National 3G Maps

[i0wnj00]

Oh true. We're in a tiny town but everyone has AT&T and congestion has been a problem. But in the last year they have improved so much!

That's why they added a PCS channel for HSPA+ for my tiny town.
But now my coverage has gotten worse because my phones mainly use the PCS channel, instead of the 850 MHz band like it used to.

[ggore]

Your original graphics weren't at the same zoom level as you can tell by the city labels. I highlighted the new areas I see. Some are tiny glitches that MAY represent a new cell site or may simply represent tweaks or even changes to the mapping algorithm. But some, especially in the southwest and very north of the state clearly represent new 3G areas.Attachment 81526

And those little teeny spots you highlight are what you call "tons" of new 3G????? You've gotta be kidding me! LOL I notice there was nothing for you to highlight in the western half of the state where I live, so, all in all, I stand by my claim that nothing has changed here.

[ggore]

And yet Verizon customers get unlimited *extended* coverage, and still more 3G any way you look at it. I would rather have great 3G roaming than CRAP EDGE. Of course, I am sure EDGE is enjoyable for some including you but not most. You wouldn't know this unless you leave your former Alltel area often, which from the sound of it you don't.

Thank you, my point exactly! Nobody cares if the coverage is native or roaming, only that it works, and for Verizon customers it does. Is there any such thing as Extended 3G for AT&T customers to any great extent in the country? How many of the regional carriers have 3G-or-greater service? My guess is not many. There sure aren't any around here, every regional carrier has only GPRS or EDGE.

[ggore]

AT&T isn't fixing the problem unless they find a model that works to compete with Verizon. HSPA+ might be able to compete with Verizon LTE on merits of global connectivity.

On LTE though... They are eventually going to have to refarm spectrum from 1900 to get to nationwide coverage.

And considering that most of that 1900 spectrum is tied up in EDGE-only areas, they risk cutting their customers off entirely unless they can convert them to the new LTE in the process. A great situation. Create a whole new color on their coverage maps of "LTE phone required, no other service available".

[ilvla2]

How many of the regional carriers have 3G-or-greater service? My guess is not many.

U.S. Cellular has 3G EVDO on all of their network, and is currently rolling out 4G LTE, our market (RSA 344) is due to see 4G LTE from them sometime in 2013.

[ilvla2]

And considering that most of that 1900 spectrum is tied up in EDGE-only areas, they risk cutting their customers off entirely unless they can convert them to the new LTE in the process. A great situation. Create a whole new color on their coverage maps of "LTE phone required, no other service available".

1900 does fine if the network is designed for it, like here in the former Edge Wireless markets.

[fraydog]

And considering that most of that 1900 spectrum is tied up in EDGE-only areas, they risk cutting their customers off entirely unless they can convert them to the new LTE in the process. A great situation. Create a whole new color on their coverage maps of "LTE phone required, no other service available".

Most areas they have over 30 MHz of PCS, so they can have 10 to GSM, 10 to HSPA, and 10 to LTE.

[ggore]

U.S. Cellular has 3G EVDO on all of their network, and is currently rolling out 4G LTE, our market (RSA 344) is due to see 4G LTE from them sometime in 2013.

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I meant what percentage of GSM regional carriers have 3G as opposed to EDGE-only service? My guess is that most CDMA carriers are 3G, while most GSM regionals are EDGE-only.....which means that AT&T customers have few places to even roam on 3G, far less than Verizon customers do. I have absolutely no data to back that statement up with, just wondering if anyone else does.

[fraydog]

Oh true. We're in a tiny town but everyone has AT&T and congestion has been a problem. But in the last year they have improved so much!

That's what is happening here in Chester with Verizon.

[i0wnj00]

And considering that most of that 1900 spectrum is tied up in EDGE-only areas, they risk cutting their customers off entirely unless they can convert them to the new LTE in the process. A great situation. Create a whole new color on their coverage maps of "LTE phone required, no other service available".

More FUD.
Luckily the 3GPP realized the limitations of spectrum allocations from national governments and of WCDMA so they worked on allowing LTE to more flexible with 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz slices. The situation you outlined is a moot point since no spectrum is tied because AT&T can easily adjust the slices in the specified amounts over time as needed.

The risk of cutting customers off entirely is non-existent since initial launch of LTE can be done with 1.4 or 3 MHz slices.
Customers won't be cut off from their service when 2.8 to 6 MHz can be initially used for LTE when you already have 30+ MHz for EDGE.
Basic math tells me that EDGE will still have at least 24-27.2+ MHz remaining.

I'm going to bet AT&T doesn't even use the full 30+ MHz they are in possession of in rural areas, even then the situation as described is a moot point.

[zephxiii]

I just got a report that HSPA has launched in Angola, Indiana....finally!

[zephxiii]

No need for hope. I had my friend send a screen shot and she reported it still on in another location. Now i'm wondering if the whole swath from Auburn to beyond Coldwater, MI along I69 has launched as well.

[ggore]

More FUD.
Luckily the 3GPP realized the limitations of spectrum allocations from national governments and of WCDMA so they worked on allowing LTE to more flexible with 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz slices. The situation you outlined is a moot point since no spectrum is tied because AT&T can easily adjust the slices in the specified amounts over time as needed.

The risk of cutting customers off entirely is non-existent since initial launch of LTE can be done with 1.4 or 3 MHz slices.
Customers won't be cut off from their service when 2.8 to 6 MHz can be initially used for LTE when you already have 30+ MHz for EDGE.
Basic math tells me that EDGE will still have at least 24-27.2+ MHz remaining.

I'm going to bet AT&T doesn't even use the full 30+ MHz they are in possession of in rural areas, even then the situation as described is a moot point.

Good, I hope you're right. AT&T needs to keep those EDGE-only areas going as long as they can. God forbid they upgrade those areas to anything better, 3G or LTE! What a crock!

[fraydog]

Good, I hope you're right. AT&T needs to keep those EDGE-only areas going as long as they can. God forbid they upgrade those areas to anything better, 3G or LTE! What a crock!

That doesn't make any sense. No one is saying AT&T shouldn't upgrade 1900 only areas from EDGE to HSPA+ and eventually LTE. All that is said is that spectrum constraints have to be considered in how you switch customers over. AT&T can't flip a switch to HSPA+. Realistically, they have to swap out antennas, eNodeB's, and either feed fiber to rural sites or get FCC approval for microwave links. The reason AT&T has mitigated a lot of the issues they had in urban areas was a complete change in their network infrastructure, from TDM to IP based network cores. That's spreading to rural areas, not as quickly as some would like but a lot of the work that's being done in the rural areas is the behind the scenes activity that AT&T was doing in large cities in 2011.

Ultimately I think what hit the brakes on a lot of the rural expansion was Whitacre Tower slamming the brakes on spending any money in rural areas. I am cautiously optimistic that has passed.

[Jordan T]

That's why they added a PCS channel for HSPA+ for my tiny town.
But now my coverage has gotten worse because my phones mainly use the PCS channel, instead of the 850 MHz band like it used to.

That alone won't make your coverage worse. They did the same here, thank goodness, the "bars" reading is worse but network performance is much better, and so is coverage actually. Remember, it'll hand off to 850MHz when it needs it. You may only get one or two "bars" in places you got five before because it's camping out on the 1900 channel. But it'll jump to 850 whenever it needs it. My signal readings have dropped dramatically, but network performance AND COVERAGE is much better now!