Road-runner service.

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William Bray - 27 Aug 2003 03:45 GMT

My impression is that GSM is largely based on freeway routes, mostly
freeways that connect with major cities. Recently AT&T came out with
plans to expand what they call roadrunners across the southern freeways
from California to Texas.

T-Mobile shows as almost an entirely road-runner service. In fact, most
GSM maps look like a splattered bowl of spaghetti- even in the most
heavily populated areas.

While roadrunners make for nation-wide coverage it does little for local
coverage. The eastern states look like a quilt, and most northern
states aren't even in the picture.

Am I missing something? How can GSM be a nation wide "saturated market"
when most of America lays barren of GSM service?

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Todd Allcock - 27 Aug 2003 06:48 GMT

> My impression is that GSM is largely based on freeway routes, mostly
> freeways that connect with major cities. Recently AT&T came out with
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> Am I missing something? How can GSM be a nation wide "saturated market"
> when most of America lays barren of GSM service?

If you created a map showing population density in the US, it would
look a lot like a GSM map! IIRC, something like 80% of the US
population are covered by AT&T and/or T-Mobile service.

The GSM "barren" areas are relatively barren of human beings as well.

GSM is still in it's infancy here in the US. 20 years ago, maps of
analog cellular coverage looked sort of like a present-day GSM
coverage map.

Although my wife and I have T-Mobile GSM-only phones, I keep a prepaid
eCallPlus (AT&T) TDMA/analog phone in the glovebox for traveling, in
case we hit a "barren" area.

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William Bray - 28 Aug 2003 00:25 GMT

Kind sir, I will differ, somewhat, regarding population density
coverage. I work for a power company. At night time everything from
the Mississippi river east is solidly populated. A satellite image will
show the eastern states as a continuous light with very few, & very
small, gaps. It appears that the current TDMA and CDMA systems are much
more wide spread than GSM- which says something about the population
density.
More likely GSM licenses are easier to obtain around large cities.
Population usage may explain why AT&T is road-running along the
east-west southern freeways but not the northern freeways. More people
are likely to travel from Californina and Texas than from Seattle and
Minnesota. This makes the demand higher and more profitable. This is
why GSM providers are closing the I-5 gap between California and Oregon.
It can hardly be argued that there is a population density issue north
of Redding.

elecconnec@aol.com (Todd Allcock) wrote in article
<de37a2e0.0308262148.58f1872c@posting.google.com>:

> > My impression is that GSM is largely based on freeway routes, mostly
> > freeways that connect with major cities. Recently AT&T came out with
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> eCallPlus (AT&T) TDMA/analog phone in the glovebox for traveling, in
> case we hit a "barren" area.

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Todd Allcock - 29 Aug 2003 02:55 GMT

> Kind sir, I will differ, somewhat, regarding population density
> coverage. I work for a power company. At night time everything from
> the Mississippi river east is solidly populated. A satellite image will
> show the eastern states as a continuous light with very few, & very
> small, gaps.

You'll also note GSM has much higher penetration in the east compared
to the midwest or west.

> It appears that the current TDMA and CDMA systems are much
> more wide spread than GSM- which says something about the population
> density.

No, it says more about coming to the party late! ;-)

Originally every area was licensed for up to two 800MHz carriers,
which were originally analog, but now have transitioned to a form of
digital- usually CDMA or TDMA, to increase capacity.
Many of these companies were small and consolodated over time,
creating the "nationwide" companies like Verizon.

The Feds eventually authorized up to five more licensees in the
1900MHz band. These "newcomers" like Sprint and the GSM gang (Aerial,
Omnipoint, etc, who eventually became T-Mo) bought whatever licenses
they could afford. If it were you, would you buy licenses for NY and
LA, or Sioux City, IA and Boise, ID?

> More likely GSM licenses are easier to obtain around large cities.

There is no such thing as a "GSM" license. A carrier gets licensed
for the area and frequency (i.e. Tempe, AZ metro, 1900MHz, or Western
Rural Nebraska, 800MHz) and then chooses what technology (GSM, CDMA,
etc.) to deploy.

> Population usage may explain why AT&T is road-running along the
> east-west southern freeways but not the northern freeways. More people
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> It can hardly be argued that there is a population density issue north
> of Redding.

Keep in mind that no carrier has a license for everywhere, so they
create roaming partnerships. Obviously you have to partner with a
company compatible with yours, so T-Mobile (GSM) can't partner with
Verizon (CDMA). Sioux City, IA does not have a single GSM carrier, so
no GSM carrier can partner w/a Sioux City carrier and add them to
their map. If you've ever Been to Sioux City you understand that this
isn't hurting the GSM business! (I'm kidding- my wife is from Sioux
City.)

As AT&T and Cingular (the two largest TDMA carriers) continue the
conversion to GSM, the GSM map will eventually look a lot more like a
TDMA coverage map.

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