drbond

Cingular has a Global Assistance Department, I have used them for unlocking phones, getting help with international roaming etc... Verizon does not have a department set aside to deal with international issues. I have called cust serv for help with similar issues and I would have had better results in calling a McDonalds employee.

Maps are coverage maps not signal level maps. In the northeast corrider and in California, I do not doubt Verizon has better signal. I actually have Cingular, Verizon, T-Mobile and Nextel phones in my vehicles. There is a reason and that is another story. T-mobile does not have roaming agreements and their coverage map, shoes their coverage area. Least in the nation and if I could toss that phone I would. Sprint/Nextel is for dispatch purposes and the coverage is better than T-mobile but not as good as C or V.
Verizon service is best when traveling the northeast corridor and in California and has good data service for my laptop. Verizon does not have many roaming agreements since their phones are incompatible with the rest of the world of GSM. If you have a Verizon phone, you will not roam on a lot of carriers and Verizon does have provisions for charging roaming in certain areas. Cingular does not have any provision for charging roaming anywhere. Cingular is better in the middle of the country and the South. They have seemless coverage and signal here.

My experiences are my experiences and I guarantee you I have had cellular service longer than anyone you know. By your post it would appear more likely that one of you are more likely to be a "Can you hear me now?... Good!" employee. Coverage Maps show what a particular carriers coverage on their owned towers is. By that it is C, V, S, T. Now that does not include roaming agreements and Cingular has many and Verizon has a few, S & T are ...none... so with taken into consideration it is still C, V, S, T. Signal level coverage is what you actually get at your phone in a particular location under certain conditions on a specific carrier. That varies with each carrier within their own coverage areas and varies widely depending on where in the country you are. This is where it is all a matter of where YOU travel and where YOU go and how YOU use the device that YOU are using. This variable is NOT a constant and cannot be the same for everyone.

Here is a comparable map for Verizon in Mississippi
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/C...type=newsearch
***unfortunately you cannot make the website hold a shortcut so when you get there enter zipcode 38801 and then click Verizon Wirless as in this example:
(*) Verizon Wireless Network

Here is a comparable map for Cingular in the same area:
http://onlinecare.cingular.com/cover...equestid=30451

crhptic

Are you, perchance, a mobile-phone systems engineer, or network tech/installer? Your repeated statements about how you have secret knowledge that we do not have, or how you have been around mobile phones so much longer than us, seem to imply that you work in the industry in some capacity.

I wouldn't argue with either of those statements.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I personally am not. I am guessing you work in the industry, though...and you haven't said for whom.

A matter of interpretation. When I looked at the Verizon and Cingular maps of Mississippi, as I said in my earlier post, I saw fewer "holes" in the Verizon map than in the Cingular one. If we are including roaming, which you are in the above statements.

I agree entirely. However, it is not irrelevant, either. If a lot of people all say they have a better signal with carrier X, that doesn't mean you will have a better signal (because your travel patterns may not mirror theirs), but it means it's likely that for many people, carrier X will have a better signal for their travel patterns.

Those are the same maps I looked at before, the only difference is you are not making a fair comparison. By clicking on the "Verizon Wireless" network button in the Verizon map, you exclude all of the service on which any Verizon customer can roam at no additional charge ("extended area"). Personally, I had great service with my Verizon phone while I was all over Mississippi in April. From looking at these maps it appears I was actually on someone else's network. But you know what? I DON'T CARE. As a customer all I care about is, do I have a good signal, and am I being charged extra for the call.

Based on this I conclude that the reason we seem to disagree so vehemently on this point is that you are defining network from a technical standpoint and I am defining it from a user standpoint. You're right, Verizon does not own a huge network in the Southeast. However, a Verizon user can use their phone all over the southeast with no service issues and no extra charges.

Incidentally if you look at the maps of Arkansas you would be appalled at how bad Cingular's coverage is there. I just noticed this a second ago.

drbond

Unclick the Verizon Wireless and the comparison still shows that Verizon has a lot of NO coverage on its partner that has less coverage than Cingular. Cingular has roaming with Unicell in Arkansas. Arkansas is pretty bad no matter who you are on though and the farther west you go the worse it gets on everyone except Iridium

drbond

I wouldn't want to say anything that would make me seem like Al Gore. We all know that on this forum, no matter what you say or which side or part of the fence you are on, it can be taken apart and put back together to mean so many different things. Be happy to discuss with you in a Crown Room or at a DO or something.

crhptic

Next time we meet in person...you are on. I will buy the first drink.

