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Message-ID: <s8e4f1$2lqd$1@gal.iecc.com> Date: 23 May 2021 17:47:13 -0000 From: "John Levine" <johnl@taugh.com> Subject: Re: Cell phone bills too high? Here are some that start at just $10 a month According to Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.remove-this.telecom-digest.org>: >Cell phone bills too high? Here are some that start at just $10 a month -- or $25 a month for unlimited That's a pretty lame list if you ask me. Tracfone offers unlimited talk+text and 1GB for $20/mo on any of AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mo. You can bring your own phone or they will sell you anything from a really basic smartphone for $20 to an iPhone 11 for $600. No contracts, it's all prepaid month to month. Airvoice Wireless resells AT&T, unlimited talk/text and 3GB for $20/mo, prepaid. Or for an emergency phone, for $13 you can get 100 min good for 90 days. -- Regards, John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

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Message-ID: <20210524155510.GA14116@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 24 May 2021 15:55:10 +0000 From: Bill Horne <malQassRimiMlation@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Cell phone bills too high? Here are some that start at just $10 a month On Sun, May 23, 2021 at 05:47:13PM -0000, John Levine wrote: > According to Moderator >> <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.remove-this.telecom-digest.org>: >> Cell phone bills too high? Here are some that start at just $10 a >> month -- or $25 a month for unlimited > That's a pretty lame list if you ask me. > > Tracfone offers unlimited talk+text and 1GB for $20/mo on any of > AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mo. You can bring your own phone or they will > sell you anything from a really basic smartphone for $20 to an > iPhone 11 for $600. No contracts, it's all prepaid month to month. > > Airvoice Wireless resells AT&T, unlimited talk/text and 3GB for > $20/mo, prepaid. Or for an emergency phone, for $13 you can get 100 > min good for 90 days. Here's the problem from my perspective: I was warned, by people I trust, that only Verizon has a viable network in this part of North Carolina. The advice was from fellow Amateur Radio operators who work in the cellular industry: they have no ax to grind AFAICT. Since my income was dependent on reliable cell service before I retired, I got a Verizon account, which was reliable on the roads I travelle - but I then discovered that my house is located in a black hole where UHF radio frequencies go to die. In order to make my phone work while I was at home, I had to buy a VoIP converter, which is a micro-cellsite that connects to my (cable) Internet connection. It works reliably, but I'm locked to Verizon's network so long as I'm dependent on it. Ergo, the problem: MVNO's get their connectivity from the cheapest cell network provider they can find, and therefore I need to know which "incumbent" network provider any MVNO I might choose is using for its "physical layer,"AND if my VoIP adapter, which is only useful for Verizon's network, will allow them to connect. I could buy a flip phone from one of the MVNO's, but I've got a flip phone from Verizon that costs $30/month, and I'm leery of taking the leap. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)

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Message-ID: <20210524151716.E31E6799@telecom2018.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 24 May 2021 15:17:16 +0000 (UTC) From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Opinion: CTL is going downhill fast By "Anonymous Employee" Pros There are still some good people left there and you can be a rock star if you understand the telecom business but, don't look for advancement opportunities because those are few and far between and are only available to former Level 3 employees. Work life balance is good but not good enough to offset the fear and risk of being randomly laid off. Cons CenturyLink was a good company until it merged with Level 3. Level 3 leadership is in control and is in way over their heads. Many of the Level 3 leaders are inexperienced and don't truly understand the business (especially regulated local markets) or how to lead. Level 3 has jettisoned all of the former CenturyLink tools and processes and put their own inferior tools and processes in place setting the company backwards 15 years and catapulting the company towards bankruptcy. Revenues are declining so the company cuts costs by laying off former Qwest/CenturyLink employees in order to meet earnings goals. Layoffs are continuous and secretive. Entire groups are suddenly gone. I chose to leave before I got laid off. ***** Moderator's Note ***** Here's another post about Centurylink, which is available today for reasons I can only guess at: as I've written before, Centurylink has an expert "Web Optimazation" team that hides almost all bad news abot the company. This opinion was posted on Glassdoor a while back, but I doubt the writer's conclusions are no longer applicable. Bill Horne Moderator