Cingular vs Verizon coverage after AMPs drop

I am not intending to start a flame war, but I currently have a tri-
mode Verizon and I am wondering when AMPS gets dropped next year if
the coverage will be more on par with Cingular? All my friends are on
Cingular and I have been looking for a reason to switch-but the lack
of coverage I hear from Cingular sometimes scares me a bit. I live in
Atlanta and travel to gulf coast of florida and I have heard Cingular
can be lacking.

On May 20, 9:03 pm, Jeff Johnson <jedij...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I am not intending to start a flame war, but I currently have a tri-
> mode Verizon and I am wondering when AMPS gets dropped next year if
> the coverage will be more on par with Cingular? All my friends are on
> Cingular and I have been looking for a reason to switch-but the lack
> of coverage I hear from Cingular sometimes scares me a bit. I live in
> Atlanta and travel to gulf coast of florida and I have heard Cingular
> can be lacking.

I am also interested in cutting ties to Verizon since they cripple
their phones out of greed. I also wonder how T-Mobile in this same
area compares to AT&T.

On 20 May 2007 18:03:42 -0700, Jeff Johnson <jedijeff@gmail.com>
wrote:

>I am not intending to start a flame war, but I currently have a tri-
>mode Verizon and I am wondering when AMPS gets dropped next year if
>the coverage will be more on par with Cingular?

Yes. In general, the digital coverage of Cingular and Verizon
*overall* are about the same -- some places better with Cingular,
other places better with Verizon and most places about the same.

With AMPS, Verizon's overall coverage by area is much greater than
Cingular's digital only coverage.

>All my friends are on Cingular and I have been looking for a reason to
>switch-but the lack of coverage I hear from Cingular sometimes scares
>me a bit. I live in Atlanta and travel to gulf coast of florida and I
>have heard Cingular can be lacking.

When you are traveling in those places, does your phone indicate
whether you are on a CDMA or an AMPS connection? If so, the times
when you are on AMPS, it is likely you will not have a GSM connection.

Also, you could get a "Go Phone" and check out your coverage, or take
advantage of Cingular's 30-day trial period.

Jeff Johnson wrote:
> I am not intending to start a flame war, but I currently have a tri-
> mode Verizon and I am wondering when AMPS gets dropped next year if
> the coverage will be more on par with Cingular? All my friends are on
> Cingular and I have been looking for a reason to switch-but the lack
> of coverage I hear from Cingular sometimes scares me a bit. I live in
> Atlanta and travel to gulf coast of florida and I have heard Cingular
> can be lacking.

Remember, AMPS is _permitted_ to be dropped, it isn't _required_ to be
dropped. In areas with no digital coverage the carriers with AMPS are
likely to keep it on as it doesn't really cost them much to keep it going.

Where there will be big losses of coverage is in areas where it's
Verizon or AT&T that are operating the AMPS network, but where large
rural areas close to urban areas have no digital coverage.

I.e. look at "http://i18.tinypic.com/4vinxo5" versus
"http://i18.tinypic.com/4yq3yn4.png"

The areas of coverage that are gone in the latter map are the areas
where Verizon customers can roam onto AMPS (apparently AT&T AMPS) if
they have a tri-mode phone, _and_ if they have an older calling plan.
Well you can be sure that AT&T won't keep AMPS on for one second longer
than legally required; that AMPS coverage is just enabling Verizon to
offer more coverage to some customers, since AT&T's GSM customers
obviously can't use it. While most subscribers never venture to those
areas on the map, it's a popular area for cyclists and hikers.
Low-traffic, scenic roads in the coastal mountains. It'll be a shame to
lose that coverage, but such is life under an FCC that is more about
business than communications.

If you have a Verizon phone, things won't change much. There are very few
or no areas near you where coverage will go away if/when analog is dropped.
Verizon has no analog coverage in FL (except in the extreme panhandle). Any
other potential analog coverage would be from Alltel who has indicated that
they will be dropping analog only on a case-by-case basis (sites with NO
roamers).

There are other areas of the country where losing analog may change
coverage, but they are farther west from you. I expect no changes in FL.

Of course, if you have a Cingular GSM phone, there will be no change
whatsoever.


-Bill Radio
-Cellular Reviews and Information at:
http://www.mountainwireless.com




"Jeff Johnson" <jedijeff@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1179709422.289781.48450@a26g2000pre.googlegro ups.com...
>I am not intending to start a flame war, but I currently have a tri-
> mode Verizon and I am wondering when AMPS gets dropped next year if
> the coverage will be more on par with Cingular? All my friends are on
> Cingular and I have been looking for a reason to switch-but the lack
> of coverage I hear from Cingular sometimes scares me a bit. I live in
> Atlanta and travel to gulf coast of florida and I have heard Cingular
> can be lacking.
>



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