T-Mobile

T-Mobile USA has a lot going for it. They've been a leader in introducing advanced smartphones like the first Windows Mobile based phone (the Pocket PC Phone Edition), an early Nokia S60 phone (3650), and the first Android phone (G1). They provide highly regarded service (according to various surveys), and voice and data service prices generally lower than the competition. T-Mobile USA, however, lacked a 3G high speed wireless option until late last year and still does not have a footprint to compare with the other major carriers a year after their 3G rollout. This may be a contributing factor to this news from Fiercewireless...

T-Mobile loses 77,000 subs in Q3

What would shore up T-Mobile USA? One word: iPhone. They need the iPhone much more than Verizon needs it. And, it would be much simpler for Apple to provide another GSM phone to T-Mobile than a redesigned CDMA phone for Verizon. On the other hand, it is clear that Apple doesn't have much incentive to deal with T-Mobile USA.

As a long time T-Mobile USA customer, I hope they remain a viable service provider.

The great T-Mobile national blackout of November 3, 2009 will probably be remembered for, um, days. Maybe even weeks. I first learned about it after reading a tweet from a friend who noticed it early on. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about since my voice and 3G service worked throughout the service outage period that apparently lasted around 6 hours.

I'm as puzzled as anyone why both my voice and data service remained unaffected while a co-worker around the corner from me was unable to make outgoing calls (but had 3G) and others lost all T-Mobile voice and data service.

The...

T-Mobile Forum thread discussing the outage

...is down for maintenance as I write this around 3:45am Eastern. So, I can't see T-Mobile's most recent comments nor the comments of their customers. You can see the Twitter tweet sequence from @TMobile_USA during the outage int the screen shot above. It is sparse to be sure but does indicate progress with each tweet.

Combine this outage with the recent Sidekick data loss incident makes 2009 a tough one for T-Mobile USA.

What kind of blogging day would it be this week without mentioning something about the ongoing Microsoft/T-Mobile SideKick user data loss fiasco? From CNET's Ina Fried...

Lawsuits filed over Sidekick outages

Ina reports that several lawsuits were filed in federal court this week. "Negligence" and "false claims" look like the main topics in these lawsuits.

In the meantime, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Roz Ho chimed in on T-Mobile's SideKick Forum saying that most if not all SideKick data has been recovered.

Microsoft Confirms Data Recovery for Sidekick Users - Data Restoration to Begin as Soon as Possible for Affected Customers

Ms. Ho's statement reads (in full):
-----------
Dear T-Mobile Sidekick customers,

On behalf of Microsoft, I want to apologize for the recent problems with the Sidekick service and give you an update on the steps we have taken to resolve these problems.

We are pleased to report that we have recovered most, if not all, customer data for those Sidekick customers whose data was affected by the recent outage. We plan to begin restoring users’ personal data as soon as possible, starting with personal contacts, after we have validated the data and our restoration plan. We will then continue to work around the clock to restore data to all affected users, including calendar, notes, tasks, photographs and high scores, as quickly as possible.

We now believe that data loss affected a minority of Sidekick users. If your Sidekick account was among those affected, please continue to log into these forums for the latest updates about when data restoration will begin, and any steps you may need to take. We will work with T-Mobile to post the next update on data restoration timing no later than Saturday.

We have determined that the outage was caused by a system failure that created data loss in the core database and the back-up. We rebuilt the system component by component, recovering data along the way. This careful process has taken a significant amount of time, but was necessary to preserve the integrity of the data.

We will continue working closely with T-Mobile to restore user data as quickly as possible. We are eager to deliver the level of reliable service that our incredibly loyal customers have become accustomed to, and we are taking immediate steps to help ensure this does not happen again. Specifically, we have made changes to improve the overall stability of the Sidekick Service and initiated a more resilient backup process to ensure that the integrity of our database backups is maintained.

Once again, we apologize for this situation and the inconvenience that it has created. Please know that we are working all-out to resolve this situation and restore the reliability of the service.

Sincerely,
Roz Ho
Corporate Vice President
Premium Mobile Experiences, Microsoft Corporation

The Microsoft/T-Mobile Sidekick story just gets stranger and stranger as details and speculation emerge. But, I'm going to take a brief detour before going there. I have an issue with the way AppleInsider defines the term "dogfooding" in their otherwise extremely interesting article...

Microsoft's Sidekick/Pink problems blamed on dogfooding and sabotage

AppleInsider defines "dogfooding" as: to eradicate any vestiges of competitor's technologies after an acquisition (direct quote from their article). Although this description may fit the result of dogfooding, it is not a definition of the term.

The term comes from the saying "eat your own dogfood". In Microsoft's case, this means using what they build and use it early on. So, for example, you'll see Microsoft staffers using beta releases of Windows on their production notebooks. And, you'll find Microsoft servers running Microsoft Server beta releases in production mode. If you looked at a Windows Mobile smartphone in use by a Microsoft staff member, it has probably been running version 6.5 for many months now. In other words, they ate their own dogfood (products). So, while a migration from Solaris to Windows Server is the end result of dogfooding, it is just one aspect of the practice.

With that out of the way, AppleInsider's story reads like the beginnings of a direct-to-DVD movie: Intra-company warefare, possible sabotage, and near total silence after the damage was inflicted.

I'm even starting to wonder if this battle between Microsoft and T-Mobile will spill over to Windows Mobile. Will T-Mobile deny Dash 3G and Touch Pro2 owners the ability to upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5? So far T-Mobile has not responded to my tweets to @TMobile_USA asking for upgrade info.

Here's a roundup of the current state of the Microsoft/T-Mobile SideKick user data loss fiasco...

Here's a couple of things T-Mobile has done on their side...

