V70 carrier change???

[joejoe]

I'm a 16 month user of V70 w/ Cingular service in NYC. Service apparently isn't that hot as my friends curse me out every weekend for "busy circuits" and static.

Now that I can keep my phone# while changing carriers, I wonder if I can keep my phone too. I'd prefer to go back to Verizon, my original provider, which has very good service in NYC, but Motorola site says V70 only supported by Cingular, TMobile.

Is this really the case? Any way around it? My friend says the phone can be "unlocked" and able to use other SIM cards. Is this true? If so, could anyone tell me how?

If not possible, any suggestions to get better service from Cing?

I appreciate any help anyone can give me.

Thanks,
JOE

[adisaoz]

If you could unlock it, you could try AT&T's network, because from my experience, they have the better GSM network in NYC; this, however, is predicated on you unlocking the phone. Verizon is a CDMA carrier and the phone you have is a GSM phone, so even though Verizon does have better coverage, you won't be able to use that phone on Verizon's network. Even with that said, all phones are not created equal, and the V70 is one such phone. Since Cingular and AT&t now support the 850mhz frequency, though, you might benefit from a newer phone. Contrary to popular lore, Cingular's service has improved in NYC. You would not notice that using the V70, which was one of the first phones Cingular introduced when they came to NYC. It is a single band phone and not one of Motorola's best--similiar to the T720. Certainly, the V70 is one of Motorola's most stylish phones, but definitely not one of their best.

--AZ