GadgetFreak

I find coverage maps next to useless. It is true that there are areas where TMobile has not coverage. It is also true that a very small portion of the population lives there or travels there. It is also true that in areas where Cingular has a very coverage based on the map you cant use their phones. I remember having to go to the middle of an intersection in Greenwich Village to get and ATT signal, even on the sidewalks I couldnt make a call. I called ATT customer service and said I was having a hard time making a call and they told me they couldnt guarantee coverage in remote areas. I told them where I was and they gave me a $25 credit. This is much less true for Verizon and TMobile. Maps really are mainly useless. Im basing my comments on years of business travel (not in trucks) and seeing how TMobile and Verizon compare. You couldnt give me a Cingular account for free. Just weight in the suitcase as far as I am concerned. I will also point out that in the customer service surveys Verizon and TMobile usually finish one-two and Cingular is usually last.

In terms of international I am also confused. When you said Cingular was better I assumed you meant rates too. There isnt a difference in service so what else could it be? I still dont understand. Comparing Verizon to Cingular on international service is absurd, Verizon really doesnt do international. TMobile is every bit as good as Cingular internationally.

drbond

This is a joke, at least I hope it is, I would find it appalling that someone that chose gadgetfreak as a handle to be that ridiculous.

GadgetFreak

No, but it should have said "where Cingular has very good coverage based on their maps you cant use their phones". I never said I typed well.

photog72

So? Verizon barely has an international presence. I asked you for a fact that shows why or how (your claim),For international customer service Cingular is NUMBER 1 no doubt about it. That is an opinion - yours. Not a fact. Prove to me it's a fact, without spouting dubious claims like, "Global Assistance Department..." You think T-Mobile doesn't have international customer service? I'm willing to bet it's better than Cingular's. Why? If their normal customer service ranks high, why wouldn't their international division rank high?

Really?!?!?! How come I have used my T-Mobile phone in Vermont on Unicell's network? That's not a roaming agreement? Can I try some of the crack you are smoking? What about when I was in North Carolina, roaming on Suncom's system with no worries? Care to explain how I was able to do that when T-Mobile "does not have roaming agreements?"

I am sure you are older than dirt, and had cell service in the 70s, right?

Sorry, I don't work for any wireless carriers. Why even debate it on here?

So, T-Mobile has NO roaming agreements? You obviously are a liar. Either that, or you never bothered to check facts before you post. T-Mobile certainly has roaming agreements, and Verizon has plenty too. Before you spout off made up facts or absurd opinions, stop smoking the crack, and check your facts.

In deference to your earlier posts, when you have a better system than J.D. Power & Associates for gauging customer satisfaction, maybe I'll believe you. Doubt it though. You have no credibility.

Rose Marry

Hello,

T- Mobile Roaming service has some 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and 1,200 Ethernet-enabled venues worldwide. T-Mobile USA offers public wireless access at some 3,900 locations across the U.S., providing Wi-Fi in Starbucks coffee houses, Kinko's copy shops, airport lounges and other locations. The agreement with iPass is its first inbound wireless roaming agreement and marks an increased effort by the carrier to cater to business users.

dtsm

Least anyone forget, T-Mobile was previously Voicestream, previous to that Omnipoint - and Omnipoint was at that time the ONLY gsm provider in the states. Everyone else was either tdma or cdma. So as far as international service, omnipoint was the first to address it....

I don't even recall Cingular being around back then. And don't forget, ATT Wireless (now part of Cingular) only made the decision to switch from tmda to gsm in the last couple of years.

NOW - for some fun and games, I'm starting a separate thread that will ask the following:

1. When did you first start using a cell phone?
2. Do you remember who was your first carrier and your first clinker phone?

nmenaker

what do you mean, "inbound wirless roaming agreement"
would the agreement that they have had with other airports, and other wireless service providors for a couple years be considered such an agreement?

crhptic

Cingular was formed by merging AT&T Wireless with the former SBC/BellSouth mobile units. The wikipedia entry for Cingular has a pretty good history. Basically, the former SBC/BellSouth entities which eventually become part of Cingular were TDMA up until 2002, when they started converting to GSM. This was complete by 2004.

Then in 2004 the company bought AT&T Wireless and was renamed Cingular. AT&T pre-merger was a TDMA system.

My expectation is that over time all the former TDMA users from whichever system will be transitioned to GSM.

nmenaker

AT&T has been using GSM for well over three years now, I think the nationwide launch was jan 2003, but they were using the GSM standard in the northwest and hawaii since quite a bit before that.

TDMA is going to be sunset, as well I think they just announced that anyone using TDMA after the next 12 months, will now have to pay a surcharge.

photog72

T-Mobile was also Powertel and Aerial as separate companies before they were gobbled up by Voicestream... T-Mo... Deutsche Telekom AG.