Alaska Coverage with Verizon Digital Only?

[SanDiegoShaun]

I have the Samsung A530 on Verizon and will be going to Talkeetna, Fairbanks and Anchorage and was wondering if I would have coverage and if I would be charged Roaming. Any help and comments would be appreciated.
(If needed I could run to a verizon store to get a Tri-Mode phone just for the trip)
Thanks,

[TProphet]

You will have coverage from Sparks Wireless in Fairbanks, and Alaska DigiTel in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley (these are actually the same company doing business under different names). This coverage is included in the America's Choice plan. It's decent in Anchorage and poor in Fairbanks.

Unfortunately, you will have no coverage on a digital-only handset in Talkeetna (the only service available is from ACS Wireless and Dobson Cellular, both of whom are TDMA/analog providers). An analog-capable handset is very helpful in Alaska, but bear in mind that you will pay 69cpm anytime you roam on the analog networks.

Have a great trip, and DRIVE SLOWLY, especially around dawn and dusk when the moose are most active. You will encounter moose even in metro Anchorage, so please exercise a lot of extra caution. Moose kills are WAY up this year, which is not only tragic, it's entirely preventable. So please lay off the cell phone while driving. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[SanDiegoShaun]

Thanks for the advise and the well wishes. I have an unactivated ATT Nokia 8160 phone and a TRI Mode Verison. I can bring one that way if I have an emergency I can always call 911. Any advise on which one to bring?

[ZaphodB]

Originally posted by: TProphet
You will have coverage from Sparks Wireless in Fairbanks, and Alaska DigiTel in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley (these are actually the same company doing business under different names). This coverage is included in the America's Choice plan. It's decent in Anchorage and poor in Fairbanks.

Unfortunately, you will have no coverage on a digital-only handset in Talkeetna (the only service available is from ACS Wireless and Dobson Cellular, both of whom are TDMA/analog providers). An analog-capable handset is very helpful in Alaska, but bear in mind that you will pay 69cpm anytime you roam on the analog networks.

Have a great trip, and DRIVE SLOWLY, especially around dawn and dusk when the moose are most active. You will encounter moose even in metro Anchorage, so please exercise a lot of extra caution. Moose kills are WAY up this year, which is not only tragic, it's entirely preventable. So please lay off the cell phone while driving. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Let me second that. Bring an analog-capable cell phone to Alaska, there are pockets even in downtown Anchorage where there isn't any digital coverage.

And let me STRONGLY second the "drive slowly" advice -- not to be gruesome, but a good friend of mine was killed in April on the road from Fairbanks to Tok... he hit a moose, it came down on his car, and caused massive trauma. He lay dead for hours before anyone discovered him because very, very few people are on those roads. A moose weighs as much as ten times as much as a deer... it's not a pleasant thing.

Remember, you must have your headlights on at all times in Alaska. (If you're going anytime soon, the reason why will be patently obvious -- the sun won't rise until about 11am, and will set around 2:45pm.)

Also, if you see someone pulled over, do stop to help them. You may be the only person that will pass them for hours at a time. This reinforces the need for an analog-capable phone.

[jayc]

Originally posted by: TProphet
You will have coverage from Sparks Wireless in Fairbanks, and Alaska DigiTel in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley (these are actually the same company doing business under different names). This coverage is included in the America's Choice plan. It's decent in Anchorage and poor in Fairbanks.

Unfortunately, you will have no coverage on a digital-only handset in Talkeetna (the only service available is from ACS Wireless and Dobson Cellular, both of whom are TDMA/analog providers). An analog-capable handset is very helpful in Alaska, but bear in mind that you will pay 69cpm anytime you roam on the analog networks.

ACS is implementing CDMA luckily... don't know if they've started yet though. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[TProphet]

My recommendation is to take a 3 watt analog bag phone to Alaska. If you don't have one (or can't borrow one), then take along the tri-mode Verizon. It will favor ACS rather than Dobson for roaming. This is better because ACS has more coverage.

Have a great trip--if you haven't been to Alaska before, you're in for an incredible experience! I visit as often as I can--at least once a year.

[ZaphodB]

The bag phone is a good idea. Just remember, when calling 911, that it takes as long as a minute to actually connect somewhere and it will be "dead air", so be patient. You'll be connected with the 911 operator who will be in Anchorage or Fairbanks, and they may have to raise the local emergency services by just picking up another phone and calling them, or by raising them on the CB radio... we are not talking cutting-edge here, particularly out in the bush.

[Yankees368]

Whats a bag phone?

[ZaphodB]

One of the first widely available cell phones... it was so large and had such a huge battery that it was carried round in a bag. My grandmother had one, and then I took it to college. It's analog-only (duh).

[Yankees368]

wow that things big, where do you get one of those?

[TProphet]

That's if there's even any cellular coverage, or phone service for that matter. I came upon an elderly couple while driving the Denali Highway two years ago, which traverses some of the most remote areas of Alaska accessible by highway (it's almost on par with the Dalton Highway between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay, which I drove this year--see here for pictures if you're interested). They had gotten out of their RV for some reason--to be devoured by mosquitoes maybe--and the elderly woman had fallen down a hill and broken her hip. I discovered this when I stopped to see if I could help, since it was obvious that they were in distress (this is just something you do in Alaska, especially remote areas; you may be the only person who comes along for hours).

