for WCDMA (UMTS) 850/1900 only.
However, HTC's Canada Hero website (http://www.htc.com/ca/product/herotelus/specification.html) says "Dual Mode UMTS" and lists frequencies for US (850/1900), EU/Asia (900/2100) and Telstra (850/2100). Two HTC support techs from their website also confirm that the Hero 130 supports UMTS for US EU/Asia and Telstra, but it feels like they are just regurgitating information from the extremely vague website.
The device is a quad-band worldwide device. These are the bands the device is capable of using:
Europe/Asia
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (900/2100MHz for EU/Asia)
North America
850/1900
Telestra
850/2100
GSM/GPRS/EDGE (Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900Mhz)
If the bands you are needing are any of these then the device should work.
Kay
HTC Technical Support
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Has anyone with a HERO130 actually gone overseas and seen if you get UMTS/3G to work overseas - or has seen anything that conclusively and definitively proves if it does or does not work?
Thanks!
I'm wondering the same thing. I'd like to get the Telus one and use it here on AT&T 3g in the states... anyone know if that is possible?
The Telus version of the HTC Hero (aka HERO130 or A6265) definitely supports ATT's 3G bands. It's been confirmed via the FCC documentation as well that 850/2100 is supported. T-Mobile's 1700MHz is not supported.
My question is specifically in regards to the European/Asian (900/1900MHz) bands. HTC's confirmed that it does support by phone, but I'm still a little dubious. However, I'm ordering one and am going to give it a test!
Stay Tuned!
itpromike said:
I'm wondering the same thing. I'd like to get the Telus one and use it here on AT&T 3g in the states... anyone know if that is possible?
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Yes. It is possible. I've got the Telus Hero, unlocked and running on the Rogers network. HSDPA/3G works fine on Rogers. North American radio bands for 3G are supported with this hardware.
BlueHawk said:
Yes. It is possible. I've got the Telus Hero, unlocked and running on the Rogers network. HSDPA/3G works fine on Rogers. North American radio bands for 3G are supported with this hardware.
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Awesome! How difficult is the unlocking process?
I just thought about something. I'm used to the iPhone where you have to root your phone to unlock it for other carriers. Is the way it work with the HTC Hero and the like is that you just pay full price for the phone ($499) and it comes unlocked already? No tinkering needed?
itpromike said:
Awesome! How difficult is the unlocking process?
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Click to collapse
The unlocking process is not painful at all, but it costs you $20-25. When you insert a non-Telus sim into the device and power it up, it will tell you that you are using the wrong sim and ask you to enter the unlock code. The unlock code is specific to the IMEI of you phone, so they can't be shared. They can be purchased on eBay for slightly more than $20.
Note that you cannot unlock your phone by flashing a custom ROM. So unless you figured out the magic formula for generating these unlocking code (different for each device and different for each carrier), you have to pay for it one way or another.
tsekh501 said:
The unlocking process is not painful at all, but it costs you $20-25. When you insert a non-Telus sim into the device and power it up, it will tell you that you are using the wrong sim and ask you to enter the unlock code. The unlock code is specific to the IMEI of you phone, so they can't be shared. They can be purchased on eBay for slightly more than $20.
Note that you cannot unlock your phone by flashing a custom ROM. So unless you figured out the magic formula for generating these unlocking code (different for each device and different for each carrier), you have to pay for it one way or another.
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Click to collapse
So I buy the full priced ($499) phone from Telus, then I have to buy the unlock code from Ebay? Hmm... I feel leery about buying something like this from Ebay. Is there an official channel I can buy an unlock code from?
itpromike said:
So I buy the full priced ($499) phone from Telus, then I have to buy the unlock code from Ebay? Hmm... I feel leery about buying something like this from Ebay. Is there an official channel I can buy an unlock code from?
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Click to collapse
I paid mine for the full price too, but this doesn't make the phone automatically unlocked. Telus enters an exclusive contract with HTC to be the sole carrier of this phone in Canada (at least for now), and they have every right to make sure that an average-joe, who knows nothing about unlocking, who wants this phone have to go to them, with or without contract. Exclusive dealings are extremely common in cell phone industry, and they are not free for the carrier.
