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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / ATT Wireless / August 2004AT&T and Cingular may lead the pack (again)
I was pretty down on the whole GSM conversion when coverage was very poor, but something happened here in Oregon within the last 30 days that will make AT&T/Cingular a top competitor. Cellular One NW appears to have overlaid GSM, which is one of two carriers with a large amount of rural coverage in Oregon, mostly in Southern and Eastern Oregon. AT&T's own coverage maps confirm this change. So anyway, an AT&T GSM customer (even GSM America national plan) appear to be able to use the following networks in Oregon: - AT&T's own seizable native network (which is larger than Verizon's native network in Oregon). - T-Mobile with redundant coverage in many places, but fills out I5 and I84 coverage nicely. - EdgeWireless for south western Oregon including the southern Oregon coast. - Cellular One NW for remote rural locations including many areas in eastern Oregon. AT&T was already ahead of the game with phone selection, and seamless features including data access when roaming. This used to come at a cost of dramatically reduced coverage (even compared with their own TDMA/analog). Today, it's looking like AT&T GSM is a great option for folks here in Oregon. -Dan PS: There are some locations where analog is the only game in town (mostly due to distance from towers), and GSM users cannot roam on US Cellular, so the GSM coverage map isn't quite as complete as the TDMA/analog map, but it's darn close, and probably close enough for most folks.  SignatureEugene, Oregon -- Pacific Northwest http://cell.uoregon.edu > I was pretty down on the whole GSM conversion when coverage was very > poor, but something happened here in Oregon within the last 30 days > that will make AT&T/Cingular a top competitor. Cellular One NW appears > to have overlaid GSM, which is one of two carriers with a large amount > of rural coverage in Oregon, mostly in Southern and Eastern Oregon. > AT&T's own coverage maps confirm this change. Where I live Dan, San Luis Obispo County in California - we are waiting for the same thing to happen. The local Cell One here, which is privately owned, is supposedly laying over GSM right now, but they are very hush hush about it. Their current promotion ends next Wednesday, and I wouldn't be surprised if their new promotion includes an announcement about GSM. When they do roll out GSM, if they overlay all their current TDMA towers, GSM in the county will be fantastic. I don't know how the roaming agreements will work, but if AT&T and/or Cingular allow roaming onto their towers, I think people will be surprised at how comprehensive the coverage is. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I really do think that GSM is going to excellent in the US, especially once all the small/local carriers, like the Cell One's, overlay GSM. I would say they are at a point now where they have no choice but to do so, or lose roaming revenue. Plus, I think we've seen the end of the line for TDMA phones. I am not worried about the loss of analog. Even though I live in a fairly rural area and travel around California quite a bit, I couldn't tell you the last time I was in analog. Thanks for the update... ATTWS GSM is pretty good for you in Eugene, and me when I'm in Lincoln City. I was home for a month. ATTWS placed me on DOR Digital because they were sure there was no TDMA signal. Then I was told just because it says ATT on the phone, I would still be roaming. ATTWS gave me a bunch of minutes and more off peak minutes on DOR, so I came out fine. I should be able to stay GSM when I return next month. You may not recall, I usually have ATTWS GSM and a Verizon SRW. This time, the Verizon had lots of coverage holes, and ATTWS digital was nearly continuous (even in the Van Duzer corridor). Historically, the Verizon had such good coverage on the Central and Northern Oregon Coast. But not this time. > You may not recall, I usually have ATTWS GSM and a Verizon SRW. This > time, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > such good coverage on the Central and Northern Oregon Coast. But not this > time. --> Good to hear. I'm glad to see healthy competition return as that's good for everyone. One other tidbit, for my zip code (97405) AT&T now only allows the $9.99 add-a-phone if you choose a $60 base plan. i.e. $70 for two phones. On the $40 plan, it's now $20 to add a phone. In other words, there is no $50 way to get two lines at this point. I suspect AT&T is raising prices to compensate for the fact that they're now offering a much larger network with roaming included (which of course costs them something). -Dan >One other tidbit, for my zip code (97405) AT&T now only allows the $9.99 >add-a-phone if you choose a $60 base plan. i.e. $70 for two phones. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >offering a much larger network with roaming included (which of course costs >them something). The usual reason for higher pricing in a given local market is less local competition than in other markets -- value has little to do with it. That said, I believe $10 to add a line is a national promotion -- see <https://www.attwireless.com/personal/add_a_line/addaline_index.jhtml>. SignatureBest regards, John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/ "> That said, I believe $10 to add a line is a national promotion -- see > <https://www.attwireless.com/personal/add_a_line/addaline_index.jhtml>. Hello John and all- Actually that page you sent me to says "... $9.99 offer good for each new line of service added on a qualified GSM America plan of $59.99..." We definitely had the $9.99 option on the $40 plan earlier, but I'm not sure that option will exist much longer. -Dan SignatureEugene, Oregon -- Pacific Northwest http://cell.uoregon.edu Dan, the $9.99 line seems to come and go. If you need to subscribe to the $60 plan right now to get it, in a couple of months they may change the terms again. Last Spring we were shopping for wireless service. At the time ATT offered the add a line for 9.99 if you subscribed to the 39.99 plan. In March they came out with new plans and to add a line for 9.99 you had to subscribe to the 59.99 plan. Round about June they came out with new plans again and lo and behold, the add a line option had dropped to 39.99 again. > "> That said, I believe $10 to add a line is a national promotion -- see > > <https://www.attwireless.com/personal/add_a_line/addaline_index.jhtml>. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Eugene, Oregon -- Pacific Northwest > http://cell.uoregon.edu |
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