New coverage in Oregon

Cingular posted a new map, clearly adding coverage even in far SE Oregon
(apparently Cellular One NW -- note no relation to Western Wireless):
http://onlinestoreb.cingular.com/htm...on_GSM_map.htm

Interesting to note, it would appear Cingular coverage included with their
rate plans now seems to rival Verizon's coverage at least in Oregon.
The coverage in the interior where Verizon has native coverage isn't quite
as good, but all the cities, including coastal are covered-- it's just 101
inbetween cities where Verizon has a slight advantage.

We now have both Verizon and Cingular with national plans that
include much of rural Oregon, with Cingular apparently now providing
even more geographic coverage than Verizon.

Let the competition begin!

-Dan

PS: The small carriers in Oregon like Cellular One NW, Ramcell,
and even US Cellular have to be targets for acquisition. Word
is that US Cellular is not for sale, but I'd be surprised if someone
doesn't buy the other two.

--

=======================
Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
http://cell.uoregon.edu

--

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› See More: New coverage in Oregon

Interesting that those of us in the western half of the U.S. still get
the short end of the stick. Maybe someday.

Dick

On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 10:27:34 -0800, "Dan Albrich"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Cingular posted a new map, clearly adding coverage even in far SE Oregon
>(apparently Cellular One NW -- note no relation to Western Wireless):
>http://onlinestoreb.cingular.com/htm...on_GSM_map.htm
>
>Interesting to note, it would appear Cingular coverage included with their
>rate plans now seems to rival Verizon's coverage at least in Oregon.
>The coverage in the interior where Verizon has native coverage isn't quite
>as good, but all the cities, including coastal are covered-- it's just 101
>inbetween cities where Verizon has a slight advantage.

Remember that any service in Oregon was not Cingular before they bought
ATTWS. The coverage is ATTWS towers, now Cingular, T-Mobile and other GSM
roaming partners.

Chris

"Dan Albrich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> Cingular posted a new map, clearly adding coverage even in far SE Oregon
> (apparently Cellular One NW -- note no relation to Western Wireless):
> http://onlinestoreb.cingular.com/htm...on_GSM_map.htm
>
> Interesting to note, it would appear Cingular coverage included with their
> rate plans now seems to rival Verizon's coverage at least in Oregon.
> The coverage in the interior where Verizon has native coverage isn't quite
> as good, but all the cities, including coastal are covered-- it's just 101
> inbetween cities where Verizon has a slight advantage.
>
> We now have both Verizon and Cingular with national plans that
> include much of rural Oregon, with Cingular apparently now providing
> even more geographic coverage than Verizon.
>
> Let the competition begin!
>
> -Dan
>
> PS: The small carriers in Oregon like Cellular One NW, Ramcell,
> and even US Cellular have to be targets for acquisition. Word
> is that US Cellular is not for sale, but I'd be surprised if someone
> doesn't buy the other two.
>
> --
>
> =======================
> Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
> http://cell.uoregon.edu
>
> --
>
>

If you had Sprint PCS with the America option, you would have much better
coverage out West. It's going to be very hard and expensve to implement the
area covered by AMPS with GSM (an obsolete technology as you'll all be
switching to WCDMA phones pretty soon) or any digital technology.

Chris

"Dick" <LeadWinger> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Interesting that those of us in the western half of the U.S. still get
> the short end of the stick. Maybe someday.
>
> Dick
>
> On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 10:27:34 -0800, "Dan Albrich"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Cingular posted a new map, clearly adding coverage even in far SE Oregon
>>(apparently Cellular One NW -- note no relation to Western Wireless):
>>http://onlinestoreb.cingular.com/htm...on_GSM_map.htm
>>
>>Interesting to note, it would appear Cingular coverage included with their
>>rate plans now seems to rival Verizon's coverage at least in Oregon.
>>The coverage in the interior where Verizon has native coverage isn't quite
>>as good, but all the cities, including coastal are covered-- it's just 101
>>inbetween cities where Verizon has a slight advantage.
>

Really. With most of the rest of the world on GSM I can't imagine
that the technology is about to be replaced soon.