I doubt Telus would unlock the phone for you. In the US, T-Mobile will unlock their phones for you a few months into the 2-year contract, may be Telus will do the same, if you signed a contract with them that is.
I just went to eBay and notice that there are now many sellers selling Telus Hero unlock code, and some are selling for as low as $13. I bought mine from a seller called cellfservices, it is not the cheapest but it worked (and it took them about an hour after the sales to send me the code).
mobileincanada.ca seems to be one that is very popular for unlocking, $20cdn, and they usually send unlock code very fast (within 5 minutes)
all right people.
I am here to bust the myth.
Telus hero does not have asian HSPA band.
I have two heros: GSM and Telus.
Tested location: Taiwan.
Telus hero with Taiwan sim card = GPRS only, no 3G connection.
GSM hero = 3G connection.
Telus hero does not have dual model 3G, period.
So which do I get for AT&T
Ok so I'd like one of these WITH 3G connection on AT&T so which one would I get to make this happen? I'm leaning toward the Telus model from what I've been reading but if anyone can confirm or deny this, that would be great. Also once I have it and it's been unlocked, then what do I tell AT&T? Just order a second line with a data plan? Won't they ask me what type of phone is this for or how should I do this?
itpromike said:
Ok so I'd like one of these WITH 3G connection on AT&T so which one would I get to make this happen? I'm leaning toward the Telus model from what I've been reading but if anyone can confirm or deny this, that would be great. Also once I have it and it's been unlocked, then what do I tell AT&T? Just order a second line with a data plan? Won't they ask me what type of phone is this for or how should I do this?
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Click to collapse
The Telus Hero is the only current Hero model that will work with 3G/HSDPA in North America. The European Hero will only use Edge for Data - it doesn't support the North American radio bands. The Sprint model only supports CDMA.
Do you need a second line? Are you planning to run two cell phones? If not, just switch your current AT&T SIM into the Hero and get a data plan for that SIM/line.
I do plan on running a second line yes. I have an iPhone 3GS as my main phone and I am planning on using the Hero to play around with as my second phone. The hero is a decent phone and fun to flash and play around with etc... but I couldn't ever really use it as my main phone. I definitely couldn't give up my iPhone 3GS for an Android phone just yet there are still some refinements that Android as a mobile OS needs to undergo and still some refinements that HTC needs to bring to the SenseUI as well. I rely too heavily my phone and it doing what I need it to do as fast as possible. I did have the Sprint Hero for a month before I took it back, I just didn't like it... it was slow, laggy, and some of the things I wanted to do with the phone that I was just so used to doing on my iPhone either couldn't be done OR had to be done in a way that didn't make very much logical or design sense. I had a lot of those 'why can't I just press this to make it do that?' moments or 'why the heck would they put this menu under here?' moments. Anyhow with that being said, Hero and Android are still fun platforms to play with and flash and try different settings and home screens and different ROMS etc so I'm going to get another one but this time on AT&T so I can use voice and data at the same time (one of the things I hated about having the Hero on spring was the inability to use data and voice at the same time as well as how slow sprints data was compared to AT&T)... but I wouldn't want a phone that I flashed and played around with so much to be a phone I relied on for mission critical work.
So what's the best way of going about this? What type of line should I order from AT&T? What should I ask for when i call or go into the store to get another line? Any suggestions?
I just got my Telus Hero last week, and coming from a 3G iphone, this blows it away. Not sure about the 3GS as it is a faster processor..... Also better than the Tilt 2. Love it. Just waiting on Eclair to get Google Navigation and other goodies...
Broken said:
I just got my Telus Hero last week, and coming from a 3G iphone, this blows it away. Not sure about the 3GS as it is a faster processor..... Also better than the Tilt 2. Love it. Just waiting on Eclair to get Google Navigation and other goodies...
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Yeah the iPhone 3G (I have both a 3G and 3Gs) and the Hero are pretty comparable. Browsing the web (which I do a lot) is faster on the 3G but the loading of applications etc... are pretty much the same. This is stock to stock so no modding on either phone. The scrolling on the 3G is much smoother than a stock Hero. I know that there are ROMS that make the device faster which is the only reason I'm even rethinking about getting one. The 3GS however is just no contest. But I've pretty much had all the fun I can out of the iPhone; not talking about the the apps as there are so many apps to choose from and a lot of them are awesome and fun to use, but with modding the phone itself and playing around with the OS etc I've done all I can do with the iPhone and want something new to play with...
itpromike said:
So what's the best way of going about this? What type of line should I order from AT&T? What should I ask for when i call or go into the store to get another line? Any suggestions?
