If you were a Suncom customer and have been using your old phone now that T-Mobile has taken over, your time is running out.
Don’t panic. It is not as bad as it seems, and for most, you should still be able to continue to use your old phone. It’s the SIM card that is going bad.
A SIM card, for those who might not know, is a small, thumbnail-sided chip in the back of your phone that holds your “cellular identity” allowing the cellular networks to identify you and bill you accordingly. It can also be used to back up your phone’s address book.
Since T-Mobile and Suncom used similar technologies, most Suncom customers didn’t have to do much. They woke up one morning and their phones were on the T-Mobile network.
Even when I got my G1 phone, I just put my old Suncom SIM card, and off I went. When I asked, I was told the old SIM would be fine for now, but eventually, the time would when I would need a T-Mobile card. This is part of the “natural” process of cycling out the old technology and getting everyone on the same system.
Well, that time came for me last week. My phone started acting weird and eventually became convinced it was roaming, even in the strongest of T-Mobile zones.
Swapping out the old card for the T-Mobile one, which came with the G1, was easy enough and cured my phone immediately.
I have heard from many others that their old Suncom phones are doing weird things: calls fail, misconnections, and incoming calls getting lost—not even going to voice mail.
All these problems are most likely being caused by the outdated SIM card in the phone. Unfortunately, the solution is not quite as simple as it was for me. Well, it could be. You can go out to your T-Mobile store and buy a new phone. However, that may require a new contract and out-of-pocket expense.
The other way, which T-Mobile suggested for my Blackberry line (which I let family use), is a little more convoluted, but free of charge.
The authorized account user (usually you, but it could be your husband, wife or parents—whoever’s name is on the bill) needs to call up T-Mobile and request a SIM unlock. This usually happens quickly, but could take up to a couple of days. Once you get the unlock code, you can go to your nearest T-Mobile store and they will get put a new SIM card in your phone.
For more information, call T-Mobile at 800-937-8997 or 611 from your cell phone (although, they advise that if you are having trouble with your phone to call the 800 number from a different line).
