RCC/Unicel in AL/MS going GSM

[roamer1]

Per SEC filings, RCC/Unicel is going GSM in AL/MS...they renegotiated roaming agreements with Cingular in light of the Cing/AWS merger and got an "incentive" to go GSM in that area. (That's despite the fact that RCC and Cingular actually compete with each other in certain areas.)

That said...I don't think VZW customers who are currently stuck using RCC AMPS in some areas of AL/MS will be left out in the cold -- based on what RCC has done in New England and Minnesota, I fully expect RCC to also quietly build out roamer-only CDMA coverage in counties in AL and MS where the other 850 carrier is Cingular or PSC Wireless in order to maintain roaming revenue. RCC has some 1900 spectrum in much of that area (from the AWS acquisition) they could use for that purpose, or they could just throw up a single CDMA carrier on 850.

-SC

[agentHibby]

I not a expert in Networking, but why don't these smaller multi-regional providers do GSM 1X?? They could service and/or have roaming revenue for both CDMA and GSM??

[Chris L]

Per SEC filings, RCC/Unicel is going GSM in AL/MS...they renegotiated roaming agreements with Cingular in light of the Cing/AWS merger and got an "incentive" to go GSM in that area. (That's despite the fact that RCC and Cingular actually compete with each other in certain areas.)

That said...I don't think VZW customers who are currently stuck using RCC AMPS in some areas of AL/MS will be left out in the cold -- based on what RCC has done in New England and Minnesota, I fully expect RCC to also quietly build out roamer-only CDMA coverage in counties in AL and MS where the other 850 carrier is Cingular or PSC Wireless in order to maintain roaming revenue. RCC has some 1900 spectrum in much of that area (from the AWS acquisition) they could use for that purpose, or they could just throw up a single CDMA carrier on 850.

Most of the overlap (at least in MS) would already be covered by Cellular South's CDMA coverage at 850 or 1900; I doubt an RCC CDMA overlay would be much help.

Over in Alabama, though, I could see some value to adding CDMA.

[Mr.kr]

Do you have a link to this info? This is really good news, I think.

When I signed up for Cingular GSM, I got great service at my house from a nearby AT&T GSM tower. When Unicel took over AT&T's customers in my area, they or AT&T turned off the GSM service on that tower leaving me SOL. Even with the Cingular/AT&T merger service has not returned to it's previous quality (lately I get some signal but not good enough for making and receiving calls reliably).

Maybe if Unicel adds GSM to their network, the GSM service from that tower would come back online and I could finally drop BellSouth like I had planned to before I lost cell service at home!

[mts3]

Yes I'd love to know a time frame of when this goes into effect. I have Unicel TDMA here, which works good for what I need and I have a great $30 plan. It's the only carrier that works reliably inside the building I work in. I doubt the GSM overlay happens quickly though.

[roamer1]

Do you have a link to this info? This is really good news, I think.

When I signed up for Cingular GSM, I got great service at my house from a nearby AT&T GSM tower. When Unicel took over AT&T's customers in my area, they or AT&T turned off the GSM service on that tower leaving me SOL. Even with the Cingular/AT&T merger service has not returned to it's previous quality (lately I get some signal but not good enough for making and receiving calls reliably).

Maybe if Unicel adds GSM to their network, the GSM service from that tower would come back online and I could finally drop BellSouth like I had planned to before I lost cell service at home!

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041112/125544_1.html

"On November 11, 2004, RCC and Cingular amended an existing roaming agreement, which extends the Company's existing agreement with Cingular through December 2009 and replaces agreements with AT&T Wireless.

Key components to the agreement include:

* Outcollect and incollect rates company wide, including data roaming,
* Incentive for RCC to overlay GSM technology in its Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi markets,
* Expanded network interoperability,
* Deployment of EDGE technology, and
* Coordination of future technology transitions."

http://biz.yahoo.com/e/041115/rccc10-q.html

"Under these agreements, we are able to attain preferred roaming status by overlaying our existing TDMA networks with GSM/GPRS or CDMA technologies. Our Northeast, Northwest and South networks are currently being overlaid with GSM/GPRS technology, while our Midwest region network is being overlaid with CDMA technology. We expect to have these technology conversions substantially completed during 2005."

-SC

[roamer1]

Most of the overlap (at least in MS) would already be covered by Cellular South's CDMA coverage at 850 or 1900; I doubt an RCC CDMA overlay would be much help.

Over in Alabama, though, I could see some value to adding CDMA.

I doubt RCC would build out CDMA in areas served by Cellular South, ALLTEL, or Pine Belt -- there's just no sense in doing that.

-SC

[roamer1]

I not a expert in Networking, but why don't these smaller multi-regional providers do GSM 1X?? They could service and/or have roaming revenue for both CDMA and GSM??

It doesn't work that way -- GSM1X networks can't handle roamers from regular GSM networks (wrong air interface) or from regular CDMA2000 networks (wrong network core technology)...

-SC