Please Read if you are military and have AT&T cell phones

[Disney8704]

I just got off the phone with AT&T and I've been told that theres NO plan whats-so-ever for those who are deployed when it comes to Text messaging and IMs. The guy told me that he thinks there should be a plan for military who are deployed for calling & messaging and couldnt agree more. Its costing me and my DH $2.49 a min just for him to call me. Text messaging from me to him a total of $0.75 and same from him to me. This is outrageous! Do cell phone companies think we are made out of money? So its time we finally stepped up and change this. Which is why I am posting this. I will be posting this on here, military boards and on myspace. I am looking to get 500 signatures or more. If you agree that there should be a plan for military that are deployed to call and receive messaging at a cheaper rate, please sign this petition. Just sign your name and (if you want) city and state where your from. Thats all I need. Please help all those who are deployed right now and have AT&T. Its time that they give back a little for us. The military is giving them freedom and rights. At least they can do is give us a plan for the deployed military. Thanks!!


Just adding, Im not doing this petition anymore. Im just gonna contact AT&T myself.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Your husband is using his personal cell phone from another country? Is it on an int'l plan? Is there any particularly reason why? Does he not have acess to morale phones or a unit phone? I've heard of people being deployed getting a personal phone while in theater and paying the mins that way. Sort of like a pay as you go cell phone and then the soldier sells it to someone else coming in.

I'm sorry you are having so many problems with the cell phones and cost. I hope find something that can keep you in contact without the high costs.

 

[GeorgeG]

My grandson is in Iraq and he uses a military e-mail address. With the time difference, that's a lot easier.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

would this be common? Do other cell phone companies offer military international plans?

 

[jsmith]

would this be common? Do other cell phone companies offer military international plans?

No they do not-and at and t's international roaming is quiet reasonable compared to other companies.

 

[weregoingtodw]

AT&T's international One Country plan got us through the year-long separation when DH was in Korea.

I, however, would love to see rotten tomatoes thrown at Sprint. After being loyal customers for years (when we were married, I just added DH onto my account after his AT&T account expired). Lo and behold, when DH deployed last time, we decided to cancel his phone line (we have three) so we could save some money while he was gone. Lovely Sprint refused to do it, in spite of the fact that we had orders, because the phone was not in his name. Nor would they add his name to my account.

The worst part? When we'd been in the SAME STORE previously (adding DD's phone line), we were told that it was fine to go ahead & add her on rather than having her take DH's phone line, since we could just temporarily put his "on hold" (and not be charged) during the deployment. Who knows? Finding a new wireless provider ranks right up there with getting a root canal or shopping for a new car IMO.

 

[Disney8704]

Unforutantly theres a International plan for International numbers. DH had called AT&T before he got deployed and tried to set something up to where the calling charges wouldnt be as much. But unfortuantly there isnt anything. There isnt even a international text message plan. He has access to a phone in his shop but its only 2 15 mins phone calls a week. And we want to be able to talk to each other more then that. The whole purpose switching from verizon to AT&T was so he could take his cell phone and call me whenever and I could do the same. We also thought he would be able to get online over there and talk to me on AIM or Yahoo, but they dont allow that anymore. So all we have is a cell phone with an outrageous bill, email and good old fashion letters and 2 15 min phone calls. Only reason he can call me or I can call him is because we have global phones. As for getting a phone when they get there, whoever told u, isnt true. Or maybe true, but not anywhere he's been to.

Just wanted to add, actually there is international calling plans, where you can save on roaming charges, but unfortunatly where hes at, theres no discount on the roaming charges. So having a international plan is pointless.

Your husband is using his personal cell phone from another country? Is it on an int'l plan? Is there any particularly reason why? Does he not have acess to morale phones or a unit phone? I've heard of people being deployed getting a personal phone while in theater and paying the mins that way. Sort of like a pay as you go cell phone and then the soldier sells it to someone else coming in.

I'm sorry you are having so many problems with the cell phones and cost. I hope find something that can keep you in contact without the high costs.

 

[weregoingtodw]

As for getting a phone when they get there, whoever told u, isnt true. Or maybe true, but not anywhere he's been to.

Where is he? (ONLY if you can say without violating OPSEC)

DH hasn't been anywhere yet that cell phones on the local economy weren't available used from other outprocessing soldiers.

If you're using your cells for texting, why not just use email instead? There should be an internet cafe on his base/post/ship/camp, even if he can't get internet service for a laptop (if he took one).

I agree, the 15 minute morale calls always seem too short. It helps to keep a little notebook handy at all times so you can jot down things to remember to discuss w/him.

 

[va32h]

Military wife here, two deployments already, and sorry, I just don't agree. We have email, we have letters, we have the phone banks in various camps...we have so much more communication with our soldiers than families have ever had before...we should be grateful for it and not stress about getting reduced cellphone minutes too.

My husband would not take a cell to Iraq anyway, he said it would be too easily damaged by dust or his constant activity. And I'm not even sure he could have one, for security reasons.

I understand how much you miss your spouse, I just don't agree that discounted text messages are necessary.

 

[Sleepy]

We have email, we have letters, we have the phone banks in various camps...we have so much more communication with our soldiers than families have ever had before...we should be grateful for it and not stress about getting reduced cellphone minutes too.

I have to agree. I remember the many deployments we had when the ONLY communication was snail mail and an occassional phone call from a pay phone if the ship reached a port.

 

[transparant]

Your husband is using his personal cell phone from another country? Is it on an int'l plan? Is there any particularly reason why? Does he not have acess to morale phones or a unit phone? I've heard of people being deployed getting a personal phone while in theater and paying the mins that way. Sort of like a pay as you go cell phone and then the soldier sells it to someone else coming in.

