Thanks Alltel / VerizonWireless Merger, Rates going up 30% to 50%

[theoilman]

Poor Cell Phone Service! -----

I was on Alltel and for the areas I am in they have been the best choice for overall coverage. Over the last couple of months, reception quality has been dropping, lower signal strength, some areas none at all where it used to be fine. Did I mention how many more dropped calls per day I experience now? -- Up to 6 dropped per day! I just went into a Verizon office (company office) - they said they can flash their system to fix this: Why don't they just flash all the Alltel lines? I know quite a few people who are having similar problems here.

Also they told me that I can't "tether" - use my cell phone as a modem for my laptop on the go for just the cost of minutes - this will be at least $39.95 or maybe $59.95 per month extra (they couldn't give me a good firm number).

I am due for and need a new phone - and no other carrier has the overall area coverage here either - I guess Verizon doesn't anymore either.

I don't expect anyone to have any answers for me - for where I am. This is just a rant on my part. My opinion of corporate America not really caring about their customers!

[walleyewild]

Oilman,

Verizon is converting all of their sites/handsets to GSM.

That is probably why you are losing coverage in area's that you previously had it.

WW

[croixflats]

I here you, no pun intended Corperate's only resposibility is the share holders. What is ironic the share holders use this service, be it cell phone or some other line of buisness.

[theoilman]

WW,

What does GSM mean? They didn't say anything about that this afternoon. They did say something about EVDO/Broadband, but once again they didn't explain it in plain English.

[DTro]

Verizon is going GSM?

Source?

This must be a regional thing as all of Verizon is CDMA and a conversion would be a MAJOR undertaking.

[LMITOUT]

Yep. It's called LTE.

Quote:

Verizon Wireless is planning to adopt Long-Term Evolution (LTE) as a future 4G technology - which means a switch from CDMA to GSM down the road.

Why is that significant? Well, for years, T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless have used GSM tech, while Sprint and Verizon have stuck with CDMA. That's divided us cellular users into two distinct camps - and apparently, Verizon is about to switch teams.

As Electronista points out, "The move will ... make Verizon's network compatible with AT&T's planned 4G network, which should also use LTE for calls and data, and could render the US cellular market similar to that in Europe, where a single cellular standard lets users easily switch between providers without abandoning an existing phone or device."

[skee0025]

Things like this make me glad I'm a "caveman" with no electronic ball and chain. There is nothing so important that it cant wait while I travel from Point A to Point B. I think it's strange that people actually line up to pay for bad service. Take text messages as an example..it cost them virtually nothing and they charge some people anywhere from 5 to 20 cents a message. I'll stick with a good old fashioned land line.

[walleyewild]

Lmitout,

Hit it on the head.

Oilman,

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication, And uses a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) type of communication like Nextel, but cdma is Code Division Multiple Access.

CDMA assigns a code to the communication, where as TDMA compresses the communication into smaller time segments like 1/6th of a second bursts.

The big thing here is the Global part, Beta vs. VHS, Blueray vs HD DVD.

One standard for cellular communications worldwide.

I don't see how a software or firmware upgrade will be able to correct that.

You would need to upgrade the hardware (handset) to correct that.

In order for all the carriers to compete everyone will need to be on the same transmission standard, (GSM) in a few years.

Skee0025,

Paying for bad coverage is the consumers fault, cell sites are expensive to build and maintain, if the consumer would ask one question when the purchased their handset, ( can I see a coverage map of this area? and then look at the coverage at their home alot of the complaints would be resolved.)

In the oilmans defense he didn't have a choice on coverage, Verizon bought Altel. And that is when things started going south on coverage in his home area.

And yes it is about the almighty dollar anymore, I work in the industry and it does get confusing, technology is growing faster then most people can keep up with.

My biggest problem is people that buy a handset because they think it's cool, their friends have the handset, like the color...

And then never take the time to figure out how to use the device correctly!

I could go on for hours on issues I see on a daily basis.

WW

[CJH]

It will be good for the consumer in the long run if they all get on the same standard. Everything can be designed/engineered for the same standards, bringing down costs and increasing which handsets are available on your network. Looking forward to the day when I don't have to rent a handset while traveling overseas!!

Sucks oilman is dealing with the business side of it!!

[DTro]

Thanks for the info, yes eventually this will be good for the consumer as competition is always good.

Do you really think coverage issues have to do with this changeover though?

[theoilman]

My coverage did improve today. An area that several months ago I had good signal on Alltel that more recently in the changeover to Verizon - on my Alltel phone coverage completely went away: Verizon did something to flash my account (both my phones) in their system did improve coverage that in that area I could make and receive calls dependably.

A stupid question: why doesn't Verizon just go ahead and do that on all the Alltel numbers? Instead they end up having unhappy customers because service got worse, when this 'flash' gets it back.

[LMITOUT]

They probably provisioned your phones which updates which towers the phone should look for. This is something that can be done for any phone on any carrier and is good to do time to time to make sure the phone has the best signal possible as carriers add/retire tower sites or modify roaming agreements.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Paying for bad coverage is the consumers fault, cell sites are expensive to build and maintain, if the consumer would ask one question when the purchased their handset, ( can I see a coverage map of this area? and then look at the coverage at their home alot of the complaints would be resolved.)...

My biggest problem is people that buy a handset because they think it's cool, their friends have the handset, like the color...

I could go on for hours on issues I see on a daily basis.

WW

I think coverage maps are not a true measure of performance. I've seen way to many times where coverage sucks in an area where it should work.

Plus, If you want a certain phone (iPhone) you are pretty much stuck going with the carrier that offers it. Yes, I know you can unlock a phone, but you know what I mean.

I think they should all be forced by communities to use the same towers. Less towers but in more places sounds like a good plan to me.

[hanson]

I tell you what... this is not an Alltel/Verizon problem, this is a problem with any carrier that is upgrading their system.

About 3 years ago, I was with AT&T/Cingular and loyal to them (for whatever reason). My AT&T phone worked ALL over northern Minnesota and NW Minnesota. I went and upgraded my phone from a nice little Nokia to an LG flip that had a WHOLE new rhealm of capability that I could have on AT&T's 3G network. Well... guess what??? My new phone was DIGITAL only and most (all) of NW MN was still on an analog network. Are you flippin' kidding me? I lost coverage ALL over the place because of this.

This was one of many, many reasons that made me switch carriers. I'm on Verizon now. You may not like it, I have never been happier. I can get internet on my Blackberry where buddies can't even get a cell phone signal. Love it!!

[walleyewild]

Do you really think coverage issues have to do with this changeover though?

Yes I do, Analog to Digital, CDMA to GSM. If the handset is not able or capable of receiving the new signal, even a software upgrade won't help.

Then again I have had customer handsets where software greatly improved reception issues, it just depends on the carrier and manufacturer if they want the handset to work with new software.

As far as unlocking handsets you can unlock a GSM phone to work on other GSM networks, or CDMA to work on other CDMA networks, but cdma to gsm not sure but I don't think it'll work, but I haven't looked into it yet.

WW

[theoilman]

It sure is great to be part of FM forums - with people who can give good technical help on so many different subjects all willing to help each other. Thanks WW in this thread. Thanks to all the moderators who keep it clean and on track. And thanks to all who for no pay at all help each other out day in and day out.