STKLAW

Is the phone that you buy for integration into the audio system a Motorola v60ti, v60it, v60i or some other model? Also does anyone know the difference between these models. The MBUSA web site just says that it is a V60 phone.

If you don't have voice command (which won't be available for 2003 models) can you still scroll through your phone book on the instument cluster with the steering wheel controls and make a call from the steering wheel controls?

Any info would be appreciated.

etenn

I think you have to order the phone for the $$$BIG$$$ in order to use it. A standard V-60 will not work no matter what model it is. It has to be the MB phone to work in the hands free/audio/steering wheel configuration.

Having said all that....maybe someone who knows can correct me and/or tell it like it is.:p

Ed

mbprince

etenn says - A standard V-60 will not work no matter what model it is. It has to be the MB phone to work in the hands free/audio/steering wheel configuration.
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that is correct. I and my wife both use V60 phones (AT&T) and they will not work in the V60 MB cradle. when you first plug in a non MB V60 you get a message saying 'phone being activated' and about 2 seconds later, when the computer realizes it's not an MB phone with special software the message changes back to 'please insert phone'. The cradle will, however, charge any V60 phone. When you get the MB phone package in the US you simply tell the dealer either AT&T (tdma) or Verizon (cdma). There is no GSM version for the US currently supported by MB. I really do love the way the phone works in the MB system. Would love to find a phone guru who could put the correct software in my other 2 V60 phones!!!! Also in the future MB will support other phones via adapters that they will supply. Hope this helps.

STKLAW

mbprince,

Can you do all the things I described in my post without having voice activation?

JustinTRW

Yes, or you can dial it in.

STKLAW

Can anyone tell me if the Mercedes V60 phone is WLNP compliant? I have Sprint now and it won't work with the Mercedes phone and in order to keep my same cell number the Mercedes phone has to be WLNP compliant.

mbprince

stklaw,
you can scroll, send and end a call with the buttons on the steering wheel. As far as WLNP, I don't know but a new law will pass this fall allowing people to keep their cell phone # when switching carriers (verizon has been fighting this for several years and lost for the last time yesterday). So wait a few months and you will be able to keep your present #. mp

STKLAW

I thought I heard that a court ruled that you could keep your number on CNN but I didn't hear whether it was an appeals court on a trial court. If it was an appeals court then that is precedent. If only a trial court I doubt that anything will change with any of the other carriers.

mbprince

Here is the article. Don't know much about appeals and or if this is a final ruling....


Court says cell phone users should be able to keep numbers when switching carriers

WASHINGTON (AP) -Cell phone users should be allowed to keep their numbers when they switch to new providers, a federal court ruled Friday in rejecting an appeal by wireless companies.

Consumer advocates say not having that option is one of the biggest barriers preventing more wireless customers from switching in search of better service and prices. The Federal Communications Commission is requiring wireless carriers to provide ``number portability'' by Nov. 24.

Verizon Wireless and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, an industry group, challenged the requirement in April, telling the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the FCC overstepped its authority. They argued the rule will raise costs while doing little to promote competition.

The court's three-judge panel rejected that challenge, calling the FCC's action ``permissible and reasonable.'' The court also said the cell phone companies waited too long to object to the rule.

``It is obvious that any regulation that frees consumers from staying with carriers with whom they are dissatisfied affords them protection,'' the court said. ``It was reasonable for the FCC to conclude that wireless consumers would switch carriers at even higher rates if they could keep their phone numbers.''

CTIA President Tom Wheeler said he was disappointed by the decision. He said that if the FCC doesn't provide more guidance on how number portability will work, ``consumers will find chaos in the market.''

While fighting the requirement, cell phone companies have been preparing to provide the service by creating technology, training workers and making agreements with competitors. Readiness varies among carriers.

Verizon Wireless, which has been working for months to meet the deadline, said it would push for Congress to undo the requirement.

``Requiring local number portability is bad public policy,'' the company said in a statement. ``The resources required to fulfill this new mandate will unnecessarily be redirected from our core business activities: expanding network quality and reach, improving customer service, and initiating new services and products.''

The wireless industry estimates that number portability will cost more than $1 billion in the first year and $500 million each year thereafter.

Chris Murray, an attorney for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, called the court ruling a ``a big win for consumers.'' He said the lack of portability particularly harms small businesses and self-employed people because when switching carriers they lose numbers known by their customers.

Congress decided in 1996 that people can keep their traditional local phone numbers when they change phone companies. The FCC said soon after that wireless carriers should offer that ability to people in the largest 100 U.S. cities by June 1999.

The FCC extended that deadline three times, most recently granting a yearlong extension last summer after Verizon Wireless asked the commission to eliminate the requirement.

Most wireless companies argue that their industry is competitive enough and doesn't need a regulatory boost. They say there are about 146 million U.S. cell phone subscribers and about a third of them change carriers each year.

Many cell phone users outside the United States, in places such as Britain, Australia and Hong Kong, already have the option of keeping their numbers when they switch carriers.

STKLAW

Thank you very much! That article explains it very well and since it is an FCC ruling that the appeals court upheld that means that it will apply to all carriers accross the US!

Just too bad I have to wait till November before it is implemented.

kaneman

Wireless number portability is a LONG way from proper implementation. Expect it to be at least two years before they get it right... currently it's a mess!

STKLAW

Well, the FCC said it had to be done before November and unless they convice the FCC to change their mind I think they are stuck with that date. Also seems like their grounds for further appeal are nil since the article indicates that they missed the deadline for commenting on the FCC's proposed rule published in the Code of Federal regulations.