CNET: T-Mobile halts sales of Sidekick

Gizmodo: T-Mobile Lets Furious Sidekick Users Ditch Their Contracts for Free

T-Mobile Forums Sidekick Data Disruption thread: In the event certain customers have experienced a significant and permanent loss of personal content, T-Mobile will be sending these customers a $100 customer appreciation card. This will be in addition to the free month of data service that already went to Sidekick data customers.

Then, there appears to be a bit of good news for some Sidekick users...

InfoWorld: Some Sidekick users report data has been restored

And, if you have the third party Intellisync for Sidekick app installed, here's T-Mobile's documentation for using it to sync Sidekick data (contacts, calendar) with Microsoft Outlook...

T-Mobile Support document: Intellisync for the Sidekick

Good luck and best wishes to T-Mobile Sidekick owners. Let's hope this disaster serves as a wake-up call to service providers and customers alike to help prevent another incident like this one.

From T-Mobile Forums Sidekick area

I almost decided not to bring up the Microsoft/T-Mobile Sidekick data debacle because of its heavy coverage But, I decided to talk about it from the point of view of those of us watching this with interest but not really concerned about our own cloud data. Let's get started with Engadget who, I believe, broke the story...

T-Mobile: we probably lost all your Sidekick data

The server that holds all T-Mobile Sidekick personal data like contacts and calendar information failed on Saturday. T-Mobile is currently advising Sidekick users to keep their device powered up and on continuously. In other words, do NOT turn off your Sidekick.

Hiptop3.com provides this unofficial explanation of the cause of this cloud data outage here...

What Caused the Sidekick Fail?

According to Hiptop3, it was a cascade of errors that starts with Microsoft (who bought Danger, the firm that designed the Sidekick in early 2008) hired Toshiba to upgrade the SAN (Storage Area Network) that housed all T-Mobile Sidekick user data. The SAN was not backed up before the upgrade. And, well, you know what happened next...

So, what does this have to do with Google Contacts and Calendar? I sync my iPhone and HTC Touch Pro2 (windows Mobile) exclusively with Google Calendar and Contactcs. Presumably Google does a better job of backing up data than T-Mobile and Microsoft. But, do we really know that? And, even if they do, shouldn't we take some personal reasonability. Fortunately for Google users, Google provides simple mechanisms to export data from Contactcs and Calendar. You can see screenshot segments of the start of these procedures below. So, go back up your Google Calendar and Contacts data right now!

Google Calendar export

Google Contacts export

T-Mobile USA rolled out T-Mobile @Home and Unlimited Hotspot Calling plans that let you use specially enabled T-Mobile cell phones to make unlimited calls over WiFi for a flat $9.99 per month a while back. So, their news business focused plan seems like the next logical step... (from Reuters)...

T-Mobile USA kicks off corporate Wi-Fi push

This plan is limited to BlackBerry phones. But, given the BlackBerry's popularity in corporate America, this too seems like a logical first step choice. BlackBerry users on this corporate WiFi calling plan can switch between GSM (voice) network calls and WiFi with seamless automatic switching. The WiFi-based calls can be made from any accessible WiFi network. The service is available for a flat fee. The fee per user depends on how many people are involved.

I was thrilled to see @TMobile_USA tweet this past Friday morning that 3G was available in my area. However, looking at my Touch Pro2, I only saw the familiar "E" status icon indicating a slower EDGE connection. Standing in a downtown office building, I found that I needed to be within (roughly) 3 feet of a window to get a 3G connection. Standing outside on the ground T-Mobile's 3G connection seemed strong. In fact, my unscientific eyeball measurement seemed to indicate that the TP2 was rending mobile-friendly web pages like m.cnn.com faster than the iPhone 3G (which also had a 3G connection).

Alas, T-Mobile's 3G signal here seems very spotty. I don't have any 3G in the area around my home (indoors and outdoors). And, it didn't show up at my parents' home about 30 miles away. There seems to be a narrow corridor of 3G signal about 15 miles long here. Fingers crossed that this 3G area grows quickly.

I noticed another interesting 3G item at my home on Friday: After months (since November 2008) of my iPhone displaying "No Service" when in my home, I noticed a weak set of voice bars as well as 3G in the status area of my iPhone 3G (see screenshot above). This, of course, is extremely welcome news. Now, if only AT&T would provide a reasonbly priced iPhone tethering plan for 3G data.

I recall getting the notice from T-Mobile that the were going to start charging $1.50 for continuing to deliver their monthly billing on paper. I also recall being so annoyed that I immediatly tweeted my annoyance to @tmobile_usa. According to T-Mobile USA, I wasn't the only annoyed person. And, apparently others complained in a more serious way than I did...

T-Mobile Won't Charge For Paper Bills

This is an unusual public relations faux pas for a company that is usually considered to very customer friendly compared to other cell phone carrier companies.

But, guess what? T-Mobile is stil charing $3.49 for detailed billing.

Intereseting news from TechCrunch UK about a relatively unique (from a service plan point of view) Android phone coming to T-Mobile UK in October for about $295US (180 British Pounds)...

T-Mobile introduces first pay-as-you-go Android smartphone, dubbed Pulse

The Huawei built Pulse is a keyboard-less Android phone has mostly ordinary specs: 2GB internal memory (well, actually, that is pretty good compared to the G1), 3.5 inch LCD, 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, and microSD card slot. But, honestly, I would probably get something like this for its pay-as-you-go service plan since I only want an Android phone for testing. It wouldn't be my primary voice or data phone. And, while $295 isn't exactly "cheap", it is less than I paid for my subsidized (2 year contract required) HTC Touch Pro2.

Hey, T-Mobile USA, please consider offering a pay-as-you-go Android phone in this country!