T-Mobile Global Network Outage

Strike one against T-Mobile's Internet access over their GPRS network. According to their customer service representative, the network is currently experiencing a "global outage" and there is "no estimated time for services to be restored."

OK, maybe this is strike two for them in the US following the news that Sprint will buy Nextel, leaving T-Mobile in distant last place with just 9% market share. But what about in the rest of the world -- is this true? Is T-Mobile GPRS out of service in your area?

My problems began earlier today when my phone (which sports an always on GPRS connection) started reporting that either my GPRS APN settings were incorrect or my account was not configured for GPRS access.

After awhile this recurring notice became annoying, so I called customer service. After navigating their new voice response service (horrible in itself) I finally managed to reach a live human being. After a few minutes of telling me that she would help me, she read from her script that the T-Mobile Internet was experiencing a global outage, technicians were aware of the problem and working on it, but there was no estimated time for service to be restored...

If mobile carriers are going to offer data services to their customers, these data services will have to become as reliable as voice services. Can you imagine your voice service being out for an entire day? Would you stay with such a carrier? How many customers will T-Mobile lose for their loss of data services today?