Dick

On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:43:01 GMT, "Chris Russell"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>If you had Sprint PCS with the America option, you would have much better
>coverage out West. It's going to be very hard and expensve to implement the
>area covered by AMPS with GSM (an obsolete technology as you'll all be
>switching to WCDMA phones pretty soon) or any digital technology.
>
>Chris
>
>"Dick" <LeadWinger> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Interesting that those of us in the western half of the U.S. still get
>> the short end of the stick. Maybe someday.
>>
>> Dick
>>
>> On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 10:27:34 -0800, "Dan Albrich"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>Cingular posted a new map, clearly adding coverage even in far SE Oregon
>>>(apparently Cellular One NW -- note no relation to Western Wireless):
>>>http://onlinestoreb.cingular.com/htm...on_GSM_map.htm
>>>
>>>Interesting to note, it would appear Cingular coverage included with their
>>>rate plans now seems to rival Verizon's coverage at least in Oregon.
>>>The coverage in the interior where Verizon has native coverage isn't quite
>>>as good, but all the cities, including coastal are covered-- it's just 101
>>>inbetween cities where Verizon has a slight advantage.
>>
>

Chris Russell wrote:
> If you had Sprint PCS with the America option, you would have much better
> coverage out West. It's going to be very hard and expensve to implement the
> area covered by AMPS with GSM (an obsolete technology as you'll all be
> switching to WCDMA phones pretty soon) or any digital technology.

I highly doubt Cingular is just about start a *complet* overhaul of GSM
to WCMDA (UMTS) for *voice*. If that were the case, I'm pretty sure
Cingular would have just waited and gone to UMTS from TDMA. However, I
do think Cingular will *overlay* the system with UMTS for data, but I
doubt that will become the only voice medium for the company any time soon.

TH

> Remember that any service in Oregon was not Cingular before they bought
> ATTWS.

Yes. The coverage improvements I speak of are purely through the addition
of roaming partners (and/or the expansion of existing roaming partners
through GSM overlay).

For further clarification- If maps are correct, Cingular with their roaming
partners will deliver basically the same coverage area that Verizon plus
their roaming partners currently have. I give Cingular "the nod" because
they will not charge roaming in any of these areas. Verizon will charge
roaming in some of these areas (albeit, somewhat esoteric rural areas). I
can also guarentee from first-hand experience there are many areas where an
analog phone will outperform any digital-only phone, so Verizon may continue
to have some advantage in terms of raw coverage-- and again this is a bit
esoteric as this may only really matter in the mountains, and yes it is
possible to acquire a GAIT phone etc.

The odd bit, which I assume Cingular can and will fix, is that their native
network (coverage in-town for example) seems like it hasn't been upgraded in
years. Capacity issues like system-busy and dropped calls are commonplace
here in Eugene Oregon.

So, unfortunately, despite the great geographic coverage they now claim
(which I assume is valid), they still don't deliver good service where I
live-- and like I say, I do believe they will get better.

-Dan

PS: One more tidbit, that region in far SE Oregon (and other new coverage)
according to Cingular's map will not be available until June 2005. On the
other hand, my Cingular GSM phone has found coverage in pretty remote areas
of Eastern Oregon, so I can confirm first hand that much of that overlay is
already complete. i.e. US 97, and Crater Lake etc.

--

=======================
Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
http://cell.uoregon.edu

--

> Remember that any service in Oregon was not Cingular before they bought
> ATTWS.

Yes. The coverage improvements I speak of are purely through the addition
of roaming partners (and/or the expansion of existing roaming partners
through GSM overlay).

