ATTN: American Cellphone Users

[Murph5150]

First, I can't provide a citation because I heard the following news on the Clark Howard radio show. He's a financial guru for those who don't know who he is.

Cutting to the chase, you may want to wait before upgrading. Samsung, and at this point only Samsung, will be enabling their phones to use ANY carrier data from any wireless tower. Have AT&T but Verizon's 4G is stronger? No problem. Your phone will use Verizon data. All of this news was released at the big convention in Spain recently. The technology is built and awaiting release. The FCC has not put the brakes on.

I am a Droid Turbo user on Verizon and an LG G4 user on AT&T (personal and business phones). I vowed never to buy Samsung again after my horrendous experience with the Galaxy S4. Reception on Verizon with that phone was awful. My Turbo has been fantastic. However, if dBm numbers are good on a future Samsung model, I just might give them a second chance.

If anyone comes across a citation, please leave one in this thread. Thanks!

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[Almeuit]

I am confused.. What are you saying? I mean if you're on T-Mobile it will use only T-Mobile since it can only authenticate with them. That's how it has always been though.

Just like my S7 Edge.. It has been paid off and unlocked so I can take it to AT&T and use them if I wanted.

 

[Tech-Newb]

You mean samsung's future phone at US will be able to do the same like project fi?

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[Murph5150]

I am confused.. What are you saying? I mean if you're on T-Mobile it will use only T-Mobile since it can only authenticate with them. That's how it has always been though.

Just like my S7 Edge.. It has been paid off and unlocked so I can take it to AT&T and use them if I wanted.

No, it's not like swapping SIM cards. It is built-in software that automatically chooses the best data in your respective area. So T-Mobile, which has the smallest footprint could piggyback Verizon's data. There won't be fees for this, but one certainty is that the 4 big carriers are NOT happy with this revelation.

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[Almeuit]

No, it's not like swapping SIM cards. It is built-in software that automatically chooses the best data in your respective area. So T-Mobile, which has the smallest footprint could piggyback Verizon's data. There won't be fees for this, but one certainty is that the 4 big carriers are NOT happy with this revelation.

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I don't believe this will work. In theory could it ?? Yes .. But carriers aren't just going to allow this to happen.

 

[Murph5150]

Here is the proof!

http://www.clarkhoward.com/samsung-phones-to-allow-instant-carrier-switching

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[Tech-Newb]

Here is the proof!

http://www.clarkhoward.com/samsung-phones-to-allow-instant-carrier-switching

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Might be a hoax/false information. It will be hard for samsung to beg the carriers to support that idea.

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[Almeuit]

Here is the proof!

Samsung phones to allow instant carrier switching | Clark Howard

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He didn't go into much detail. He simply said the technology is there which we already know it is there .. Just look at Google Fi. It uses two carriers at once.. but the catch is Google Fi had to work out a deal with Sprint / T-Mobile in order to actually bring this to consumers. They didn't just make the phone do it and Sprint / T-Mobile didn't have a say.

So all in all it was like I said before.. In theory can this work? Most definitely but the carriers aren't going to play ball with this and since they can install bloatware / remove features they don't like and I could see them doing that for this feature if it ever came to light.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Pay closer attention at marker :50. To paraphrase: 'The technology is ready, but it depends on how much the carriers fight this.'

I don't recall this being in any of the Samsung Keynotes, either in 2015 nor 2016. This may also be an international only thing as well.

 

[Golfdriver97]

In theory can this work? Most definitely but the carriers aren't going to play ball

Especially Verizon and AT&T. Not just from the bloatware POV, but AT&T or Big Red won't want to allow a customer to leave with the flick of a switch to say TMo because they are near a data cap.

 

[Almeuit]

Pay closer attention at marker :50. To paraphrase: 'The technology is ready, but it depends on how much the carriers fight this.'

I don't recall this being in any of the Samsung Keynotes, either in 2015 nor 2016. This may also be an international only thing as well.

That also brings up another good point -- Samsung could very well be doing this for other countries since other countries usually aren't anywhere near as bad as bloat / blocking / removing stuff as U.S. Carriers do. There have been (on numerous occasions) where a carrier variant device will simply be missing an entire feature just because it conflicted with a carrier-version app that had that feature OR because the carrier didn't want them to have it.

 

[Golfdriver97]

There have been (on numerous occasions) where a carrier variant device will simply be missing an entire feature just because it conflicted with a carrier-version app that had that feature OR because the carrier didn't want them to have it.

Wasn't there a pretty big feature missing off either the AT&T or Verizon variant on...I'm tempted to say the N5?

 

[Russell Holly]

The FCC has not put the brakes on.
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Yeah, but they also haven't expressly approved it. Required regulation change for something like this takes time, as it's a little more complicated than what Fi is doing (essentially acting as a reseller for Sprint and TMO).

