MIABarry

I'm using ATT digital in the US and am thinking of switching to ATT GSM service. Does ATT have suffient coverage (GSM) to make this worthwhile? I tend to travel to the major cities - not a lot of rural locations.

winkydink

GSM coverage can be spotty even in big cities. Here in San Jose, CA, I can rattle off a bunch of locations where my wife's ATT digital has signal and my GSM does not.

stimpy

First of all, it's AT&T TDMA versus GSM. They are both digital. Actually AT&T calls their GSM 3G, but it's 2.5G at best (dumb marketing terms).

Anyhow, I switched to GSM a year ago since I lost my TDMA phone and they offered me the full nationwide package for $40 per month for up to 2 years. The problem is that the coverage isn't as good yet, but they are slowing adding GSM to all the TDMA cells. AT&T does offer GPRS which barely passes for internet access and I really haven't used it. Their SMS works fine though and even crosses to other carriers and countries.

If I had to switch today, I might choose T-Mobile instead for better international roaming and local forwarding deals.

ScottC

Something the Europeans mastered as early as 1995...

MIABarry

Stimpy,

Thanks for the clarification. I think I'll wait before making any changes.

richard

Yeah, I wouldn't change over to it.

richard

I'm not crazy about T-Mobile in the USA either, at least at this point. I've had a lot of issues with their network and my new Blackberry. Hours of tech support, not working, finger pointing. On GSM they are okay but calls drop much more frequently than they do with Verizon or AT&T TDMA. At least here in Northern Virginia, for me.

winkydink

ummm... actually both are TDMA, but I'm splitting hairs

auh2o

ATT is also very slow to adopt allow corporate discounts on the GSM service. My ATT TDMA with full long distance and roaming is $.05 a minute. They won't give us anywhere near that for GSM.

Morrissey

I recently signed up for the ATT GSM service in Los Angeles. The coverage here is very spotty. I could not get ANY reception at all in my apartment. Even when I went outside, the signal was very weak. And I live in a heavliy populated area. I then called ATT to ask if they were having any problems in my area, and was simply told, "sorry, we don't guarantee coverage indoors." I cancelled the next day. I just don't think GSM is ready for prime time yet in the US.

I then signed up for Verizon CDMA service, and it works flawlessly in my apartment and everywhere I go!

USAFAN

For me the biggest problem is: I GET A NEW CELL-PHONE-NUMBER.
Some people just forward the calls, that's not what I want. I hope that in November 2003 I can change my phone/service and keep the old number; new rules are effective in November.

stimpy

GSM means much more than radio technology. The specifications also cover roaming handoffs, SMS, operator settlements, etc. TDMA has entirely separate schemes based on IS-41.

As for Numer Portability (keeping your phone number when you switch providers), yes the date for the U.S. is November. But the carriers are fighting tooth and nail against that. Except Verizon who has thrown in the towel and said they will support NP in November and will shame their competitors for being anti-consumer. The main issue now is that no one has come up with a mutually satisfactory scheme for NP between wireless and wireline providers.

Yet even though the FCC mandated NP long ago and we still don't have it, providers are charging us all a few cents per month to build out the technology for it. Which is a giant rip-off since they should have been porting calls all along. It's just a lawyer-accountant scam.

ClueByFour

AT&T also does not (or did not, when it was explained to me) have "real" GSM roaming in Europe yet.

All calls are routed to a british company (vodaphone, orange, or somebody) and then you roam on that network. That's why it's scary expensive, even compared to T-mobile.

I'm still considering my european phone situation (I have sprint domestically), and I'm brutally tempted to switch to T-mobile once NP becomes reality in the States, while still keeping a prepaid sim in an unlocked phone while in Europe. $1US/minute is a scam.

The other problem with GSM in the US is the lack of decent coverage, even with the likes of T-mobile and the established GSM carriers. When I lived in PIT, you basically had to keep two phones if you went the GSM route, because they simply did not have the cell penetration--which poses a large problem in a hilly urban environment and/or out in the sticks.

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Saving the world, one clue at a time.

ScottC

I'm confused... It's not possible to be in one country and roam on a different network than is available in that country... What I think is tha case is that TDMA customers (NOT the GSM customers) get a sim that is issued by a UK network.

doglover

I got the Siemens S40 from ATT which offers GSM & TDMA. Works wonderful except for the handful of places in the west that still only offer analog.