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Just tell them you have an existing phone so you want a new SIM and to purchase a plan for a smartphone (data and voice plan) - they can advise you on deals and packages then. The carrier should never care about the phone - it's not like they make money on it - they usually subsidize the manufacturer for a unit anyway, in a profit sharing deal. The only thing the carrier is really interested in is the data and voice carriage charges.
i would just tell them you want to add a line for regular phone with unlimited data. that way you dont have to pay extra for the smart phone data. unless of course its cheaper and you can just for like ten dollars make your smart phone data plan you have now a family unlimited
BlueHawk said:
Just tell them you have an existing phone so you want a new SIM and to purchase a plan for a smartphone (data and voice plan) - they can advise you on deals and packages then. The carrier should never care about the phone - it's not like they make money on it - they usually subsidize the manufacturer for a unit anyway, in a profit sharing deal. The only thing the carrier is really interested in is the data and voice carriage charges.
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That would not be the best option. If you are going to add a line, figure out which phone they are giving away for free they you can get the biggest profit by flipping on eBay. Most likely the Solstice.
This way you can get away with the cheaper non-smart phone data plan and get about $200 back by selling the "free" phone they give you.
Can anyone confirm if the telus hero ships with the updated faster firmware? Thanks.
Hi Folks, I just was thinking.... if AT&T close the purchase of Tmobile will a US Galaxy Tab with EURO ROM 3G Data Connection work with the Band of AT&T????
I read a notice where they said Tmobile users with 3G Handsets will need to replace them!!!!
If thats the case i will die, i am not replacing my tab unless they want to give me one if they want me as a customer.
Sent from HAL 9000
I purchased it by my own, so I don't have contract I use the SIM of my Cell, but also I pay another from Simple Mobile, but thinking Simple Mobile use the same band as Tmobile. So just in case I will keep it with Simple Mobile.
I love my Galaxy Tab cause the size, I don't want a biggie 10.1" I was considering the 8.9 one! But I still refuse! hahaa
It'll be quite awhile before anyone has to worry about T-Mobile devices having to be replaced. At least a year for the deal to come to full fruition legally / economically. And then probably another year speaking in structural specifics (radio bands / frequency merges etc). Both companies have said that publicly. Not to mention, a typical contract is 2 years. Imagine most of us will want the newer hardware at that point anyways. Who wants a single core tablet in 2013, when 4/6/8 cores will be coming along in that time frame.
No sense sweating it at this point.
Ok guys, story time. I have an HTC Desire Z. I unlocked it to work on AT&T, but it was originally a Bell Canada phone. The reason being that Bell uses the same 4G frequencies in Canada as AT&T in the US. Given as AT&T and other carriers have begun cracking down on forcing you to "upgrade" your plan when you get a smartphone or what have you, it's helpful to have phones that they can't identify. For instance, there is no way I know of to put an iPhone on the AT&T network in the US, and NOT have them automatically upgrade your data plan. However, if you have a phone they can't identify by IMEI or some other method I can't figure yet, they won't change your plan. I know this, because when I signed a plan with them ages ago, I had a Razr 3G, and so far as they know, that hasn't changed, so I have a $10 a month UNLIMITED data plan. The down side here being that I have to outright buy any handset I get, but I don't much mind that, and I don't think I'm the only one.
It's now time to upgrade, and I'm looking to get a new phone and keep the data plan the way it is, so I've gotta find a phone I like on a compatible vendor. The purpose of this thread is to start a list of international, compatible cell networks, to help out people like me, as well as cut down on the "will this phone work on this carrier if I unlock it" threads.
To start, I know Bell Canada will work with AT&T, and I'm PRETTY sure Rogers with work with T-mobile.
So:
Foreign Carrier -> U.S. Carrier
Bell Canada -> AT&T
Rogers (Canada) -> T-Mobile (needs to be confirmed)