| Steven M. Scharf 2005-05-19, 11:51 am |
| Stanley Reynolds wrote:
>
> Guess it depends where you are but both AT&TW and Cingular provide TDMA
> coverage here (centeral Alabama) before and after the merger. GSM coverage
> still lags behind TDMA here. I guess you can assume that AMPS and TDMA
> coverage would suffer as GSM is added but I've seen little evidence of it,
> would expect the problems would be in large markets where spectrum is
> limited and use is high. Note a dual band handset is needed in many
> locations where Cingular and AT&TW use different bands. Note my best
> coverage at home and most used phone is Cingular 800Mhz TDMA, I also have
> other phones I use :
Cingular was all GSM only in the western region where they took over the
Pacific Bell Network, and AT&T was TDMA/AMPS. Elsewhere in the country,
Cingular was all TDMA (though they briefly had a small CDMA section of
network).
In California, AT&T (now Cingular) TDMA coverage is superior to GSM
coverage, but GSM coverage is improving. The merger helped Cingular a
lot more in California/Nevada because Cingular was 1900 Mhz only (the
old Pacific Bell Wireless network) and was extremely bad. With the
merger, Cingular got AT&T's valuable 800 Mhz bandwidth (800 Mhz provides
much better coverage, especially indoors), and now offers GSM on 800Mhz,
and is selling their 1900 Mhz bandwidth to T-Mobile. TDMA coverage is
still fine, and better than GSM coverage in many areas. However in dense
areas, which had overlapping TDMA coverage, TDMA is being pared down to
the minimum number of towers to provide full geographic coverage, which
is resulting in more dead spots.
I think that you still get AMPS roaming on CallPlus, which is something
you can't get on GSM networks unless you buy one of two GAIT phones that
support TDMA, GSM, and AMPS, and Cingular in California made you go
through hoops to purchase one (not publicized, and the stores knew
nothing about them). AMPS is a big help in rural areas. I was up on the
north coast of California and could only get AMPS (if you see call
boxes, you know that their is AMPS coverage). In Yosemite, you can often
pick up an AMPS signal from the outside of the park.
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