I’ve found T-Mobile’s customer service to be exceptional and, even if their featured cell phone was a pair of tin cans connected by string, I’d probably still stick with them for the customer service. (Among other things, if you call the customer service line, you’ll be speaking with a real human being within about sixty seconds.)
Having said that, they aren’t exactly the early adopters of new technologies. For instance, they basically have no high-speed data plan — but that’s about to change. Edgadget reports that T-Mobile will be completing its EDGE rollout by the end of September. As described on T-Mobile’s About page:
By the end of September 2005, T-Mobile plans to launch EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) service across its nationwide network, offering average data speeds between 100-130 kbps […]
Naturally, EDGE’s throughput is reported in kilobits per second — in more common units, that would be 12.5 - 16.25 KB/sec. Ok, so that’s not breakneck speeds, but it’s still pretty usable for e-mail and some web browsing. On the other hand, EDGE (“Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution”, if you’re curious) maxes out at 384 kbit/s (48 KB/sec) which would be kinda nice, even if only for moments at a time.
Of course, Edgadget couldn’t resist snarkifying T-Mobile’s progress:
T-Mobile’s finally made it for sure solidly official that they’re planning on EDGE rollout by the end of September. Yes, of this year, smart aleck—that is, just in time to get stomped by Sprint’s EV-DO and shortly before Cingular’s data-gone-gangbusters HSDPA network lights up. Still, you get what you pay for, and if they’re smart enough to offer their EDGE service at, say, a $15 all-you-can-eat rate, they might just have something going for ‘em. […]
All the same, I look forward to this speed boost. And, as I understand it, it’s not as if T-Mobile is “flipping the switch” on September 30th — they're activating EDGE as it becomes available in each area. So, if you're on T-Mobile, you may be able to make use of EDGE presently. (I just wish I could figure out how to get my Treo 650 to tell me if I’m connected with EDGE.)