#1 GSM provider in 2003?

[NYCDru]

Like the post said, who do you think the number 1 GSM provider at the end of 2003?

[bobolito]

Hehe...you guys really like to throw fuel at the fire [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] The best answer to that question is obvious: it depends. Are you talking about number of subscribers? network/coverage reliability? or quality of service?

[cphirman]

Hard to say really. I think AT&T will be in a strong position once they get the former Suncom (Telecorp) areas GSM. Cingular is also looking pretty good in their markets. I don't know much about T-Mobile but they seem to be doing well too. I expect to see a lot of competion b/t these three in the coming year.

[Ton1]

Magic things are happening...
AT&T which introduced GSM service a little over a month ago is placed on #1, Cingular which offers this service since July is on #2...
And T-Mobile (former Voicestream and Omnipoint) the first and the best one being on the market for almost 5 years is at #3...
I guess we go in alphabetical order!
BTW I'm not working for T-M.

[KevinJames]

Okay, here's a tangent question....

Which of the 3 current GSM carriers (ATT, Cingular, T-Mobile) will be "acquired"? Who will buy them?

So far, predictions have been thrown around for all three companies. In the past year I've read that:

1. Cingular was buying out ATT
2. Cingular was buying out t-Mobile
3. T-Mobile was "merging" with ATT
4. T-Mobile was buying Cingular.

None of the above has come about but gossip continues.

[bobolito]

Oh really? The only possibilities I heard were that AT&T or Cingular may buy T-Mobile or that AT&T and Cingular may merge. Of all these, Cingular buying T-Mobile is the one that got more heat.

[KevinJames]

Yes, but that is how rumors work. One tells a fact, the next gets confused and tells what they remember.

As far as the Cingular acquisition of ATT, I actually got confirmation of that from an ATT sales rep. Obviously (thankfully) she was very wrong.

[NYCDru]

Ok, maybee i should clarify my question. I am a athlete in the Northeast who travels to competitions at schools in the Northeast ( Harvard, Yale, MIT, Rutgers, SUNY Binghapton, Columbia, Rutgers, Cornel, U of Maryland, etc.etc.). I would love to get GSM phone ( because honestly the GSM phones are were the good phone making effort is going with features and batery time especialy) and I know that T-mobile and Cingular GSM work on most if not all the campusses on my list BUT!!! only ATT/Cingular TDMA and Verizon CDMA "travel well" between NYC and these places. By "travel" well I mean being able to call other cars when my team travels to these places en route. This is very important to me whic is why I have ATT TDMA right now. My real question is at the end of 2003, will any GSM providers meet my needs?

Keep the answers/opinions coming, thanx.

[Niteliferyder420]

Originally posted by: cphirman Hard to say really. I think AT&T will be in a strong position once they get the former Suncom (Telecorp) areas GSM. Cingular is also looking pretty good in their markets. I don't know much about T-Mobile but they seem to be doing well too. I expect to see a lot of competion b/t these three in the coming year.

Tmobile is upgrading their towers so they have a 5 mile radius. B4 they only supposedly had a 1.5 mile radius.

[KevinJames]

Here is a quote from: http://www.attws.com/our_company/technology/

Quote:
Wireless communications depend on core networks that allow voice calls and information (also called data) to travel to and from wireless devices. AT&T Wireless' next generation service is already available to millions customers in areas served by the AT&T Wireless GSM/GPRS network and will be available to customers across the country <u>by the end of this year.</u>

The GSM/GPRS network overlay began in July 2001 (view complete press release) in our hometown of Seattle, Washington, making AT&T Wireless the first wireless carrier in the U.S. to offer advanced wireless data services.

As a leader in providing advanced wireless services, over the next couple of years AT&T Wireless will enhance its network to deliver 3G services capable of moving data at top speeds of up to 2MBPS (megabits per second). And because GSM is the most widely used technology in the world, AT&T Wireless will offer more robust services and applications that can be used by its customers in the United States and, in the near future, around the world.
End Quote

By "the end of this year" I understand that to mean 2002. So I would expect that by the end of 2003 the network will definitely be as "robust" as the TDMA network.

[aiwapro]

#1: T-Mobile
(It's a fact - More GSM coverage, more GSM subscribers, more handsets, hmmm, goes with the slogan of 'Get More' from life with T-Mobile)

[KevinJames]

air

even if that is so (which I am not too inclined to believe) it won't be that way for long. Cingular & ATT both have much larger subscriber bases and when they complete conversion of their nationwide networks, t-mobile will look like a tadpole in a sea of sharks.

