If you haven’t heard, the Nexus One (N1) has been released. It’s the newest Android-based phone, built by HTC and being “pushed” by Google. Unfortunately, ordering one has caused trouble for many people, myself included.
Rather than paying $400 for an iPhone via AT&T, I thought getting the $180 N1 would be a great deal, especially since I could switch to T-Mobile and pay just $80 a month for the plan (less expensive than either Verizon or AT&T). Unfortunately, I filled out the form and got the error: “You are not eligible for T-Mobile service at this time.”
Sadly, that’s all the info Google provides, other than comforting me with the option of buying it straight up for $530. I have no idea why I am ineligible. My roommate has a G1 on T-Mobile, so service is available. I have never had a contract with T-Mobile, so it’s not a matter of being an existing or past customer ineligible for upgrade. I’ve checked to make sure I can transfer my phone number, and it’s eligible for transfer. Why am I not eligible?
Update! Success!
I did it again and changed two things, and it worked. I’m not sure which of these two mattered, but here they are in the hope that they’ll help someone else:
1) Per eperor’s suggestion, I asked for a new phone number.
2) I changed my service area to downtown Seattle (where I work) rather than my home address.
This worked for me; good luck to everyone else!



The issues seems to be cause by trying to port your number. If you process it with getting a new number it should work no problem. It’s usually a simple process to port the number after the phone is already in use.
| January 6th, 2010 @ 6:44 pm
Guess I should have read the entire post before suggesting something you already discovered!!
| January 6th, 2010 @ 6:45 pm