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ATT Wireless Phones and The Challenge of Communication Technology
One of the most difficult challenges I face today, as a communication teacher, is trying to keep up with all the changes in our massive field. Among the most confusing areas to monitor is wireless technology – particularly wireless telephony. Just a few years ago when I was a student, there were only a few main players to keep tabs on. Now, it seems the playing field shifts almost daily.
Let’s see if we can make some sense out of what’s going on with wireless telephony. I’ll present a few of the questions my students are asking about ATT wireless phones.
ATT Wireless Phones – Do they still make them?
Visitors to the ATT Web site who click on the ATT Wireless link now land on a page where they are greeted by an important announcement. The announcement reads that ATT Wireless Service (AWS) has now merged with Cingular.
Guests to the site are then given the option of returning to the ATT home page or moving on to the Cingular site. Another useful bit of information is that Cingular has secured a temporary license to use the ATT brand and logo during the transition period. So, while ATT Wireless phones are still widely seen, ATT Wireless Phones service (AWS) is now provided by a completely different company – Cingular.
How will my ATT Wireless Phones work -- now that I’ve been sent to Cingular?
According to the good folks at Cingular, they’re expanding their mobile-to-mobile communications community to include more than 46 million people. These of course will include original Cingular customers, plus all the customers who are being transferred over from ATT. Worldwide, Cingular’s Allover ™ Network includes about 280 million people. That’s a lot of people using the various formats of wireless communication!
As Cingular puts it, their Allover™ Network will now be able to provide more “signal bars in more places.” What that says to me is that Cingular believes their merger with ATT Wireless phones will enable them to provide customers with the best benefits and features of ATT Wireless phones as well as some of the unique options provided by Cingular. For example, Cingular allows its customers to rollover their minutes from one month to the next, a feature that was not available to users of ATT Wireless phones.
Will users of ATT Wireless phones be able to roam the country?
That’s another one of the great benefits of the ATT Wireless/Cingular merger. Because they will now have access to Cingular’s Allover™ Network and Cingular’s Nation® Plan, users of ATT Wireless phones will be able to “roam the country at one low price.”
Cingular representatives are quick to add, however, that these services are not provided in all areas. Before traveling to a particular area of the country where you intend to use your ATT Wireless phones, it would be wise to get a coverage map to see if the Cingular plans are available in that area.
To learn more about various formats of communication technology, please visit the following links @ Pulse Media International.org.
About the Author: Dr. John W. Luton
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Before joining the mass communication faculty at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, Dr. Luton served as pastor of churches in Maryland and North Carolina for almost 20 years. He and his wife, Cheryl, remain active in their church and Dr. Luton serves as an Unreached People Group Coordinator for mission work among the Bisu people of Thailand.
Growing up in northeastern North Carolina,
John Luton marveled as his father told stories about his
childhood and World War II adventures. Bluebird
in Belgium relates those wonderful stories.
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