I recently upgraded my cell phone and service with AT&T.  For two years I've carried a TDMA Motorola V60i cell phone.  I was thoroughly happy with the phone and the digital TDMA service, but times and technologies change.  As is the case every year or two, I knew it was time to upgrade.

I've been with AT&T Wireless for many years and have been thrilled with the service.  My first cell phone (back in the early nineties) was a massive piece of equipment that required its own trailer for mobility.  New networks and technologies guided me from that humble beginning through the Nokia craze and eventually left me with the V60i.

I was quite happy with the digital TDMA network and service, and AT&T's Digital One Rate plans were perfect for me since I never had to worry about roaming or long distance charges.

But the CDMA and TDMA networks are things of the past.  Two years ago when I purchased the V60i, AT&T had only recently begun their implementation of a GSM/GPRS next-generation network.  I knew then that I would be upgrading in 12-24 months.

Last week I finally concluded that it was time to upgrade phones and change cell networks, so I went to my local AT&T Wireless store.

I had already done my homework.  After the announcement of the first Windows Mobile-based SmartPhone in the US, I knew which phone and which plan I wanted, so I skipped the introductory phase of my visit and jumped directly to the wheeling and dealing.

Shortly thereafter I was walking out the door with a new Motorola MPx200 phone on a new GSM/GPRS next-generation One Rate plan from AT&T.

The MPx200 runs Microsoft Windows Mobile and comes packed with great features and applications including Pocket Outlook, Pocket Internet Explorer, instant messaging (MSN, AIM, Yahoo!, etc.), Windows Media Player, and many others.

Of course I've spent the last week playing with it and trying to figure out all of the features.  Thus far, I'm still learning.

I've already found some great new applications that I've installed (like a caller ID package that allows me to associate real photos of people with their contact entry so their actual picture is shown when they call).  I have the general impression that it'll take some time before I'm satisfied with the phone given the many applications I can install to modify its behavior and enhance its functionality.

I've also added a 64 MB Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card to give me more versatility.  As I continue to broaden my use of the phone's features, I can always upgrade to a 128 MB SD card.  The extra memory gives me more versatility with the phone and allows me to expand its functionality more extensively with applications and upgrades.

I'm not entirely satisfied with the limited scope of AT&T's GSM/GPRS network, but it is new and still growing.  Despite its prolific reach, the CDMA and TDMA networks are things of the past and will eventually go away.  That means next-generation is the way to go, so I'm there.

Overall I've been more than pleased with the phone and am learning to adapt to the new network service.  Knowing that the network will continue to grow and gain new features makes it easier to deal with the coverage shortcomings (which I remember clearly with the migration to the first digital networks, so I'm familiar with the process and can wait for the network to expand).