who's buying AT&T wireless in Litchfield / CT?

[johnner1999]

Does anyone have any info on this? And what happens to roaming on Cingulars towers when its done? As it is now I have stronger bars on Cingular network (even T-Mobile) then on AT&T's network?

thanks in advance

[Critic]

The merger is already complete. As far as I am aware, Cingular did not divest any assets in the New England area, so if you WERE ATTWS, you're not Cingular. You shouldn't be seeing ATTWS ids on your phone any longer, but if you are, or if your service hasn't improved, you may need an upgraded SIM card (if I recall some of the other posts here).

[johnner1999]

in my area at&t does need to divest and I just singed on and my phone resests to at&t if I manually turn on Cingular :-(

Originally Posted by Critic The merger is already complete. As far as I am aware, Cingular did not divest any assets in the New England area, so if you WERE ATTWS, you're not Cingular. You shouldn't be seeing ATTWS ids on your phone any longer, but if you are, or if your service hasn't improved, you may need an upgraded SIM card (if I recall some of the other posts here).

[roamer1]

Originally Posted by johnner1999 Does anyone have any info on this? And what happens to roaming on Cingulars towers when its done? As it is now I have stronger bars on Cingular network (even T-Mobile) then on AT&T's network? thanks in advance

ALLTEL got the former AWS property in Litchfield County.

I don't see ALLTEL doing much (if anything) with it because it's so isolated from other ALLTEL properties; I expect them to land up selling it to VZW (who has 1900 but could certainly use 850 there, given the rather rural nature of the area) sooner or later.

-SC

[johnner1999]

that is who the store mentioned as well but didn't know for sure? so since vzw is cdma what would happen to my gsm service? also why would alltel buy this as you stated they have nothing near CT no?

i'm still in my 30 day trial time maybe I should switch to Cingular??? I like the phone like the people who sold it to me very fair and "real". BUT the coverage while on the at&t ws side is poor to say the least - as soon as I leave litchfield it seems to get much better but also says cingular much of the time. does alltel get all old att towers or just the ones in litchfield?

thanks again

Originally Posted by roamer1 ALLTEL got the former AWS property in Litchfield County. I don't see ALLTEL doing much (if anything) with it because it's so isolated from other ALLTEL properties; I expect them to land up selling it to VZW (who has 1900 but could certainly use 850 there, given the rather rural nature of the area) sooner or later. -SC

[bobolito]

Keep roaming on Cingular as usual. Nothing should happen to your current GSM service in the meantime. Once your contract is over, then you can cancel and port your number to Cingular.

[agentHibby]

If Alltel keeps the area they will keep the AT&T GSM for along time. Since Cingular has a network there Cingular customers will roam on there own network. Other providers can choose Alltel or Cingular for GSM roaming on 850. I think Cingular also has a PCS license in that area.

[bmkarnes]

From what I have been told about this is that they purchased the towers, like in OK. Then as they expand the towers are already in place just switch them over to CDMA. But it's going to be a while from what I was told before Alltel makes the North East, New England jump.

[jones]

Cingular does Not Need this Area
and Alltel can do whatever
it wants with this.
This is surplus for them.
If anybody needs them
it will be T-Mobile,
they don't have coverage here.

[johnner1999]

Originally Posted by jones Cingular does Not Need this Area and Alltel can do whatever it wants with this. This is surplus for them. If anybody needs them it will be T-Mobile, they don't have coverage here.

just drove by the ATT-WS store and it now has an Alltell sign


what ever happens does my new contract become whose ever buys the area and it can change from GSM?

[agentHibby]

Originally Posted by jones Cingular does Not Need this Area and Alltel can do whatever it wants with this. This is surplus for them. If anybody needs them it will be T-Mobile, they don't have coverage here.

What are you talking about
The reason why Cingular is not allowed to have this market was that both Cingular and AT&T have a network there. If they merged it was too much market controll so Cingular keeps there Cellular B network there and Alltel get the Cellular A network.

[agentHibby]

Originally Posted by johnner1999 just drove by the ATT-WS store and it now has an Alltell sign what ever happens does my new contract become whose ever buys the area and it can change from GSM?

Your contract date stays the same it is now with Alltel. Sometime this year Alltel will probably add digital CDMA to there towers (CDMA phones are what Alltel will sell once CDMA is operational in your area). Alltel will be doing GSM in areas where there is none. Since there is already GSM in your area (Cingular) I don't know if they will keep GSM network up in your area for roamers.
Don't worry it won't be anytime soon that they will take it down. They still have plenty of TDMA sites up and running across the country. 2007 would probably be the soonest if Alltel decides to end TDMA/GSM in your area.

[johnner1999]

thx agentHibby

may biggest concern is that if I leave my phone on auto it picks an AT&T tower and I get about 2 bars -- if I switch over to Cingular's tower I get about 4 (sometimes even 5) and a much cleaner phone call. After all is set and done will I be "roaming" on Cingulars towers?

[MeatChicken]

I think you will see CDMA capability added to the cell sites fairly quickly, so that AllTell's existing nationwide CDMA customer base can use their system, as well as getting revenue from their CDMA roaming partners.
They will stop selling GSM phones there as soon as CDMA is up & running, but they will, as others mentioned , probably keep some GSM channels active for a couple of years....