I'm sorry you are having so many problems with the cell phones and cost. I hope find something that can keep you in contact without the high costs.

My nephew is in Iraq right now and this is what he did.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

UAs for getting a phone when they get there, whoever told u, isnt true. Or maybe true, but not anywhere he's been to.

It's true! DH was issued a cell phone for his job in Iraq. Many others bought cell phones from outgoing military. Email and IM worked pretty well too. He left his personal cell phone at home. He could call me from his phone on his desk also.

I know there are some situations where soldiers should not have a cell phone on them.

 

[disneynutt1225]

I talk to my husband online (almost daily). We're fortunate to have email, IM, and the morale phones in this day and age. I only get to hear his voice once a week, but those emails and IMs carry me through. I didn't want to add international calling to his cell phone because it's just a ridiculous price, but I think even if it was cheaper, it wouldn't be necessary because of all the other options available.

 

[Goofyzgurl]

DH and I have used the morale calls, email, snail mail and we're going to add international calls on our land line. Is he allowed to use the phones at his shop for anything other than morale calls, if so then I'd buy a calling card and have him use that. I understand that it's hard to be away from your dh, so try to utilize the other forms of communication or bite the bullet and pay for what AT and T has. When dh went on his first remote there was only the landline, 2 15 minute morale calls and snail mail. It's gotten a lot better since then. Some shops do give their troops a global phone, my friend's has one right now that he uses, so it does happen.

 

[pyrxtc]

I don't agree. I don't think there should be cell phones over there. We have enough wiht e-mail, snail mail, and morale phones.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I can see your point and if you can convince AT&T to cut you a price break on International Service - I think that is great.

But International calling is expensive, especially in an area with limited Communication Infrastructure. I think you are being overly optimistic in thinking that you and your husband are going to be able to keep in touch on such a frequent daily basis with cell phone texting and wireless calls. It would be nice, but I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

I'm sorry that you have to go through this, I know you must really miss him.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Unforutantly theres a International plan for International numbers. DH had called AT&T before he got deployed and tried to set something up to where the calling charges wouldnt be as much. But unfortuantly there isnt anything. There isnt even a international text message plan. He has access to a phone in his shop but its only 2 15 mins phone calls a week. And we want to be able to talk to each other more then that. The whole purpose switching from verizon to AT&T was so he could take his cell phone and call me whenever and I could do the same. We also thought he would be able to get online over there and talk to me on AIM or Yahoo, but they dont allow that anymore. So all we have is a cell phone with an outrageous bill, email and good old fashion letters and 2 15 min phone calls. Only reason he can call me or I can call him is because we have global phones. As for getting a phone when they get there, whoever told u, isnt true. Or maybe true, but not anywhere he's been to.

Just wanted to add, actually there is international calling plans, where you can save on roaming charges, but unfortunatly where hes at, theres no discount on the roaming charges. So having a international plan is pointless.

Well I hope you work out a resolution that makes you happy. I'm not ragging on you by any means but the 2 15 min calls is ALOT more than so people get during a deployment and like others mentioned you could email chat. I know that's what my husband and I did because they aren't allowed IMs either(takes up too much bandwidth) If he is in a sandy area, there are many internet cafes or MWR computer places for email chats and there are also MWR phones but yes sometimes the lines are long and sometimes the time difference makes a pain in the butt challenge.

Good luck and I hope your deployment flys by for you and your husband returns home safely. If worse comes to worse and you don't want to pay the charges, there are ways of getting the communication. It just won't be as often but still as sweet.

 

[lovemygoofy]

This isn't aimed toward anyone at all just a reason why cell phones are limited and discouraged from use is because they can unknowingly set off a IED and are considered an breachable form of communication because others can tap into the conversation. At least that is what I have been told at my briefings.

 

[transparant]

This isn't aimed toward anyone at all just a reason why cell phones are limited and discouraged from use is because they can unknowingly set off a IED and are considered an breachable form of communication because others can tap into the conversation. At least that is what I have been told at my briefings.

That is 100% true! Thanks for bringing that up Tina!

 

[Disney8704]

Last deployment DH went to Balad, Iraq. His communcation was GREAT. He was able to call daily for 15 mins from his shops phone using a phone card of course, email daily, was able to go to the building where they had the computers and get online on his days off and webcam with me. Back then we didnt have global cell phones, so he didnt take his cell phone. This time however, hes in a different location, he can hardly email, only 2 15min phone calls per week, he could call anytime on his cellphone when hes off work (as long as we dont mind paying the outrageous bill!), as for the computers, NO IM & NO webcams aloud. All I know is that something happened, and they took away the IM programs off the computers. He cant even use his own laptop. He could provided that they would just wipe his hard drive clean and make it a governement computer where all he can do is just check govenment email and thats it. Just doesnt make any sense. Someone leaks info and they take away the IM program. Dont they realize that people can still leak info through emails, hand written letters, phone calls made on your cell phone? Whats next are they gonna do away with communcation altogether? You can take your cell phone with you as long as you arent in a career field that doesnt allow it. Its not like hes out in the field as a SP / MP. All he does is works on the equipment that works on the planes. Oh yeah dont know if its different between branches or what your career field is, but in my husband career field in the air force, they HIGHLY recommend you get a global cell phone and take it with you. All I know is that during DH last deployment he saw a lot of people had their cell phones with them making phone calls. We were with verizon but wanted out because we hate verizon and mainly switched to AT&T because of their plans, service and the fact that they actually get a signal in the middle east. But like I stated, even the guy I talked to last night he even stated that AT&T needs to have a plan for our guys over there. Those were his exact words. I mean they have thse international calling plans for international numbers, and you can get a calling plan thats international, but all it does is makes the roaming charges cheaper. Unfortunantly where my DH is, theres no discount on the roaming charges.