SIM Cards for Sale; SIM Cards for Sale

In "The Solution" posting below there is a long section about how to get a SIM card. Well... It's much easier than all that.

You can go to any Cingular Retail Store (like the across from REI in RTC), and buy an Orange SIM card for $2.85. No muss no fuss no drips. Just ask to buy a replacement SIM card. The folks in the RTC store are cool and understand what's going on.

Low Cost Unlock Service for NOKIA Handsets

You can get your NOKIA handset unlocked pretty easily.
The cost is $3.00. Use PayPal to order the service.

To use this service, do this:

1. Log on to PayPal (register for an account if you don't have one) https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run
   - Select "Send Money"
   - Enter 3.00 as the amount
   - For the email address, enter fixmyphone@gmail.com
   - From the "Category of Purchase" menu select "service"
   - In the PayPal NOTE field enter:
   . a. the Nokia phone model (like 8260) and
   . b. the handset IMEI number. You can also see the IMEI
   . by entering *#06# on the key pad. DOUBLE CHECK THE IMEI!
   - Confirm your email address by entering it in the note field.
   
   You will get a return email within a day that includes the "unlock code" for your individual phone, together with instructions on how to enter the unlock code in the handset.
   Use the fixmyphone@gmail.com email for questions or follow up.
   

Here's more info about the IMEI and a sample NOTE entry:

The IMEI is also known as the serial number. On the Nokia phones it is written on the information tag that is under the battery. It is the long 15 digit number on the bottom line containing slashes or dashes. Don’t enter the slashes when sending it in your email. It is always best to check the IMEI using the *#06# trick. Be sure to include the leading zeros in the IMEI.

Sample Note for PayPal:
Nokia Model: 3380
IMEI: 004400622758531
My Email: ablueperson@qmai.com

The Solution

Disclaimer: This posting is based on widely available information about GSM mobile phones. It is in no way intended to interfere with the ERP sign-up process at Cingular, but provides added details about avoiding the expense of purchasing a new phone. Different handsets behave differently. Some older GSM phones many not support all network features on a new SIM. But most GSM phones sold by AT&T Wireless in 2003 through 2005 are widely known to work properly with the Cingular 64K "Orange" SIM. All information in this posting was obtained from non-Cingular sources on the web or from pages accessible through the Cingular public site, http://www.cingular.com. No information included came from internal Cingular "intra-net" sources to which the author of the posting may or may not have had access at some previous time.

What You Need To Do
To solve the problem of switching ERPs without buying a phone, follow these steps.

1. Get your current "AWS" phone unlocked so that it will work with an Orange SIM.
2. Get an Orange SIM
3. Link that SIM to an Employee Account

The rest of this posting walks you through these steps. This is an open blog and people are invited to add comments or information.

1. First you need to UNLOCK your phone.

Each handset vendor (Ericsson, Samsusng, NEC, Moto) has a method available for unlocking the mobile phone. In most cases this requires connecting the phone to a PC through a cable. Nokia is the notable exception. To unlock a Nokia phone you need a key number, and you need to know the magic key presses on your phone that will make it unlock.

There are folks operating on the internet who offer this unlock service, usually for about $10 bucks. Google or search Ebay for these services. A couple of people who offer this service have been invited to contribute postings to this Blog. Watch for notes about low cost services in the Redmond-Bothell area.

Obviously if the unlock procedure requires a cable, you have to send the phone to someone with the right cable. Again, look on Ebay... http://cgi.ebay.com/Unlock-Unlocking-Sim-Code-Cingular-Samsung-Cell-Phone_W0QQitemZ5850565837QQcategoryZ43312QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem for example.

2. Now you need a SIM.

To get an Orange SIM you have a couple of options. Even though the SIM by itself is not available in an obvious place, it is available through Cingular to Cingular employees. It would be a violation of Cingular rules to provide specific information on this public web site about how to do that, so unfortunately we can't provide details. But we hear that it has something to do with a cow and that management approval is required. We also hear that it is cheap to do.

