VZW (mostly) fixes Kentucky

[agentHibby]

On the license it says Comment Cellular partnership D/B/A Verizon Wireless. Why is other than Arizona and a few oher areas that commnet is mostly in those old markets??

[agentHibby]

It does say comment headquarters are in Burr Ridge, IL
I know that comment cellular was in Colorado

[roamer1]

CommNet Cellular and Commnet Wireless are *not* the same company.

CommNet Cellular (the one that used to be based in Colorado) -> AirTouch -> VZW.

Commnet Wireless (the one based in Burr Ridge, IL) is a relative newcomer whose sole business is providing roaming coverage to other carriers in rather small areas other carriers (in most cases AT&T and VZW and their predecessors) overlooked (that is, never built out.)

-SC

[5y3018]

Recently moved away from extreme East KY (Pike County, 41514). Had horrible service there with Cingular (too many black holes). I know App. Wireless has excellent service in area surrounding my parents and inlaws (which I visit almost monthly) and was wondering which national carrier (Verizon or Alltel) has a roaming deal with App. Wireless? I currently live between Knoxville and the Tri-Cities area and know both VZW and Alltel have good service in TN but wondered who had the better roaming agreements (esp. with App. Wireless) for larger coverage in East KY/TN? Thanks...

[UFO]

Hello 5Y3018 and welcome to Wireless Advisor.

I should first point out that you revived a very old thread so some of the information on here is not up to date (I assume).

But either Verizon or Alltel would roam on Appalachian Wireless in Eastern Kentucky according to their roaming list. However, there are downsides to both options.

For Alltel, you would have to do one of two things, you would have to get a 'Total Freedom Plan' which is still available in stores although it's no longer advertised. The problem is, Appalachian Wireless in Eastern Kentucky is in a chargeable roam for Alltel even on the 'National Freedom Plan' at 59 cents/min. But with Total Freedom, there are no roaming charges anywhere in the US. The downside to this plan is that Night & Weekend, and Mobile-2-Mobile minutes are each limited to 1000 minutes/month respectively. However, you still get My Circle, unlimited calling to any 10 numbers and plans $59 and above.

A separate option with Alltel, is getting a National Freedom Plan and 100 "Free-2-Roam" minutes/month at $10. I'm in Eastern Kentucky on occasion and I have this option because My Circle + Free to Roam minutes were cheaper than the plan with sufficient anytime minutes I would have needed through Verizon.

For Verizon, Appalachian Wireless is Free Roam on their America's Choice Plan so you would not be capped on N&W or M2M minutes. However, Verizon does not Roam on Sprint in Eastern Kentucky around Middlesboro or Pikeville so you would lose some coverage in those areas. Verizon's also not nearly as strong getting into E. KY through SW Virginia on 23 or 58 if you take either of those routes to Pike County. The significance of not roaming on Sprint, especially around Middlesboro, is that Sprint is the only CDMA provider in the area. So if you want a digital signal, Verizon would not allow that to happen by not allowing you to roam on Sprint. Verizon is buying Ramcell very soon, and that should solve the digital coverage problem around Middlesboro, but there's no time estimate on that situation.

So either provider would give you roaming coverage off of Appalachian Wireless and Alltel would give you the most digital coverage in Eastern Kentucky total at the current time, although the Middlesboro area may not be a concern with you at all. With My Circle, you may be able to get more minutes out of a plan with Alltel compared to a similarly priced plan with Verizon, and what you can get out of a plan for each provider is probably what it will come down to for your situation.

[hillbilly44]

UFO, unless they're in the Morristown area or Tri-Cities then Alltel won't be an option (no network in Knoxville) so I don't think that'll be an option.

[UFO]

UFO, unless they're in the Morristown area or Tri-Cities then Alltel won't be an option (no network in Knoxville) so I don't think that'll be an option.

True, but I'm assuming that 5y knows the options available in his/her specific area between Tri-Cities/Knoxville.

[5y3018]

Actually I live in Morristown...But are you saying that Alltel has no service in Knoxville or it will be roaming? Kinda confused. All I know is that Alltel and VZW both have stores in Morristown. I also will be working in the Newport area if that helps...Thanks guys ya'll are great!!!

[UFO]

Alltel free roams for Voice and Data on Sprint and Verizon in Knoxville and all around the surrounding areas.

If you want to get fairly complicated, Alltel provides native service in Northeast Tennessee down through, Grainger, Hamblen, and Cocke County. You would still get coverage via a roaming partner (Sprint or Verizon) once you cross over into Sevier, Jefferson, or Knox County. All providers have areas they don't natively cover, while needing to boast an impressive national coverage map, that's why all the CDMA providers have friendly roaming agreements and you should continue to receive coverage even on roaming networks. The same can be said about Verizon on the other side of the VA/TN border where they don't provide native coverage in Smyth County, etc. but roam on Alltel.