The iPhone (and BlackBerry) in Scotland

One of our favourite bloggers, Larry Olmsted (www.larrygolfstheworld.com), recently wrote of a dilemma he faced when he used his iPhone on a trip to Mexico. Larry incurred a $1400 data charge despite his diligent efforts to manage his usage. Read the story by clicking here: The same thing can happen here in Scotland but we have a way to mitigate the problem for you.

AT&T as the sole USA mobile operator for the iPhone, uses their market position to take advantage of clients. There are services that will resolve your problems but finding them in the deep chasm that is AT&T is the problem.  AT&T has a service that provides unlimited data for any country in the world, domestic or international, for a fee off $65 per month. Yes. We said unlimited. If you travel extensively (or even if you want a domestic unlimited data plan) you have to get this. Here’s what you need to do:

• Find out if your company has a FAN number. You can check by inputting your email here. Check EMAIL here. FAN means Foundation Account Number. It signifies that you have a premier account. They don’t charge you more but they do give you a little better customer service. You will need that number. Most companies will gladly help you with this.
• Call AT&T and tell them you want to link your account to your company and give them the FAN number. This does not mean your company will be charged. It only means you will be able to get the discounts offered by having a linked account.
• Third and last step. Tell the AT&T representative that you want to sign up for Soft (or Feature) Code IRPZ. (IRBP for BlackBerry) By adding this, you can remove many other features on your phone so that the additional fees are nominal.

If your company doesn’t have a FAN account, try your alma mater or any other affiliation you may have. This will save you gobs of money.

By ayewonder | Published in: News | Tags: Affiliation, Alma Mater, Apple Inc., AT&T, AT&T Corp., Better Customer Service, Blackberry, Bloggers, Businesscenter, Caption, Deep Chasm, Dilemma, Diligent Efforts, Email, Fan Number, Feature Code, Foundation Account, Friend Or Foe, Golf Golf, http://larrygolfstheworld.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/788/playing-golf-abroad-do-not-bring-your-iphone, Iphone, Larry Olmsted, Lifestyle, Market Position, Mobile Ip, Mobile Operator, Multi-touch, playing golf, Premier Account, Scotland, Smartphones, Sole, Technology_Internet, Trip To Mexico, Usa Mobile, Wt, www.larrygolfstheworld.com