Sinterklaas is an elf. The name and some of his attributes are derived from that folklore.

Mobilicity and Videotron are actual MNOs that are licensed as automatic roaming partners with WIND, afaik.

WIND and T-Mobile USA have an excellent relationship as well. The cheapest US roaming rates for Canadians are available on WIND ($1/min, as opposed to $4/min on Rogers, Bell, and Telus and $1/MB as opposed to $5/MB on Rogers, Bell and Telus). Recently, the roaming rates for T-Mobile USA customers to Canada have also changed to $1/min and $1/MB.

The problem is that the FCC doesn't have any mandate whatsoever on what technology should be deployed for cellular communications. Fortunately, the convergence point seems to be LTE, but that is at least a decade away. Aside from Verizon, pretty much all the CDMA carriers will need to shut down their CDMA networks in order to deploy LTE, because they need to reuse that spectrum.

Didn't Multimate support exporting to RTF (at least DOS RTF)?

Put CM or some other custom ROM, then. Or try your hand at ripping it out yourself...

I did it as an experiment once. I reset a phone, skipped Google setup and went straight to the home screen. Then I hooked up the phone to the computer and sideloaded GetJar and Amazon Appstore. From there, I grabbed IM+, K-9 Mail, and Business Calendar. I never touched the Google services and apps, and it worked just fine. It's quite usable without Google services.

The EU can sign on the behalf of its member countries, though it doesn't exercise that power often.

There are two major operators that support using your own phone on their network: China Unicom and China Mobile. China Mobile operates a GSM network that covers the entire country, but their 3G network is TD-SCDMA, so no American phones will operate on 3G on China Mobile. However, China Unicom operates a 3G UMTS network, and all T-Mobile USA phones will work on it, and many AT&T phones will too.

You'll want to bring with you an unlocked T-Mobile USA phone for use in China. While there are many on AT&T that do also technically support China Unicom's infrastructure, it is hit-or-miss to get them unlocked. Talking to AT&T reps to get unlock codes is like pulling teeth sometimes... Purchase a good smartphone from T-Mobile USA off contract and call them up and request the unlock code. Tell them you purchased the phone for its full price at a store to use for international travel and go from there.

Personally, I'd recommend the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II or the HTC Amaze 4G. Both of them support UMTS 850/AWS/1900/2100. China Unicom on the mainland uses UMTS 2100 last I checked, but they may have launched service on UMTS 850, since China Unicom in Hong Kong uses UMTS 850/2100. If that's a bit too high end for you, then the T-Mobile Motorola DEFY, T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ 2, or the T-Mobile MyTouch by LG all support UMTS 850/2100.

Except there is some evidence to price fixing for rates. Verizon and AT&T are only a few dollars difference to each other per month, though you get less for more with Verizon's service. If you remove T-Mobile, then Sprint will fall, and then people will really notice how odd it is for AT&T and Verizon to have similar rates. Roaming rates are a form of price fixing that AT&T and Verizon heavily rely on as well. As a result, the only carriers that can offer rates lower than $40/mo are ones who don't allow roaming (Sprint Prepaid Group, basically). There is a tenuous balance of two GSM and two CDMA2000 national carriers that deflects away attention from the indirect and direct price fixing that AT&T and Verizon do in the market. If T-Mobile is absorbed by AT&T, Sprint will fall, and the federal government will have to step in, again. Once they step in, they'll have to take drastic steps to make sure the market is as fair as possible. Admittedly, they won't get far because AT&T and Verizon "contribute" to so many campaign fund ventures.

For this reason, it is extremely important that the government block the deal. They'd rather not have to heavily regulate the telecom market like they did prior to the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Technically, the Telecom Act of 1996 also deregulated fixed internet services too. As a result, it is actually possible to start up a new broadband internet service company and offer service. However, it is a very expensive venture. Which means that nobody will do it unless they feel the social benefit outweighs the financial risks and costs (a la Google Fiber).

It is still true. Most fiber laid out during the late 90s and into the turn of the century is not active. Wireless companies are capitalizing on this "dark fiber" to use as backhaul for cellular towers. And with Verizon abandoning FiOS, even more fiber will be going dark.

Wouldn't eliminating philosophy as a Ph.D. be a rather bad idea? After all, Ph.D means "Doctor of Philosophy."

Do you?