Debuting on the Android-powered myTouch 4G Slide and Samsung Exhibit 4G, T-Mobile is partnering with Cequint to provide customers with Name ID for a fee of $3.99 a month. Customers can try out the service for free over a 10-day trial as well. When a call comes into the T-Mobile phone, the number is scanned within a database of phone numbers validated by operators. The service then displays the name, city and state of the caller as well as the phone number.
If the number is already stored in the contact list, it displays information related to that contact instead of the information supplied by Cequint. The service from Cequint saves all information from the call on the phone making it simple to add new contacts. The company is hoping that adoption rates will be high for the service, but Android owners already have a free option for call screening with Google Voice. T-Mobile is the first of four major carriers that will be rolling out the Caller ID service from Cequint.
Cequint faces a barrier from Verizon Wireless to providing a complete service. The company refuses to supply subscriber information for the Cequint database. When a call comes in from a Verizon phone, the T-Mobile phone won’t be able to display any information beyond the number. In 2008, Verizon partnered with Cequint on the City ID service. For $1.99 a month, users can view the city and state of the caller, but not the name. The database features over 20,000 cities and is preloaded on many smartphones.
Cequint shares a split of the $3.99 monthly fee with T-Mobile, but did not specify the exact percentage. The Name ID service is already available on the Samsung Exhibit 4G and is heading onto the myTouch 4G Slide later this month. More Android smartphones will be added in the coming weeks, but no models have been specifically named by T-Mobile.
