My cell phone got stolen - normally this would not be a big deal, but I have an old pay-as-you-go AT&T phone number. Cingular has bought out AT&T and tells me I cannot keep my number, or keep the same service because they don’t sell or make any more of the SIM chips that come in the phone (it has a unique icc number?). The old AT&T deal was much better than Cingular’s new pay as you go offerings.
I want to keep my phone number and keep my old AT&T service (still supported), can someone explain to me what they put on those SIM chips that make them work on the network? Is there something I can do to get a new chip with my phone number on it or whatever it needs to connect to the network?
I should add, the original phone I got from AT&T wore out, and I bought a new Nokia phone from Cingular (I had to convince them to sell it to me without a contract), that I was able to “unlock” after several hours of internet searching. I inserted my original SIM chip into the new phone and it worked beautifully. It was this new phone that was stolen (along with the precious SIM chip).
So for me, the important issue is not the phone, but getting a replacement SIM chip and connecting my number to it.
I suspended my telephone number, but the suspension is reversible. This was a GPRS system.
Yer’ point being? I find there is almost no such thing as too much technical information, when trying to answer a technical question, so please, future posters, don’t say why you didn’t answer the question, at first, simply answer the question. For all you know, that “iicc #” might only be found in that model, or some such thing.
With that said, I have researched the question (mildly), and have found that the Nokia 6102 is almost identical to the 6101, used by T-mobile. Both Cingular and T-mobile use sim cards, but in my experience, T-mobile is more willing to accomodate your needs.
Cite. I have found that T-mobile is much more flexable, personally. Thus, I fear the only true answer is to buddy up to a Cingular employee who is willing to do the right thing.
I have no idea about US cellphone systems or the contracts associated with them but this sounds hihly dubious to me.
My understanding is that the SIM basically just identifies the individual handset to the cell tower. It is, basically, just a chip with a serial number in it. The cellphone system system that links that serial number to Cingular as a service provider, and they then link it to your telephone number, so they know where your handset is and therefore how to route the call. I don’t see why they should have any difficulty linking your number to a brand-new SIM card. I know that when I upgraded my handset a while ago my service provider sent me a new SIM because the old one wasn’t compatible with the new phone.
It is just possible that they are decomissioning the old AT&T system and not issuing any new SIMS from it, and it is not possible to migrate the number or the pricing plan across to the Cingular system where they issue new SIMs from, but that sounds a bit unlikely to me, because that would suggest that they plan to break the contracts of most or all existing AT&T customers whenever it comes to SIM renewal time (which happens fairly often with mobiles) - and that sounds like a pretty expensive proposition.
I think they are just trying to fleece you by getting you to switch to a more profitable tarriff - have a good read of the small print on your contract and see if they are obliged to honour it or buy you out of it.
In response to Scott Plaid, the question was not about the phone, it was about the SIM chip. The icc# is essentially a serial number for the chip which contains your phone number and indentifies you to the network. These SIM chips can be swapped into different phones, and the network doesn’t care what phone you use. Since Cingular doesn’t carry the essential AT&T SIM chip, they can’t help me.
To Slaphead; Cingular says they are out of these old AT&T chips. I did not have a contract, it was a pay as you go phone. I managed to buy a "new"AT&"T chip from an independent wireless dealer for $15, stick it into an old partially functioning phone I had lying around the house, and call the phone company to reactivate my number to the new SIM chip - the critical icc# came into play here because that’s what they used to locate my phone on the network and link my phone number to it.
Cingular wants everyone to switch to their new plan so they refuse to sell “new” phones and chips to AT&T customers. You have to go to independent dealers to get unlocked phones, and SIM chips that will work under the old AT&T system.