| stevev 2007-06-25, 10:33 am |
| There seems to be some agreement that CDMA is a better "network", especially
in remote or rural areas. Meanwhile millions of people who live in urban
areas, where GSM works fine, will have the opportunity to use a truly
multi-functional device. I'm hoping that the iPhone is a big hit, and
Verizon is forced to respond (or lose customers). They could start by
upgrading their second-rate software and uncrippling their phones.
Isn't it ironic that Verizon seems to be taking the same approach that Apple
computer once took, by thinking that their superior product (in this case,
the network) did not have to respond to other market conditions?
"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:467f5e17$0$2722
6$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
>I just spent a week in Southern Oregon. I was very surprised at the good
>quality of CDMA coverage I received in relatively remote areas. I believe
>that the CDMA came from U.S. Cellular. The GSM coverage was very poor
>outside the cities, and I believe it came from Edge Wireless, an AT&T
>affiliate (I brought along a prepaid phone that's on Cingular and other GSM
>carriers).
>
> At Oregon Caves National Monument (42.09806, -123.40722) I had a usable
> digital signal on CDMA when I was outside, nothing on GSM. Same situation
> at Lake of the Woods (42.37889, -122.21111). At Crater Lake National Park
> (42.93, -122.15) I had good AMPS coverage (the part of the park with
> digital coverage was not yet open due to snow). The AT&T web site shows
> partner coverage for Oregon Caves and Lake of the Woods, but no GSM
> coverage at all for the headquarters and lodge area of Crater Lake
> National Park. It was rather amusing to be outside the lodge at Crater
> Lake National park, watching people trying to make calls as probably 2/3
> of them couldn't because they either had GSM, or had a CDMA phone that was
> all-digital. This is the kind of area where hopefully the carriers will
> keep AMPS turned on after the mandate expires, since it's AMPS or nothing.
>
> I'm still on the old America's Choice Plan, and the phone showed
> non-included roaming (steady rather than flashing display of "Extended
> Network") so I am worried about the next bill. However last time this
> happened to me, I was roaming on Cingular AMPS in Florida, and I didn't
> get charged even though the phone indicated that I would be charged. My
> niece was with us, and she has AC2, and was able to use digital with no
> problem, so presumably Verizon does partner with whatever CDMA carriers
> are in the area.
>
> My kids had their PagePlus phones with them, and they had to enter the
> phone numbers they were calling twice, indicating that they were roaming
> at 2x the price that they would normally pay, but at least they had
> coverage. This reinforces the suggestion that many people have made that
> if you have GSM as your primary service, you should carry a prepaid
> CDMA/AMPS phone when leaving urban areas.
|