Well, it wasn't a great place to have a problem, because the nearest phone was at Gracious House, nearly an hour away over the rutted washboard of the Denali Highway. And they don't really have a phone--they have a radiophone, which works sometimes, but not always.

When I arrived at Gracious House, I asked them to phone for assistance. Carol Gratias immediately fired up the radiophone, and tried to make contact. Meanwhile, I talked to her husband Butch, who instructed me to continue west and flag down a state trooper as soon as I saw one. "At this elevation," he told me, "she'll freeze to death as soon as it gets dark. We'll probably need to bring in a Medivac chopper from Fairbanks."

I finally saw a trooper about 15 miles from Cantwell. I flashed my lights and honked the horn, and he pulled over. "I usually talk to Fairbanks on the radio," he said. "When it's working. If I can't get anyone on the radio, I'll go back there myself."

You may be wondering what the heck my point is. I am wondering that myself, actually. I guess it's that Alaska is a really unique and challenging place to visit, and an especially unique and challenging place to communicate with other people. A scratchy analog cellular call is an annoyance here, but can be a luxury there--especially when it saves someone's life.

Have a terrific visit... and please be safe!

Originally posted by: ZaphodB
The bag phone is a good idea. Just remember, when calling 911, that it takes as long as a minute to actually connect somewhere and it will be "dead air", so be patient. You'll be connected with the 911 operator who will be in Anchorage or Fairbanks, and they may have to raise the local emergency services by just picking up another phone and calling them, or by raising them on the CB radio... we are not talking cutting-edge here, particularly out in the bush.

[TProphet]

Some cellular carriers, such as Inland Cellular, still sell bag phones new. Generally, though, you'll find them at thrift stores, pawn shops, garage sales, and the like. They do work to call 911 even if you don't have active cellular service.

Originally posted by: Yankees368
wow that things big, where do you get one of those?

[ZaphodB]

Most of the places I've been in Alaska have at least scratchy analog coverage. The one exception -- the one GLARING exception -- was the village of Slana, which is 50 miles west of the Glenn Highway between Anchorage and Tok. The terrain is such that there couldn't be any cell coverage anyway... not to mention that when I went, only one-third of the homes had electric, and only one had phone, and it was broken at the time.

When someone had an emergency, they would try and raise people on the CB radio -- and someone would get in the car and drive to Tok, where there were telephones, and where they could reach the Alaska State Troopers in Delta Junction.

IOW, you hope you don't have an emergency there.

[SanDiegoShaun]

Thanks for all the terrific advise and comments. We will be flying into Anchorage and then driving to Talkeetna or possibly Homer. Then we will fly to Fairbanks from Anchorage. I am thinking I will bring my current Samsung A530 Digital only and then my ATT which is TDMA and analog. That way I have all the different systems covered, both digital verizon systems, TDMA, and analog. I used to have a bag phone but it's long gone. Any additional feedback or great pictures like the ones posted by TProphet are appreciated.

[jayc]

Originally posted by: TProphet
That's if there's even any cellular coverage, or phone service for that matter. I came upon an elderly couple while driving the Denali Highway two years ago, which traverses some of the most remote areas of Alaska accessible by highway (it's almost on par with the Dalton Highway between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay, which I drove this year--see here for pictures if you're interested). They had gotten out of their RV for some reason--to be devoured by mosquitoes maybe--and the elderly woman had fallen down a hill and broken her hip. I discovered this when I stopped to see if I could help, since it was obvious that they were in distress (this is just something you do in Alaska, especially remote areas; you may be the only person who comes along for hours).

Well, it wasn't a great place to have a problem, because the nearest phone was at Gracious House, nearly an hour away over the rutted washboard of the Denali Highway. And they don't really have a phone--they have a radiophone, which works sometimes, but not always.

When I arrived at Gracious House, I asked them to phone for assistance. Carol Gratias immediately fired up the radiophone, and tried to make contact. Meanwihle, I talked to her husband Butch, who instructed me to continue west and flag down a state trooper as soon as I saw one. "At this elevation," he told me, "she'll freeze to death as soon as it gets dark. We'll probably need to bring in a Medivac chopper from Fairbanks."

I finally saw a trooper about 15 miles from Cantwell. I flashed my lights and honked the horn, and he pulled over. "I usually talk to Fairbanks on the radio," he said. "When it's working. If I can't get anyone on the radio, I'll go back there myself."

You may be wondering what the heck my point is. I am wondering that myself, actually. I guess it's that Alaska is a really unique and challenging place to visit, and an especially unique and challenging place to communicate with other people. A scratchy analog cellular call is an annoyance here, but can be a luxury there--especially when it saves someone's life.

Have a terrific visit... and please be safe!

Interesting story ... thanks

[TProphet]

This link has a journal of my trip to Alaska that included the Denali Highway drive. Links to pictures are in-line. You can also go directly to the pictures if you prefer. I have some more Alaska pictures at this link, which are from a trip around southcentral Alaska in 2002.