Here's the answer... and it's somewhat confusing.
Briefly, in the 'early' days of cell, if you weren't on your provider's
system, you would roam. And, of course, you would pay extra for the
roaming. Now comes the age of PRL's and 'free' roaming. BUT - unlike the
olden days, you can only roam to a system that is on your PRL.
Recently, I tried a Cingular GSM phone. There has never been any cell
service at my house (that's now changed). Cingular brought me within a few
streets of where I live... and then nothing. I left the phone on. The
phone would switch between 0 bars and 4 bars. But, when I tried to make a
call with 4 bars, I was presented with "Emergency Only."
I was seeing a T-Mobile site, very close to me. But, there is no agreement
in place to allow Cingular to roam to that site. Cingular feels they have
coverage in this area, so they won't pay for roaming. End of story.
So, no charge for roaming is correct, but it is not the unlimited,
unfettered roaming you might expect.
--
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My website:
http://www.geofffox.com
"wilson" <vecchia@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:3APtb.17138$kL2.7667@fe3.columbus.rr.com...
> Cingular salesperson says their GSM coverage has to be much better than
AT&T
> 's GSM coverage everywhere because if Cingular can't find their own
service
> they will roam to AT&T or TMobile (with no roaming fee) but AT&T won't
roam
> to Cingular.
>
> Any truth to that statement?
>
> Live in Cleveland OH (summer) and Fort Myers FL (winter).
> Which GSM service would you choose?
>
>