As an industry, we've been dancing around this for a while. Apple has a patent (shocker) for something painfully similar on the iPhone, but it hasn't happened yet. Either way, there's no reason to halt everything and wait for this to happen.

 

[Murph5150]

He didn't go into much detail. He simply said the technology is there which we already know it is there .. Just look at Google Fi. It uses two carriers at once.. but the catch is Google Fi had to work out a deal with Sprint / T-Mobile in order to actually bring this to consumers. They didn't just make the phone do it and Sprint / T-Mobile didn't have a say.

So all in all it was like I said before.. In theory can this work? Most definitely but the carriers aren't going to play ball with this and since they can install bloatware / remove features they don't like and I could see them doing that for this feature if it ever came to light.

I listened to the broadcast live. He went into major detail.

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[Murph5150]

Clark Howard, if any of you know about him, is extremely judicious and accurate in what he says. I'll give every poster in this thread 50 bucks if this is a hoax.

I've listened to Howard for years. He has yet to deceive his audience. The wireless companies may whine and moan, but Samsung has already developed the technology, and it IS going to happen in America, and possibly abroad. Why would Samsung have invested millions into a feature destined to fail?

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[kramer5150]

Cool deal, I'd be all into a multi-carrier device that works with the two majors. Curious... Whats in it for Verizon and ATT? What's the incentive for them and how can they benefit without detriment? Are they both losing customers significantly enough to consider partnering up in a collaborative effort such as this? This WOULD have to be a collaborative partnership, given how much control the carriers have over the OS.

So why would Verizon (for example) sell handsets that easily switch over to another carrier? Their cash cow (money in the bank) is their tiered data plans. If they agree to sell multi-carrier hansets, customers would no longer pay for higher-cap data ceilings.... everyone would buy the minimum 1G Verizon plan and then use Sprint, or T-Mobile when they near their Verizon ceiling.

 

[Almeuit]

I listened to the broadcast live. He went into major detail.

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Well we can agree to disagree. The technology can do it but the carriers aren't going to allow people to just finance a phone through them with a small data plan so you can tell your phone to use someone else for cheaper data. It doesn't make sense.

Hence why carriers put SIM locks on the phone until it is paid off and you meet their "requirements". Until then it won't even let you use another SIM card. Verizon is the only one that comes SIM unlocked but that isn't due to the kindness of their heart ... They had to agree to that to get some spectrum they really wanted.

 

[Murph5150]

Well we can agree to disagree. The technology can do it but the carriers aren't going to allow people to just finance a phone through them with a small data plan so you can tell your phone to use someone else for cheaper data. It doesn't make sense.

Hence why carriers put SIM locks on the phone until it is paid off and you meet their "requirements". Until then it won't even let you use another SIM card. Verizon is the only one that comes SIM unlocked but that isn't due to the kindness of their heart ... They had to agree to that to get some spectrum they really wanted.

Speculation at this point may not be worth the debate. There are always companies unhappy with politics and cellphone companies are no different. But again, I ask - Why would Samsung have researched, implemented, and will soon advertise its new capability? This isn't impossible.

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[Almeuit]

Why would Samsung have researched, implemented, and will soon advertise its new capability? This isn't impossible.

I agreed already on it not being impossible -- I just said the carriers won't allow it. Also as to why are they researching and developing because they want to advance like most companies but it doesn't always mean just because they researched it that it will be implemented and used / welcomed. Just like I mentioned about apps being removed... Samsung developed them but carriers said "We don't want this or that" and removed it.

Also carriers still have Samsung SIM lock the phones .. So why would they do that but allow you to swap carriers via a software button and not have an issue? Doesn't really make sense.

 

[Murph5150]

I agreed already on it not being impossible -- I just said the carriers won't allow it. Also as to why are they researching and developing because they want to advance like most companies but it doesn't always mean just because they researched it that it will be implemented and used / welcomed. Just like I mentioned about apps being removed... Samsung developed them but carriers said "We don't want this or that" and removed it.

Also carriers still have Samsung SIM lock the phones .. So why would they do that but allow you to swap carriers via a software button and not have an issue? Doesn't really make sense.

I've been looking into FCC articles. I haven't found any pertaining to this issue. I also don't really know where to look except the .gov website. At the end of the day, the FCC has final say. Believe me, I'm against government interfering with the private sector, but we have a very big, very liberal government as it is, and the FCC has been known to flex its muscle.

I have the two best carriers: Verizon for personal use, and AT&T for business; and when I say best, I mean largest footprint with greatest reception and data reach. I probably won't roam much on T-Mobile or Sprint, but it's cool knowing the capability is there.

Case in point, it will be interesting to see where this leads. Samsung has their 'you know what' together. It's hard to imagine them investing millions into a program that will never launch.

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