Verizon roaming on Alltel

[CDMA]

Alltel upgraded many of it's towers in Northern Michigan to digital ID #244 towers last week and my Verizon phone is still roaming on Cellular One of N.E. Michigan.

I thought the current Verizon PRL would look for Alltel as soon as Alltel's towers got upgraded to ID # 244. My Verizon phone roams on Alltel 244 up to Grayling and then it switches to RFB's CellularOne #1337 even though the Alltel towers are newly digital with the 244 ID #.

Will there be a new PRL with Alltel 244 a higher priority then CellularOne 1337?

[Gonz]

CDMA, I believe many carriers have found that Alltel in that section of the lp is BAD. The towers are still spaced for bag phones... At my cabin near lovells, I get a strong cell1 signal, but no alltel, even with an old analog phone. I have a friend who has an att TDMA phone(5165) , which is supposed to roam on alltel. The phone "locks on", but doesen't have enough signal strength to place a call. useful ehh? When, my old 5165 (USCC) would have full bars in the middle of nowhere. Now that I have a CDMA phone, it still roams on cell1 throughout northeast MI and the UP. They seem to have great coverage, at least from my experiences...

[GoodmanR]

cdma,

it would make sense for them to continue on alltell 244, especially if they have the same sids..

have you updated your prl since them?

[CDMA]

Yes, I have the current PRL because I tried to update it after I got back and it stayed the same. I think GONZ may be right. The Verizon test man may want it this way. Alltel has already improved coverage in Cheboygan by adding a new tower, so this may change in the future.

[BG1811]

OK, you UP experts. I switched to Verizon's AC plan last December. I just had to have the Kyocera 7135 phone. So far it and the AC plan has served me well. Now to my question. Prior to the switch, I had Cingular's no roam - no ld plan. Each August we take our motorhome to Sault Ste Marie, MI for a couple of weeks. The cingular phones would lock on a SSM, Ont. cell tower while we were in Soo, MI. I would get a huge Canadian roaming bill from Cingular. After some discussion with the CS people at Cingular they would credit my bill for the amount. I just switched from the AC plan to a NSR plan plus Canada. I did it for a couple of reasons....we are going on an Alaskan cruise next Wednesday and followed by several days in Vancouver, BC. This will be followed by the trip to Soo, MI. Whose system will I be on in Soo, MI? I know it won't matter from a billing point, because of the NSR plan. I'll stay on the NSR plan until after the SSM trip. I'm just curious.