Why 3Gstore Stopped Selling Verizon - VZW Bans Competition

Maureen

You may have noticed that 3Gstore has not been offering Verizon products/service on our website for the past few months. We are now coming forward with the reason behind this.

Several months ago, with no warning given at all, Verizon pulled our authorization to sell their products and services. The reason given was that in addition to their products and services, we also sell signal boosting equipment (antennas and amplifiers). We were told that if we wanted to sell Verizon, we would have to stop selling ALL antennas and amplifiers altogether.

3Gstore has been selling both Verizon AND antennas/amplifiers side by side for several years, so this came as a complete shock. The antennas and amplifiers sold by 3Gstore help countless cellular users enjoy better performance and in many cases an antenna/amp is the ONLY way a user can use their phone/aircard. The signal boosting products we sell have saved Verizon from losing THOUSANDS of customers who would have otherwise canceled their service contract due to weak or no signal. We refuse to bend to Verizon's outrageous demand and have no intention of removing these valuable signal boosting products from our website to appease them.

We have posted an article about this issue on EVDOinfo.com, as well as a more detailed post on our blog.

Below is an excerpt from the EVDOinfo.com article:

SlyFerret · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 127

Wow, that really is terrible news. What is VZW thinking?

I purchased my Wilson Trucker antenna from 3G store a little over three and a half years ago.

I purchased my current Verizon aircard, a UM-175 modem from 3G store a little over a year ago.

I live in a rural area of Ohio, and by using a good external antenna in combination with my Verizon modem, I am able to get reliable broadband service. Without the antenna, my experience would not be quite the same, that's for sure.

I would like to mention that I connect my antenna to my air card using the convenient external antenna jack that Verizon PROVIDES on the aircard.

-SF

widgetman101 · EVDO Junkie Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Posts: 211

Wouldn't that be considered anti competitive behavior? Removing you as a seller so they can try and corner the market for these aftermarket signal enhancers?

I like the part about you saying how you've saved thousands of customers. If it wasn't for my antenna finally giving me Rev-A I would have canceled a long time ago.

phxphun1 · EVDO User Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 70

Wow. Talk about Verizon shooting themselves in the foot. Many of us live in or travel to areas in which service is marginal or even impossible without an antenna and amplifier.

Of course I'm not surprised at Verizon's actions. This is from the wireless company with the largest advertsing budget, and apparently feels their feces don't stink. It is perfectly in character for them to strongarm individual retailers.

You guys made the right decision by ending your relationship rather than cowtowing to their idiotic and possibly illegal demands. Kudos to 3Gstore for sticking with its principles and choosing to continue selling amps and antennas rather than Verizon service.

Just for the record, I use Sprint, but I spend most of my time in areas where neither carrier can be reached without an antenna and amplifier. If it were not for my Wilson antenna and amp, I would not be anyone's broadband customer.
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15 char. limit?

samarai · EVDO Newbie Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 7

I bought my aircard, router, antennas, and activated my VZ through the 3g store over 2 years ago. There is no way I will change from the 3g store for my purchases. When 4g service comes online next year from VZ, I plan on buying everything possible from 3gstore.com to use it. The customer service and tech support are 2nd to none.
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samarai

RonBoyd · EVDO Newbie Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

Maureen · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:56 pm Post subject:

Ron, I believe the previous poster was saying that they intend to purchase whatever equipment they CAN from us, aside from the actual service plan - i.e. antennas, accessories, etc.

We will not be arrested for selling products that work with Verizon's service Smile

We simply aren't selling the Verizon service itself at this time.

n6gn · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:12 pm Post subject:

I think I can see some validity in VZW's position, particularly with respect to amplifiers. I know that several of the big carriers have spent a lot of time and money solving problems to their networks caused by mis-applied amplifiers. One errant or improperly operated amplifier can wreak havoc on an otherwise healthy cell site and cause loss of service to many customers. As VZW and others have spent a lot of money on spectrum and networks in order to make a business, having an errant user damage this investment would understandably cause concern.

While many users are able to use an amplifier without causing undue difficulty, some are not and may not even know that they are causing a problem. The "assurances" of some third party vendor that their amplifier doesn't cause a problem when installed as directed are probably pretty weak against a few bad situations - which I know have occurred.

I'm less sympathetic with the claim that antennas which are passive devices, cause a problem. There may be some situations where the improved path and link margins provided somehow cause a net detriment to a cell but I suspect they are pretty rare and I can't actually think of a situation where I think that would occur. Anything a paying user can do to get a better radio path should help CDMA systems, if not the others as well. Furthermore, a directional antenna reduces energy in unwanted directions and allows better spectral/channel reuse.

These opinions are my own and I have no affiliation with any of the carriers or third party equipment providers.

n6gn

Jim_in_VA · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:19 pm Post subject:

Gotta jump in and jump out ... but n6gn ... a brilliant answer
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RonBoyd · EVDO Newbie Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

paddlehead · EVDO Newbie Joined: 05 Nov 2009 Posts: 2

I stumbled across 3GStore and this Verizon non-sense FOR THE EXACT reason that I'm stuck with a Verizon phone and the signal is so weak at my house that I NEED THIS EQUIPMENT ... I'm looking for a solution.

I CAN TELL YOU EXACTLY WHY VERIZON is doing this. Listen to their obnoxious radio/TV ads/campaigns ... they're trying to saturate our perception that they have the largest network (compared to everybody else) AND THEREFORE DON'T WANT TO BE AFFILIATED with any need for antennas, repeaters, etc.

To some this may sound like conspiracy theory ... but I have no doubt some executive (in the ivory towers of Verizon) has concluded this, and doesn't give a rip who gets cut out in the implementation.

rjsurfer · EVDO User Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 53

Paddlehead,

Verizon didn't guarantee 3G coverage in your area? did they?

You had 30 days to return any Verizon equipment if it didn't live up to your expectations, you chose to stick with it and play around with ancillary accessories to get it to work better.

When I purchased my USB 727 modem, external antenna and MBR1000 router I knew there was a chance it might not work up to my expectations, and I might have to return it to Verizon and the 3Gstore.

Ron W.

mclass55 · EVDO User Joined: 17 Feb 2007 Posts: 45

rwithers · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:16 pm Post subject:

mclass55 · EVDO User Joined: 17 Feb 2007 Posts: 45