It appears that AT&T and Sony Ericsson are taking a bit of heat for offering people a T226 for their T68i, so that they can take advantage of 850 MHz towers (that were not around when GSM was launched with the T68i).
The biggest complaint from people is the lack of connectivity options on the T226, both IR and Bluetooth are missing from the T226, though they are in the T68i. Some people have had success in demanding a T616 from AT&T customer service, but this is being done on a case-by-case basis, and there does not appear to be a directive in place to offer people this on request.
However, Sony Ericsson (which has partnered with AT&T in this promotion) may be working on it. Some have also had success in getting Sony Ericsson to send customers a T616 to solve the situation (though far less than have had success with AT&T). This HoFo thread by an AT&T Wireless employee asks for customers to give their phone number, name, and city/state to forward to Sony Ericsson in order to start a potential list of people to send T616s.
If you have received a T226 for a T68i, and feel that it’s a downgrade, I suggest giving both AT&T and Sony Ericsson customer service a call. The more that do, the greater the chance both companies will officially address the matter.
