Northeast PA 3G expansion?

[ssavoy]

OK, so this morning I passed a large yellow truck with a spool of reddish-orange cable on the front..and a sort of odd arm-like thing on the top. This afternoon I noticed there were two of them with a bulldozer at a cell site in Dallas, and it looked like they had a path dug up leading to the tower. It IS an AT&T tower, so I'm wondering...maybe 3G is really coming soon! Any ideas of what else it could have been? The tower has been up for years and hasn't had any problems recently, so the only thing I could think of is they're laying a new backhaul to the tower.

[ckochkah]

Anyone know where the AT&T tower is located in the Hazleton area?

[TerraPhantm]

It'd be great to get some 3G expansion up here, I get like 20-30 kbps in most places here. Frankly, GPRS should be faster than that, idk why the EDGE here is so slow.

[baaadandy]

Yesterday I saw an AT&T branded Dodge Ram driving around my town with very large boxes in the bed (I'm guessing WCDMA equipment) leaving the direction of one cell site heading in the direction of my closest tower (there are 4 towers here) so maybe it is happening! I await a 3G indicator. Of course I could be totally wrong.

[ckochkah]

where about are you at?

[baaadandy]

Mountain Top (within the limits.) I also have an 'acquaintance' that is an engineer with Frontier, from what I know he covers lower Luzerne County and I'm assuming more territory south - I asked him to let me know if they get any work orders for new T1s at any AT&T cell sites. Not like I see him much that he's gonna call me as soon as he knows but if he hears something I will know about it if it's in MT, Drums, Hazleton, Conyngham, etc. AFAIK he's not near Dallas or Northwest etc.. That is if AT&T even needs more lines for 3G - if not, then knowing him doesn't help too much.

Maybe if a vet comes through here they can answer that question.. Does AT&T always need more T1s when they turn on 3G?

[ckochkah]

That's great news seeing that Mountain Top isn't that far from Hazleton (Where I am). If you hear anything else please let us know!

[baaadandy]

Def will. I'd really hope they are on the ball in Hazleton - you guys deserve it down there before we should get it up here! Honestly though I really believe they will pull a Verizon and light up the entire remaining areas particularly all of Luzerne County @ once. Although Verizon switched on Rev. A all in one shot in NEPA and AT&T only did the Valley, it would be really embarrassing of AT&T to do small expansion here and there, just do it all at one for ****'s sake it's been almost 3 years lol.

[buckspaul]

noticed that last weekend theres still no 3g in Carbon county pathetic theres quite a few iphone users in jim thorpe and leighton cringing using edge.. sad i would never pay 30 bucks a month for edge speeds..for users thinking of switching tmobile in ne pa.. go right ahead and use your phone pda etc. as a paper weight.. verizon and sprint (roaming on verizons network of course) are best suited ne pa...

[dlsolt]

AT&T sucks in carbon county! The AT&T employees have been telling everyone "3g is coming in a month or 2" almost since the initial 3g roll-out began! There is a VERY small portion of Beltzville Lake Estates in Towamensing township that gets 3g signal depending on what way the wind blows, but nothing else in the county is covered...

Anyone have any info as to when 3g might happen here in Lehighton, if ever?

[ssavoy]

I noticed on one of the back roads I travel on near Dallas had full service (where usually there was none). A little bit down the road I notice a full-fledged brand new cell tower. It's out in the middle of nowhere, but it seems to be an AT&T-only tower as Verizon gets no service still.

Unfortunately there's no 3G, still EDGE, but maybe it's a sign of things to come? Who knows..all I know is it's been there less than a week.

Here's a Google Maps link centered on the approx. location of the new tower.
new tower

[ssavoy]

UPDATE! Today the new tower they just built had 3G turned on. Just seems to be this tower, the rest were still on EDGE...it might be coming soon! I was able to get about 800kbps download in the middle of nowhere. Anyone heard anything yet?

[baaadandy]

UPDATE! Today the new tower they just built had 3G turned on. Just seems to be this tower, the rest were still on EDGE...it might be coming soon! I was able to get about 800kbps download in the middle of nowhere. Anyone heard anything yet?

Well that's a good sign, still nothing anywhere else that I have seen. Haven't received any new info that I can post, the October I was told has come and gone, not surprised one bit. I think I might call today and disconnect my Bold line.
So on that note, I must say Congratulations AT&T!!! It is now 3 Years since launch and you haven't expanded 3G coverage in our area!!! (one cell site doesn't count) Aren't you so proud?!

[TerraPhantm]

Well if they turned on one, maybe there's a chance. I'd love for there to be some 3G up in mountain top.

[ssavoy]

As of yesterday the tower still had 3G on. I can actually say AT&T has better coverage "making calls" - wise in this area compared to Verizon. I did email help@attnews.us and the main representative is checking with local techs on the 3G upgrades around here. The store I called said no planned upgrades until after Christmas.

I guess it's just wait and see. I'm almost certain they have the bandwidth ready to go. If they have it where I got it yesterday, they can most certainly get it to the rest of this area.

When I hear anything more I'll post (including when the rep gets back to me). I will say, though, that AT&T/Cingular has added now a total of 3 towers within 5 miles of me in the past 5 years..going from no service to full service where I live. Just the darn 3G they can't keep up with.