Omaha, NE 3G

Originally Posted by timeless2

I've yet to see 3G anywhere in Omaha or the surrounding metro area.

Originally Posted by skarin

I have pretty much resigned myself to having to wait an eternity for the upgrade.

Originally Posted by AT&T Press Release

The planned expansion is expected to deliver AT&T 3G services to nearly 350 leading U.S. markets by the end of 2008, including all of the top 100 U.S. cities.

Originally Posted by timeless2

Google's move into CB is definitely going to push the demand for EVDO and 3G quite a bit, I think.

Originally Posted by Noctone

Not long before I moved to Omaha from Lincoln I talked to a CS rep about it and she said that, according to her information at that time, there were no plans to add 3G in the area. A store employee in Lincoln told me that it would probably be quite some time before the area got 3G, as it was one of the last places to get EDGE, but of course that was Lincoln and not Omaha.

Per AT&T's announcement today that they're going to add 3G in 80 cities this year, I'll be very upset if Omaha is not among that list. Omaha-Council Bluffs is the 60th largest metropolitan area in the country, has a population that will be very near to 1 million by the 2010 census, and is home to several high profile companies in varying sectors of the economy; yet we get treated like a backwater town (although to be fair, Counciltucky does kind of feel and look like a dump). I don't want to go off on a tangent, but in all honesty AT&T's feet-dragging has me considering the idea of dropping my AT&T data plan and picking up a separate SERO line just for data (Sprint employee told me March for Rev.A in Omaha, hopefully they haven't gone bankrupt by then), so they really need to get their business in order.

Edit:


This should mean that Omaha is getting 3G. We're the 44th largest city proper in the US and the 60th largest metro, so we should be covered under whatever they mean by 'top 100'.

Originally Posted by Noctone

AT&T's feet-dragging has me considering the idea of dropping my AT&T data plan and picking up a separate SERO line just for data (Sprint employee told me March for Rev.A in Omaha, hopefully they haven't gone bankrupt by then), so they really need to get their business in order.

Originally Posted by chammack

I was an ATT (TDMA then GSM) customer in Lincoln/Omaha for 6 years. I finally gave up on them after being told that 3G was "any day now" for over a year (I even got an LG CU500 under that pretense). With Sprint's cheap plans, I decided to give them a try under the 30 day trial... and I have to say the coverage (for me) is far superior. And by the way, Sprint has Rev A here already and has for many months--and wow is it fast. I miss the flexibility of GSM technology, but I'd rather have fast data and be able to make calls.

Originally Posted by Noctone

Well color me surprised. I was told by a Sprint employee that Omaha wasn't getting Rev. A until March (although perhaps he was specifically talking about the firmware update for the Mogul and not Omaha service in general).

Originally Posted by WiWavelength

Yes, SPCS has had EV-DO Rev A in the Omaha market for quite some time. (In the map below, Rev A is depicted in brown.)

Omaha is a great market for CDMA. Omaha has or has had six CDMA networks: VZW, ALLTEL, SPCS, Qwest, Cricket, USCC. On the other hand, Omaha is a terrible market for GSM. AT&TWS treated it as a second class market, deployed very limited coverage. SBC never had presence in Omaha, thus AT&T nee Cingular has inherited only the minimal AT&TWS network. And T-Mobile is so ashamed of its skeleton network in Omaha that it does not sell service there.

AJ

Originally Posted by chammack

I think what has soured me most on ATT... when there's no ATT towers, and no Alltel GSM roaming network (which isn't even available across most of the state or even Omaha), you have no service at all.

Originally Posted by jk870

Really? Viaero has had a very extensive GSM PCS network buildout everywhere west of Lincoln for at least a couple years now, so I'm surprised you don't roam on them. Their coverage is usually better than what is shown on their maps, because they continue to turn up new sites...usually about 1 per week. It's too bad they can't get into the Omaha/Lincoln market and do some justice to the crappy T-Mobile network.

Originally Posted by chammack

If you compare the CDMA (Alltel) coverage to Viaero, there is no comparison... try driving highway 2 (a well-traveled four divided four lane highway connecting two relatively good sized towns) from Lincoln to Nebraska City. Not one bit of GSM coverage for 45 minutes. Although obviously most of the most populated areas have GSM coverage, about 2/3 of the state (get away from any major roads) has no GSM coverage at all. I'll admit that it has gotten a LOT better though, and I-80 coverage is alright. However, least last time I drove it through, the Alltel GSM roaming network had priority over Viaero, even though it was GPRS only rather than EDGE.

My biggest complaint, though, is there is no roaming partner whatsoever inside of Lincoln or Omaha--if there is no ATT coverage, there is no coverage period. That and all GSM providers in Nebraska (AFAIK) are 1900 band only.

Originally Posted by jk870

Well, when you said 'across most of the state' I wasn't exactly thinking of the slice of southeastern NE between Lincoln/Omaha and the southeastern corner, which is indeed a GSM wasteland thanks to the disinterest of T-Mobile & ATT (Viaero is not licensed there; if I remember correctly, I think they're operating on T-Mobile's leased spectrum where they could get it).

Originally Posted by WiWavelength

Viaero has acquired (not leased) a PCS C5 10 MHz partition & disaggregation from T-Mobile that does include Otoe County. That spectrum transaction took place last year. Sooner or later, Viaero will almost certainly complete GSM 1900 coverage along NE-2 from Lincoln to Nebraska City.

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/Uls...?licKey=2929702

Additionally, in the last four months, Long Lines has leased two PCS A5 10 MHz partitions & disaggregations from AT&T that respectively include several counties in northeastern NE, presumably for the purpose of expanding Long Lines' GSM 1900 coverage from northwestern IA.

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/Uls...?licKey=2954497
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/Uls...?licKey=2973744

So, GSM may yet stand a fighting chance in eastern NE, especially if T-Mobile were ever to deed its Omaha "stepchild" market to either Viaero or Long Lines, a carrier w/ a bona fide local interest.

AJ