The Orange SIM is also available on Ebay. (Isn't everything?) When we checked Ebay a couple of hours ago, there were SEVEN PAGES of Orange SIM cards listed. An example Ebay listing is for item 5832049772, which lists an Orange SIM for $3.85. Any Ebay purchase is buyer beware, but there are LOTS of Cingular SIM cards for sale. If you buy there, shop carefully, look for sellers with 99% plus feedback, and watch out for shipping costs. A 99¢ SIM card is no good if the vendor wants to charge you $7 to send it to you.

But there is an alternative method that isn't terribly expensive. You get an Orange SIM when you order a "Pick Your Plan" GOPHONE. You can sign up for GOPHONE with or without a phone. The cost of getting a SIM this way is $30 plus tax. This gives you a choice between buying some minutes vs buying a cheap phone. http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/get-started/shopping_options.jsp?returnURL=/cell-phone-service/wireless-phone-plans/gophone-pick-your-plan.jsp&_requestid=121137

To get a SIM with 200 minutes, go to this URL, enter your zip code, and on the next page select the first plan for $29.99. Go through the shopping cart check out, and you are DONE! Sometimes area retailers offer the GOPHONE as a sale item, but we don't know of any such sales in the area right now.

3. Now you need an ACCOUNT.

With your phone unlocked and your SIM in hand, you can complete your Cingular account sign up. We can't give instructions here because that information comes from the Cingular internal site. But we hear that there is a place for you to enter your IMSI (phone ID printed inside the phone), and your SIM number (printed on the SIM) as part of account sign up. It's a good idea to save the credit card that holds the new SIM when you get it. This larger card has the SIM ID on it, and it's easier to read.

At this point you should be 100% back in the ERP sign-up process the company has described in their communications (or so we are told).

One more time: The purpose here isn't to "get around" Cingular, but to provide details about reuse of AWS phones. This information is so specific that there is no reason to expect that it would have been included in general Cingular information to employees. We sincerely hope that this information is useful to Cingular employees and their families.

The Problem

Disclaimer: All information in this posting is based on widely available information and the author need not have had access to "inside" Cingular information or documents at some time in the past to create this posting.

Cingular needs to move people on the AWS employee rate plan over to the legacy ORANGE rate plan. That's not a corporate thing. It's a GSM thing. But that change creates problems for almost everyone still on the AWS rate plan.

Here's a quick summary of the problem.

• First of all, you MUST switch plans. Cingular needs to cut off all AWS employee plans as of some date (like April 1 (April FOOL)), and YOUR PHONE WILL STOP WORKING.
• But for you to switch plans, you need three things...
  - A Cingular SIM Card (also called an ORANGE SIM)
  - A phone that will accept the SIM, meaning either a Cingular supplied phone OR a GSM phone that has the carrier lock removed -- a.k.a. an unlocked phone.
  - An employee account (that's actually the easy part).
• IMPORTANT: If you haven't already unlocked it, your existing AWS phone that you got for the AWS rate plan WILL NOT WORK. It is locked to AWS. The GSM details are that the old AWS carrier code is 380. The NEW CINGULAR carrier code is 410. Your phone needs either to recognize 410 or to be unlocked so that it doesn't care about 380, 410, or any other carrier code.
• OK... You can buy a new phone. Well... Not so fast there. First of all, all the cheap phones are probably GONE. All the really good, heavily discounted phones are also probably GONE. If you buy a new phone right now, you may end up paying list price for a phone you really don't want. Nobody wants it to be this way, but it's just after Christmas, and lots of people are changing plans.
• So unlocking your phone makes sense. But wait. You are still in trouble because you don't have a SIM card. And we hear by the grape vine that there isn't an obvious way to order just a SIM card inside Cingular.

That in a nutshell is the problem. Employees must switch to the Cingular plan, and when you do, phones become a problem because a handset bought from AWS won't work as is, and even if you unlock it, you still need to come up with an Orange SIM. Look at the "Solutions" posting for some ideas about how to sign up for an Orange employee rate plan while avoiding purchase of yet another GSM phone.