Cingular and AT&T Now Sharing Networks?

They'll now roam on each other.

If you're on Cingular GSM Nation, you cannot get charged roaming fees.

 

Do you know what frequency AT&T is on in Southern CA? Cingular and AT&T already share networks here on 1900Mhz so I can't get either in my house. I wonder if Cingular is 1900 and AT&T is 850 in CA. That could explain the sudden signal increase with AT&T.

 

That's possible. AT&T has both 800 and 1900 and Cingular only has 1900 in CA. What part of Southern CA is this?

 

They don't actually share networks here, scottb, but they're both GSM1900 providers that happen to have similar tower locations. If you try Manual Network Selection, you'll often see both Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless, but a Cingular Wireless customer will be LAC-blocked from the AT&T Wireless network here I think. I was LAC-blocked from the AT&T Wireless network everywhere I went except Manchester, NH. Imagine that. (Cingular's coverage is more extensive than AT&T's in North Carolina, except in the SunCom affiliate territories, where SunCom equals, if not beats, Cingular.)

 

Interesting...the woman in the AT&T store told me they shared the network here. She even knew how bad coverage was in my neigborhood. I did have three huge trees taken down two weeks ago--maybe the signal will be better now.

 

About 50 MHz?

Seriously, "850" is a misnomer, it's actually the same 800 MHz band that cell phones have used since time immemorial.

900 MHz is a European frequency. If your phone does 900/1800/1900 then you will not be able to receive 800/850MHz signal. The 900 MHz frequency block in the United States and Canada is used for cordless (landline) phones.

 

They will roam on each other in some (not all) markets, presuming you aren't a KIC subscriber. KIC subscribers can't even use the entire Cingular network nationwide, let alone any roaming.

It's ironic that my Sprint handset roams fine on ATTWS AMPS here at the Phoenix Festival (http://www.phoenixfest.com), but my Cingular GSM handset is dead in the water where ATTWS--which Cingular is acquiring--is concerned. T-Mobile, predictably, is useless.

 

well I am not so sure if they share or not. there are parts of socal where at&t has full TDMA and there is no GSM for cingular or att and my nokia 6340i (gait phone) will not pick up the signal. I have talked many times with cingular cs and they tell me that in my home market that I can not roam on any TDMA, or GSM other than cingular's own system. They also told me that there are no roaming aggrements with att at all. Which makes no sense if some of you guys are hitting att sites.

 

It's possible that you're being LAC-blocked from AT&T because Cingular considers their coverage to be enough, so they won't let you on AT&T to incur extra charges to them. (With GSM, they can do that - pick certain areas to let you on or not. It's a way to say "no roaming charges anywhere your phone works" while not letting it work anywhere it could.)
Cingular has no TDMA in California.

 

Yes you will be charged roaming charges is what cingular told up until 1-1-05

 

as soon as you do, let us know!!!

 

In general, ATTWS will let you roam on Cingular, but Cingular won't let its customers roam on ATTWS. There are a couple of exceptions (such as western Massachusetts), but this seems to be the general rule.

Cingular has the best GSM network in California anyway, so there should be little need to roam on ATTWS.

 

If you have a nation wide plan. Then why would you be charged for roaming? I know the Cingular has agreed to purchase ATTWS. Maybe that is why some people are aloud the access the ATTWS network.