Verizon and Sprint coverage in Fairbanks

[TProphet]

Folks using the Verizon America's Choice plan may have noticed that some Alaska coverage was added in the most recent PRL. Good timing--I just flew up here for my annual Alaska trip, and I brought both my Verizon and Sprint phones with me.

Here's a snippet from Justa Lurker's interpretation of the 50085 PRL:

04097 PCS FR Pacific Com Alaska
SCAN 25A 325D 50A
04500 PCS FR SprintPCS - Fairbanks
SCAN 25A 325D 50A

However, some folks have pointed out that Sprint PCS doesn't actually offer service in Fairbanks. When you call them, they will vehemently deny this as well. And, for once, it looks like they're right. Sprint may have the license for the above PCS band in Fairbanks, but they're not actually providing the service.

So why do I make a big deal of this? Sprint's PRL apparently doesn't know that Sprint isn't providing the service in Fairbanks (it's... drumroll... Alaska DigiTel!). When I fire up my Sprint PCS phone, it doesn't give me a roam indicator at all. Unfortunately, as those of you who have read my other posts may remember, I purchase my Sprint PCS service through a reseller, which doesn't allow any roaming at all. And even though my handset insists I'm in a Sprint coverage area, Alaska DigiTel, sadly (or perhaps not so sadly--I'll get to that), doesn't agree. No such problems with my Verizon handset--I get a flashing "R" indicator, and calls go through fine.

So how's the service? In a word, lousy, mirroring my experience last year in Anchorage (if I make it down there this year, I'll see if it has improved). I've only been in town for a few hours, but already several dropped calls. Their tower density is very low, so I'll hear the other party just fine, but they won't hear me--it reminds me of using Sprint PCS' network 5 years ago. 3-way calling and Call Waiting work, but Caller ID, voicemail notification, and the "ignore" option do not. And forget service inside buildings--it's hard enough to use in a car, let alone in a building. I have not tested whether data service works yet, but I am not optimistic. Wireless Web does not work on my Sprint handset (I get a "Service Not Available" error).

Oh--one other really interesting thing. Look at the new "Lower 48" coverage map for Alaska DigiTel customers. Interesting how it looks exactly like the America's Choice coverage map, and correlates exactly with the addition of Alaska DigiTel coverage areas to the America's Choice plan. I'd be really interested to know the details behind that roaming agreement...

[ILUVSOCAL]

Sounds like Verizon coverage in Lake and Mendocino Counties here in Nor Cal, one tower every 20 miles(I've done my work on that one), their competitors(Edge Wireless and US Cellular)blow them out of the water.

[Gman]

I believe Sprint has a policy in place not to advertise or sell service in an area until the signal strength reaches a certain level and a certain # of pops are covered. It is written into the affiliate agreements and this might explain why they do not speak of service up there. There are also different 'tiers' of affiliates with varying requirements in the agreements depending on the tier.
G.