For further clarification- If maps are correct, Cingular with their roaming
partners will deliver basically the same coverage area that Verizon plus
their roaming partners currently have. I give Cingular "the nod" because
they will not charge roaming in any of these areas. Verizon will charge
roaming in some of these areas (albeit, somewhat esoteric rural areas). I
can also guarentee from first-hand experience there are many areas where an
analog phone will outperform any digital-only phone, so Verizon may continue
to have some advantage in terms of raw coverage-- and again this is a bit
esoteric as this may only really matter in the mountains, and yes it is
possible to acquire a GAIT phone etc.

The odd bit, which I assume Cingular can and will fix, is that their native
network (coverage in-town for example) seems like it hasn't been upgraded in
years. Capacity issues like system-busy and dropped calls are commonplace
here in Eugene Oregon.

So, unfortunately, despite the great geographic coverage they now claim
(which I assume is valid), they still don't deliver good service where I
live-- and like I say, I do believe they will get better.

-Dan

PS: One more tidbit, that region in far SE Oregon (and other new coverage)
according to Cingular's map will not be available until June 2005. On the
other hand, my Cingular GSM phone has found coverage in pretty remote areas
of Eastern Oregon, so I can confirm first hand that much of that overlay is
already complete. i.e. US 97, and Crater Lake etc.

--

=======================
Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
http://cell.uoregon.edu

--

On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 22:50:20 -0800, "Dan Albrich" <[email protected]>
wrote:
<snip>
>The odd bit, which I assume Cingular can and will fix, is that their native
>network (coverage in-town for example) seems like it hasn't been upgraded in
>years. Capacity issues like system-busy and dropped calls are commonplace
>here in Eugene Oregon.
<snip>
Was talking to the Cingular gov't. sales rep this AM who suggested the
problems which you cited, also experienced by folks in our Eugene office
who have ATTWS/Cingular instruments, is likely because they're still on
TDMA. He added that they're reassigning frequencies, and channels within
frequencies, from TDMA to GSM, to improve the GSM experience (and, I might
note, increase the profitability, because ATTWS never had data over TDMA,
unlike Rogers en Canada).

Are you on GSM?

If so, would you mind, for the sake of the studio audience at home, noting
here where bad spots are in Eugene, so I can hit him over the head with
them?

Thank you kindly.






--
John Bartley K7AAY http://celdata.cjb.net
This post quad-ROT-13 encrypted; reading it violates the DMCA.
"We're not living in a simulation. We're living in a collaborative SF novel... and now, of course, it's Philip K. Dick's turn. In a back room somewhere, Vernor Vinge and George Orwell are currently arguing about who gets to take over in 2025." (Ross Smith)

> He added that they're reassigning frequencies, and channels within
> frequencies, from TDMA to GSM,

--> Yes, I've witnessed this here in Eugene. The problems for TDMA/analog
customers are much worse than for GSM customers here. Symptom is you dial a
call, hear rapid-busy, phone drops call and returns to the AT&T or Cingular
home-screen.

> Are you on GSM?

--> Yes, I have GoPhone for one of my lines. I also have several close
friends who are regular post-paid GSM customers and they report the same
issues.

> If so, would you mind, for the sake of the studio audience at home, noting
> here where bad spots are in Eugene, so I can hit him over the head with
> them?

The historical weak spots for AT&T include 29th and Wiallamette ( the whole
shopping area there), and the University of Oregon/ Sacred Heart campuses.
These particular spots have been problematic for at least 5 years, and
continue to be problematic for AT&T GSM customers as well.

More important than the dead spots is the noon and 5pm "error in system
connection" or "all circuits busy" messages. These don't appear to be
location dependent, but of course are worse in areas that have poor coverage
to begin with. The main complaint I have is these capacity issues rather
than coverage. On one day, near the UO, I tried continuously to place a call
for 20 minutes. At that point the backup AT&T GSM phone has been relegated
to "not worth it" status.

-Dan

--

=======================
Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
http://cell.uoregon.edu

--