Central Oregon residents impatiently await service for newest smart phones

Nov 23, 2008 (The Bulletin - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- AAPL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Phil Duong, a deputy district attorney for Deschutes County, loves his iPhone.

Made by Apple Inc., its keyless touch screen that enables users to scroll through an address book or browse an Internet site with the flick of a finger made waves with more than techies when it was introduced in January 2007.

"It's one of those gadgets ... I keep finding more and more things to do with it," Duong said. "First, phone, then Web, then e-mail, then killing time with movies, Internet radio, Facebook."

Yet in November 2008, it's still not available for use in most of Central Oregon. At least not officially.

AT&T Wireless, which is the exclusive provider for the iPhone, doesn't offer service in Deschutes County. It provides coverage in a sliver of rural Crook County and around Madras, but otherwise, Bendites are out of luck -- mostly. But more on that later.

So how about Google Inc.'s much-hyped Android phone, also a touch screen with a full flip-out keyboard? It was introduced to the public as the T-Mobile G1 phone in August, and while it's available for purchase online, it's not sold in the company's Bend store because T-Mobile has yet to extend its Third Generation network -- commonly referred to as 3G -- into Central Oregon.

The phone will work, however, on its existing network and instead uses a Wi-Fi connection to get to the Internet.

Feeling a little jilted? Touch-screen phones, which debuted with the iPhone and are now the fastest-growing cell phone sales category, according to Atlanta-based wireless industry analyst Jeff Kagan, are available in Central Oregon through providers such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, U.S. Cellular and Unicel, which is in the process of being acquired by Verizon.

But Verizon's new BlackBerry Storm, a touch-screen model released Friday that is the first foray into touch screens for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., is generating excitement in Central Oregon as a worthy competitor to the iPhone and G1.

"I have roughly 15 people on my waiting list," said Brian Longaker, the lead sales representative for The Wireless Source in Bend. The store sells Verizon products and service.

BlackBerry phones, due to their ability to receive and send e-mails, were termed "smart phones" by the industry and became popular in the business community, said Verizon spokesman Scott Charlston. They even earned the pop culture nickname "CrackBerry" thanks to users who can't leave them untouched for more than a few minutes.

The new BlackBerry Storm -- which retails for $199 after a $50 mail-in rebate -- will suit business users, but it's also tapping into consumer demand for phones that can do more than place calls and send text messages, Charlston said.

"Clearly in the last year, we've seen touch phones come into the smart-phone category and become more 'consumery.' I think business people still like the old smart phones that are not so consumery and flashy, but in the Storm we have a phone that bridges both worlds," Charlston said.

The Storm also has a 3.2 megapixel camera for pictures and videos, 1 gigabyte of memory to store songs and other multimedia items, a GPS application, a full Web browser and Bluetooth compatibility.

"I think it will be for business users for sure, but they're also getting into the younger market, the hipper market, for fun things like games, downloadable ringtones," Longaker said. "It's very similar to the iPhone."

Lewis Howell, the head of the Central Oregon Information Systems User Group (COISUG) a loose-knit group of technology professionals, said he's not aware of much excitement among his peers for the BlackBerry Storm to arrive, but he did note that many in the region are frustrated with the lack of opportunities in Central Oregon for tapping into touch-screen phones.

"I think it's totally frustrating," Howell said. "I think people are poised and waiting for the iPhone. It's just getting lots of good press lately, and I notice iPhones have really started to take share from BlackBerry."

According to an Associated Press report, Apple reported selling 6.9 million of its new 3G iPhones -- which also sell for $199 -- during its last quarter, while Research In Motion sold 6.1 million BlackBerrys in roughly the same period.

Kagan, the industry analyst, said the Storm could be a worthy competitor to the iPhone.

"Over the last few years, customers either chose a phone they loved, no matter which carrier, or they went to the carrier they loved and chose the phones they had available. When touch screens came out, there was not a lot of competition, so now there is," Kagan said. "All the major providers have a touch-screen phone, so now it's up to the customer."

T-Mobile, asked when the company would expand its 3G network to the High Desert, issued the following statement: "T-Mobile ... continues to aggressively expand its third-generation (3G) wireless broadband service with coverage in more than 120 major cities across the top population centers nationwide."

And AT&T? Here's where it gets tricky. According to AT&T spokeswoman Jane Taber, iPhones are only sold to customers who have a billing address inside AT&T's service network. Adding confusion to the matter was AT&T's purchase of Bend-based Edge Wireless earlier this year. Edge only had its headquarters in Bend and did not have a network presence in Central Oregon.

But many in the region use iPhones. How? Like Duong, they acquired their phones when they lived in an AT&T service area before moving to Bend.

But because there is no AT&T network present, they are roaming, or using other providers' networks when they use their iPhone to place calls.

Those other providers then bill AT&T for the minutes used and AT&T turns around and bills its customers.

Taber said the company generally wants its customers to roam for no more than 50 percent of the time, and those who do would be contacted by AT&T to "make sure they don't incur roaming charges."

"AT&T does have a policy that customers who use a high percentage of time off of the AT&T network are subject to cancellation," Taber said.

The good news, however, is AT&T hopes to have a network presence in Deschutes County by December 2009, Taber said.

Over at Bend's SprintNextel store, sales representative Brian Roos said its iPhone-comparable touch-screen model, the Samsung Instinct, is selling well and that it works in Central Oregon. Roos said he frequently encounters customers looking to switch to Sprint to have a touch-screen phone.

"Touch screens are the latest and greatest gadget ... and everyone wants the newest and greatest thing, and touch screens are the way everyone is going," Roos said.

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