old phone reuse?????

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.nokia (More info?)

There HAS to be a way to reuse on old cellular phone! I want a
temporary, 2nd service, or an additional phone on existing service, to
use on a two month road trip. My current service is a Nokia 3360 with AT&T.
I have two perfectly good phones: a 2nd Nokia 3360 that was used with
AT&T service, and a Qualcom QCP-2700 that was used with Sprint PCS service.
But -naturally- AT&T says the only way to 'add a line' is to switch to
Cingular, get two new phones (leaving me with 5 total), and sign up for
a new 1 or 2 year service agreement. (absurd)

Is there any legal way to use on of my existing -useless- phones for a
short term? Or is buying a pay-as-you-go plan (probably with another new
phone) the only possibility?
Thanks.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.nokia (More info?)

cew wrote:
> Johan Wevers wrote:
>
>> cew wrote:
>>
>>> There HAS to be a way to reuse on old cellular phone!
>>
>> I've no idea how this works in the USA. In Europe you just buy a
>> new SIM card (prepaid or subscription), put it in the phone and
>> you're on. Phone numbers are linked to the SIM card, not the
>> phopne. Are in the US system phone numbers linked to the phone
>> itself?
>>
> Far as I know, but could be wrong.

It depends on the system. The US uses a variety of different systems, not
all use GSM as in Europe. Only GSM phones use SIM cards, the other
networks (CDMA, TDMA, AMPS) don't.

Ivor