Mobile operators halt sale of Razr phones

By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: March 10, 2006, 2:12 PM PST

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Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile temporarily stopped selling Motorola's popular, ultra-thin Razr phone this week, because of a defect that causes calls to be disconnected.

Motorola said a "limited number" of the phones shipped to the U.S. market were affected by the glitch. The Razr is one of Motorola's most popular phones.

"Motorola and its customers are addressing an issue affecting a very limited number of Razr handsets sold for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks over the last four weeks," Alan Buddendeck, a spokesman for Motorola, said in an e-mail. "Motorola and its customers have taken steps to ensure an easy exchange process for consumers."

T-Mobile stopped selling the Razr late Wednesday after Motorola told it about the problem, said Peter Dobrow, a T-Mobile spokesman. Cingular stopped selling it in stores earlier in the week, said Mark Siegel, a Cingular spokesman.

A faulty component in the sleek, thin phones caused the calls to disconnect and the phones to reboot.

"We pulled all Razr units from retail, since it was not immediately known which devices had the defective component," Dobrow said. "Motorola is currently working with us to identify the affected units."

Motorola said that phones that were affected were shipped on Feb. 1, and that new phones without the glitch have already begun shipping. It expects normal availability of the handsets by next week, Buddendeck said. T-Mobile expects to begin reselling the phones early next week, according to Dobrow.

Customers with affected handsets may contact their carrier for an exchange. The problem affects only GSM phones. GSM is a cellular phone technology standard in Europe that is also used by Cingular and T-Mobile in the United States. Razr phones on the Verizon Wireless network were not affected, because Verizon uses a different technology.

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