T-mobile Sidekick Data Plan Scam?

Archived from groups: comp.sys.handhelds (More info?)

I've owned the original T-mobile Sidekick for nearly a year now and have
enjoyed its convenient and innovative features until recently. I travel
through much of the country and have noticed lately that there are more
areas where voice coverage is available, but data is not. Last winter and
spring I found that if I was in an area where I received no signal strength
at all, I would receive no voice OR data coverage. (The lack of voice
coverage never bothered me because the design of the phone portion of this
gadget was obviously an afterthought and not to be actually used.) Now, I
have noticed that more areas are providing a signal, but for voice ONLY. I
have a contract whereby I am paying $29.95/month on the unlimited data plan.
Now, it appears that I have significantly less data coverage/roaming than
last year. I have contacted T-mobile and the "specialists" there have told
me that due to the different natures of the agreements that T-mobile has
with different wireless carriers, only a few are providing T-mobile users
with data coverage. I asked the specialist exactly how many of the
different carriers that T-mobile contracts with provide data coverage and,
as is typical with "specialists," I received an evasive response that
perhaps I should begin a "troubleshooting" session with a technician to see
why my particular device seems to have a "poor signal strength." I
explained to this woman, who was extremely ill-informed and unsuited to the
job, that my "signal strength" and my device are fine; the data coverage is
poor. She then asked where I was located at the time. I told her I was
driving through Madison, Wisconsin-a HUGE town with a prestigious college
and highly educated populace. She asked me to manually select an available
carrier (which I had already tried). The two choices were AT&T Wireless or
Einstein PCS. Einstein, of course, didn't provide data coverage, which I
had to correct her about after she breezily told me that they do. And then
I asked, incredulously, if it was possible that AT&T, one of the largest
wireless carriers in the nation, did NOT have a data agreement with
T-mobile. She sheepishly informed that I was correct and then casually
mentioned that she "just noticed" that NONE of the non-T-mobile areas in
Wisconsin have data coverage. That's a LOT of college students (read:
potential Sidekick customers) who should probably be informed ahead of time
that these devices will be useless to them in Madison and many other areas
of the state. I then again asked her the original question that she evaded
about how many carriers in the nation DO have the data agreement with
T-mobile. She dithered around before answering. Ready? Four! FOUR! Four
carriers in the U.S. have the data agreement with T-mobile. If you are in a
non-T-mobile coverage area, you are completely screwed. Of the Big Four,
one serves only Colorado, one serves only Iowa, one I never heard of and the
other, thank goodness, is Cingular. Cingular does a decent job of filling
in the gaps near metro areas where T-mobile is not available.

Does anybody have information about the shell game being played here? Is
T-mobile attempting to save money by not signing agreements with more
carriers? Has there been a huge overhaul during the year whereby other
wireless carriers that formerly provided data coverage are no longer doing
so? Do only a few companies have the technological capabilities to provide
this service? Why doesn't AT&T, which surely has the capability of
providing such service, have an agreement with T-mobile?

My contract with T-mobile will be terminated unless I hear satisfactory
explanations that answer my questions and allay my fears. The Sidekick
Revolution will die in its infancy unless the company provides reasons to
purchase an interesting-looking gadget that offers extremely limited data
coverage and has phone features that are universally reviled.