[aiwapro]

What makes you think T-Mobile isn't continuing to upgrade too.

AT&T and Cingular are still going to be behind T-Mobile, because as those two carriers are still converting their TDMA to GSM, T-Mobile is going to go ahead and begin their 3G upgrades just as they planned.

[Matt]

Originally posted by: KevinJames air even if that is so (which I am not too inclined to believe) it won't be that way for long. Cingular & ATT both have much larger subscriber bases and when they complete conversion of their nationwide networks, t-mobile will look like a tadpole in a sea of sharks.

Kevin, it's late so I am no going to bother to search my own posts for my links to back up my facts, so I'll just present them and hope you believe me [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

As of 9/30 - 3rd Quarter coverage

AT&T GSM 171 million POPs (remember NO analog!!)
T-Mobile 211 million.

AT&T TDMA 224 million
Cingular - I don't know but they only OWN licenses to 81% of the population to BEGIN WITH. That's about 230M OTTOMH, IF they have EVERY license completely covered.

Assuming AT&T continues to build out GSM so it equals TDMA, we know what that coverage will be next year. We also know T-Mobile is expanding FAST. Even if you take out their 35 million additional POPS they got when they shared the network in CA and NV with Cingular, T-Mobile added approximately 30 million other POPS in the last year, going from about 150M to 211M.

I don't know T-Mobile's coverage plans for the next year. I could be conservative and go wth 20 million additional POPs, which would make it bigger tha todays AT&T TDMA, and I highly doubt (but don't know for sure) that AT&T is expanding their TDMA any more. They will have to build out all next year to go from 171 to 224 million on the GSM side. Most of the easy work for them is done, IMHO.

[KevinJames]

Time will tell. For me, the "biggest" really isn't that much of a concern except for how widespread the service is for national coverage.

As others have noted before, service in metro areas for most carriers is very good. Verizon and ATT have built networks that go beyond that. I realize that once I do make the conversion to GSM, I will be sacrificing analog service--hence the reason I am holding off. As Mike up in Eureka (or was that Ukiah?) has mentioned, those living in mountainous areas rely heavily on AMPS. Since I occasionally travel (recreationally) in the Sierra/Nevada range, I also appreciate AMPS where available.

But I digress and am slightly changing the subject.

I don't will ill on any of the carriers and hope they all build a healthy network and reputable service track-record. Competition is good. I guess I was just a little put off by the nearly religious fanaticism of of some who feel their carrier outranks all others. The "facts" are they all have their good and bad points, good and poor service areas, good and bad Customer Service reps.

[NYCDru]

[quote]
Originally posted by: Matt

Originally posted by: KevinJames air I don't know T-Mobile's coverage plans for the next year. I could be conservative and go wth 20 million additional POPs, which would make it bigger tha todays AT&T TDMA, and I highly doubt (but don't know for sure) that AT&T is expanding their TDMA any more. They will have to build out all next year to go from 171 to 224 million on the GSM side. Most of the easy work for them is done, IMHO.

ATT's new sites in the city are suposedly all both TDMA and GSM according to a rep i talked to. They suposedly fixed a major hole ( 14th to 6th to 23rd to 5th area was kinda weak) but the site suposedly is both. So they might actually be putting up both while they expand.

[Airb330]

Does no good to me. T-Mobile has poor GSM coverage in DE, and ATT is such a joke, covering only wilmington and newark basically. I wonder if they are ever going to expand, they have licenses here; as of now they roam on Cingular, or for GSM....no roaming at all! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] I am tired of this state being a two carrier state, with Cingular and Verizon. Though I must admit Sprint is OK, and improving.

[bobolito]

The #1 GSM provider in 2003 will be the one who has more money to expand their network. So only time will tell. I do know that even after AT&T finishes their GSM upgrade, they will not be as big as T-Mobile because AT&T needs its roaming partners like Cingular, Cellular One, etc to make their national network look bigger.

Kevin, for those of us who don't want to give up extensive roaming coverage in the boonies, Cingular will be the best solution because of GAIT technology. After everyone converts to GSM, only Cingular and the CDMA carriers will be the only ones to offer extensive coverage in the boonies. AT&T and T-Mobile won't have this option for years until GSM makes it deep in the woods where analog is the only option today. I'm just waiting for the next generation of GAIT phones to come out to make the switch.