On Sun, 23 Jan 2005, Mike Burger wrote: > > Sprint most likely forced roamers to use analog because then they could say > > "our digital connection is better". > > Actually, Sprint just hasn't built out much in the way of rural networks > for their wireless system. Probably never will.
I think what you're missing is that even if you were in a major city that Sprint didn't cover yet, and a competitor had compatible digital coverage that Sprint phones could roam on, they'd still roam analog. That's why so many longtime Sprint customers equate "roaming" with "analog." > > Over the past year or so, however they've inked more and more digital > > roaming > > agreements with other carriers, and you're more likely to roam digital in > > many > > places where Sprint doesn't have their own coverage. Combined with the fact > > that they now offer a roaming option for $5/month (use up to 50% of your > > monthly airtime roaming for the one flat fee), they're now much more usable > > outside the major cities. > > Most likely with Verizon, since they're really the only other CDMA network > out there. No, they aren't. Alltel is a big CDMA carrier serving mostly rural areas and small- to medium-sized cities. USCellular has a large presence in the Midwest and converted from TDMA to CDMA a couple years ago. Some CellularONE franchisees are still TDMA/GSM, but Western Wireless, the company that owns the CellularONE brand name, is CDMA. (Ironically, they are in the process of getting bought by Alltel.) And there are a few smaller CDMA carriers scattered around the country. Alltel is by far the biggest. I believe they're the sixth-largest carrier in the country and will become the fifth-largest after purchasing Western Wireless. -- JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [EMAIL PROTECTED] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)