[jones]

Originally Posted by agentHibby What are you talking about The reason why Cingular is not allowed to have this market was that both Cingular and AT&T have a network there. If they merged it was too much market controll so Cingular keeps there Cellular B network there and Alltel get the Cellular A network.

That's what i meant.

[agentHibby]

Originally Posted by johnner1999 thx agentHibby may biggest concern is that if I leave my phone on auto it picks an AT&T tower and I get about 2 bars -- if I switch over to Cingular's tower I get about 4 (sometimes even 5) and a much cleaner phone call. After all is set and done will I be "roaming" on Cingulars towers?

This all depends on Alltel. You can only make and receive calls on places that Alltel chooses to have a roaming aggrement with that provider. If they choose to have a roaming agreement on Cigular's network there then you are fine. You may want to go to the Alltel store when you have time. They can give you more details on your call plan if anything will change.

[johnner1999]

Originally Posted by agentHibby This all depends on Alltel. You can only make and receive calls on places that Alltel chooses to have a roaming aggrement with that provider. If they choose to have a roaming agreement on Cigular's network there then you are fine. You may want to go to the Alltel store when you have time. They can give you more details on your call plan if anything will change.

I called 611 and so far they have no "clue" it may change in a week, next month or next year

with out roaming on cingular the phone is just about useless

[DemoMan]

Originally Posted by johnner1999 I called 611 and so far they have no "clue" it may change in a week, next month or next year with out roaming on cingular the phone is just about useless

Users will be discouraged from upgrading to new phones until the CDMA network it up and running. All phones sold after that point will be CDMA. GSM users who lose or break their phones will most likely have that phone replaced w/ a CDMA phone. Also, it is rumored that former AT&T Wireless users will be offered CDMA 'upgrades' once the sites are all converted. I also believe that if you decide to change rate plans, you will be required to have a CDMA phone.

This information is what i've gathered from alltelusers.com and alltel.howardforums.com on the threads about the OKC market. I assume it would apply in CT as well.

Bradley

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by DemoMan Users will be discouraged from upgrading to new phones until the CDMA network it up and running. All phones sold after that point will be CDMA. GSM users who lose or break their phones will most likely have that phone replaced w/ a CDMA phone. Also, it is rumored that former AT&T Wireless users will be offered CDMA 'upgrades' once the sites are all converted. I also believe that if you decide to change rate plans, you will be required to have a CDMA phone. This information is what i've gathered from alltelusers.com and alltel.howardforums.com on the threads about the OKC market. I assume it would apply in CT as well. Bradley

I heard by September they will start the CDMA overlay & start shutting down the GSM network there, I do know of someone who said they are giving customers 20 days from the official switch to port to another carrier with no ETF, and he did today. I don't know if it's 100% but he said it was in the letter he got from Alltel.
He did say they were offering free phones to people that stayed.

[BillRadio]

Originally Posted by johnner1999 I called 611 and so far they have no "clue" it may change in a week, next month or next year with out roaming on cingular the phone is just about useless

If you were an ex-AT&T customer you should have already been alerted to your options. If you are indeed an Alltel customer, you'll have a choice to switch to a new phone or possibly quit their service entirely, as has already been noted.

There is the possibility that a few customers will slip through the cracks and not understand what is happening. I see no reason why Alltel can't turn off the AT&T GSM/TDMA sites tomorrow. Real Cingular users should automatically switch over to the actual Cingular network. A few will suddenly get bad service, and Cingular may make the same offer to them as Alltel will make to their new customers, to leave for the better carrier.

Verizon has enough coverage in the area to temporarily accept Alltel roamers, so they could conceivably switch over customers immediately. Transitions are difficult, but the new carrier will do everything it can to hold on to existing customers. It may be time to see if you can get a better deal, but don't forget about your contract. Staying with Alltel may a good thing, coverage outside of Litchfield would mostly be on Verizon, not a bad choice.

Alltel has done deals with Verizon to exchange certain isolated properties, but nothing is a slam-dunk. Alltel's owners could use their new CT service as an excuse to vacation in the area. Out top brass often bring their skis during trips to "inspect" their Colorado properties.

[agentHibby]

It will be intresting to see what will be on the table if Alltel and Verizon decided to swap properties again.

[johnner1999]

Originally Posted by agentHibby It will be intresting to see what will be on the table if Alltel and Verizon decided to swap properties again.

just stopped by the same office to add an other phone to the account. All they had were 4 phones to choose from (nothing that great) and all were marked up big time - not even the cheap nokia was free! They said in September new phones will be swapped out - they even had a table with all of the Alltel phones.

To me it seems foolish for a company to come into this small market -- and it makes me locked into a single line at the moment (family pack).


Oh well

[agentHibby]

Getting this area was part of the package. Alltel wanted to end partnerships with Cingular and probably expand there coverage in Oklahoma. Verizon and Alltel have dirt cheap roaming agreements so if you go CDMA in the fall you get free roaming with Verizon or US Celluar when you leave that market.