My Gripe
 

Ok to start I am in one of the area's that once was alltel and now is verizon. I am still in contract until february with alltel and until then don't plan on upgrading my phones. My biggest complaint is that I am wanting the OmniaII when my contract is up but in order to do that I will have to go to a verizon plan, oh well. The problem after that is I now have an alltel diamond in near perfect condition that is worthless!! With every provider only allowing their phones on their networks that leaves me with an expensive paperweight once i disconnect it for an upgrade.

Is there any light at the end of the tunnel to allow consumers who purchase phones out-right with their hard earned money to be allowed to activate them on other networks than what they are branded for without having to jump through hoops? Why can't CDMA carries be open like their GSM cousin? It just pisses me off that the $300 I spent on the phone was thrown into the wind because now after I upgrade I will not be able to use it as a back-up or secondary phone for some variety.

Re: My Gripe
 

Did someone at Verizon tell you it would NOT work after the switch-over? I was under the impression that you would be able to continue using Alltel devices on the Verizon network going forward...since Alltel is now Verizon.

Another option: Sell the phone to recoup some cash. There are other carriers (Cricket, MetroPCS, etc.) that will allow the device onto their network. People will still gladly fork over reasonable amounts for the device.

Re: My Gripe
 

I don't understand your statement about the "expensive paperweight" --- do you mean it is worthless because you can't now sell it because there is essentially no more Alltel (and therefore, it is harder for one who has purchased your phone to now get it activated)?

I'm not sure yet if Verizon will activate Alltel phones that haven't been grandfathered in already. Has someone tried this yet? If not, you can always sell you diamond to someone looking for parts... You're not going to get as much as you could get, but it is still worth something to someone.

I'm not sure how the whole upgrade process will work. I'm also in the same boat. However, if you look at the information in the Verizon Wireless web portal you'll see that they shoe-horned you into a Verizon plan. I'm not sure if you'll be able to resubscribe under the same plan and just push it out for another contract term (1 year, 2 years, etc.)