Cingular opens GSM network to ATTWS today
 

Many of you on the ATTWS network might get better service today onward. In many parts of the country, such as SF Bay Area, Cingular has opened their cell towers to ATTWS. I am now getting 5 signal bars on my phone that previously got 1 or 2 bars.

You will note that the phone shows Cingular as the carrier, but you won't be charged any roaming fees.

Since people are leaving AT&T in droves, Cingular needs a way to stem the flow and keep people at ATTWS while the merger is still pending.

I wondered why all day I am getting Cingular connections!

Is there a link to an ATTWS webpage that says there won't be roaming charges? Does the no roam charges apply to GPRS data connections too?

I have heard that you won't be charged any roaming for the voice or GPRS. The GPRS settings will remain your existing ATTWS settings. You don't need to change any phone settings.

Thanks for the info. I was at the ball park in SF (Go Giants!) with my son Tuesday night. Both use AT&T. Cingular kept "grabbing" his phone while mine stayed with AT&T.

We weren't sure what was happening.

If your son's phone is a GSM one and yours is a TDMA phone, the change only affects GSM. If they are both GSM, it's likely that yours was able to pick up a stronger signal from ATT (you might have a different phone that has better reception in general).

I believe the SIM card in GSM phones identifies the home system of the subscriber. The phone then will always try to connect to that network as the preferred network. If the signal is real bad, it will try to roam onto a stronger network.

Sometimes your phone settings can override this, but even with my Sony Ericsson T68i, it would hop back to AT&T even if I "manually" locked it onto Cingular.

BTW: Cingular has no TDMA network in Calif/NV

Aha! The plot thickens. Mine is the GSM phone - NEC international phone. My son's is a lower end Samsung. I do not know if it is GSM.

So the question becomes, will he be billed for roaming if Cingular "grabs" his phone if it is NOT GSM?

Thanks for the info!

No Cingular roaming that I've seen here in LA. But at least the Dodgers kicked Giant butt last night! :)

My travels this week with ATTWS GSM

Bay Area, CA: Cingular available ANYWHERE!

Austin, TX: Cingular available ANYWHERE! (GSM850)

On the Road from Austin, TX to Houston: Cingular chosen on GSM850, No ATTWS GSM

Houston, TX: Cingular *NOT* Available (GSM850, network present but can't select)

Orange County, CA: Cingular *IS* selectable as a network....

Yeah, Perez was terrific and managed to eke out a 1 run win. I am afraid that the Giants are fielding the weakest team in 4 or 5 years. Management cheaped out. :mad: Still, seeing Bonds turn on 2 consecutive 101mph pitches was amazing and worth the price of a seat on my couch. ;) That he got ahead of the first one to actually pull for a 500 ft foulball out of the park was unbeleivable was almost as cool as the homer that followed. Steroids won't improve your vision or speed, afterall. Going to be a year for small moments, I'm afraid.

But back to topic: just got off the phone with AT&T technical support:

As long as you are in your home calling area (nation wide for some plans) there is no roaming charge on Cingular for anytype of phone GSA or not.

Best wishes.

GSM America
 

It's on the ATTwireless website now. http://www.attwireless.com/gsmamerica/

No mention of Cingular. ;)