Cingular Wireless Investing $67 Million in Kentucky Network

Thats alot of sites, but basically they are just dancing around all the edges of Kentucky, not really getting any penetration into the interior where the coverage is the hardest to maintain.

 

And the point of this post was...?

 

I quoted this post of yours and asked what the point of this specific post of yours was.

 

Also take into account that a good portion of central KY, Cingular has no licenses. However, I do agree that there are areas in which they do have licenses and coverage that they could easily improve upon. I don't see anything listed for far southeastern KY and even eastern KY near the WV/KY border and such. They do have Corbin listed, which is eastern KY and didn't have stellar coverage the last time I remember (2 yrs ago).

 

Some of the center Cingular has no Cellular license; however, Cingular does licenses to cover all of KY. They probably use Dobson where they don't have a network.

 

Cingular indeed uses Dobson for most of their coverage in central KY, they are always hiring site techs around here.

The terrain can be so rough here though, that most companies dont even bother with the substantial investment required to get good coverage here. And its not always the rough terrain, sometimes its just the sheer isolation, there are no facilities to support the towers... i.e. Bell doesnt have any copper or fiber in place to support new installations in some of the rural areas around here.

KY is just a hard place to cover. Bluegrass has more towers in this area than all other serving carriers combined, but we still dont have seamless coverage.

 

I'm a Bluegrass customer in McCreary Co., Ky., I think the only one in my county. They didn't even have any phone numbers available here when I signed up.

I've been approached by Cingular rep, a guy I know, claiming Cingular's coverage is superior to Bluegrass. He says GSM is better in this area, especially Corbin and Somerset areas and into Scott Co, Tennessee down US hwy 27.

I make lots of calls up and down US Hwy 27 in southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee and along the I-75 corridor from Lexington to Knoxville.

This guy also owns a Cellular One office in this county and a Cingular store in Corbin. Says to go with Cingular rather than Cellular One. Says Bluegrass is a dead end in that they will never do any construction in this area.

My contract with Bluegrass is up and I'm confused as to where to go. I always though CDMA was best but seems that GSM is doing lots of tower construction in this area while no CDMA towers are being put up.

Am I wrong?

 

OK, I've read more now. Specifically I've read the "Kentucky Trip" thread.

With Cingular spending $67M in Ky, with the towers in Whitley Co (Corbin area) and Pulaski Co (Somerset) coming on (at least I'm told these towers are now functioning) and with the dozen or so towers being built along US 27 in Scott, Morgan counties, Tennessee, doesn't it look like Cingular is the better provider here.

It's notable Cingular or Dobson have built nothing in my county, McCreary. But neither has Bluegrass. Both Bluegrass and Dobson have one tower each, about 2 miles apart, serving this entire county. With the topography as it is and with the Tennessee border here, a single tower is very poor coverage.

Wouldn't it make sense to sign up with Cingular rather than Dobson, given Cingular's stronger national agreements? Or should I stay with Bluegrass? Or maybe buy a gsm phone cheap on ebay and sign month-to-month with Cingular and see how they work out.

 

ausbeer62...

Bluegrass has many new towers in your area, some of which have not even been activated yet. We are still doing alot of testing and optimization in the area. These are brand new construction:

15 in Pulaski county
9 in Laurel county
6 in Whitley county

Somerset, London and Corbin are the focus of the coverage but the spacing is pretty good across the 3 counties. All towers will be 100% in service by the end of the year, most likely by the end of the summer.

McCreary county is currently only served by one tower in Whitley City. Unfortunately, they will put the signal where the people (read: money) are. The best way for the public to influence where the next towers may go is with petitions. If a sizable customer base exists, or could exist, which would make the investment profitable, then they may consider the area. Another obstacle in this county is Eloqui wireless which is right over the state line. Potential interference problems hinder development in some areas.

Are you still using a TDMA phone? By partnering with Verizon, we are able to offer very nice nationwide CDMA plans now:

The Blueworks 1000 plan offers 1000 anytime, anywhere minutes for $39.95, free nights and weekends as well.

The Blueworks Unlimited plan offers unlimited local calling, unlimited long distance from the home area, and 100 roaming minutes for $39.95.

I hope this helps with your decision....

 

Thanks Blue_Tech. I checked today and sure enough I'm using a TDMA phone. I thought all along I had a CDMA. Goes to show what I know.

With Cell One (Dobson) locally going GSM and Cingular strong in Corbin, where I go on business a lot, and all the new towers in Tennessee, I was inclined to go that way even though I've always understood CDMA was better in rural areas. I've been dissatisfied with Bluegrass for awhile but now that I realize I've been TDMA all along it explains a lot of things.

I think I'll take your advice and sign up for a year with Bluegrass. I checked with Verizon today and they're actually a little more expensive than Bluegrass and I can't port my number, which is a killer.

I wonder who Bluegrass partners with in the Oneida, Tn area? Both Verizon and Eloqui are there. I like the Eloqui tower location better.

 

You will roam on Eloqui in Oneida.

If you beg them enough at the store, they will give you a CDMA loaner phone on your line to try out for a night or two.

PM me if you end up with problems getting a CDMA loaner and I'll help you out

 

BlueTech has stated in another thread that in fact Bluegrass prefers Eloqui in TN over Verizon. Obviously, if there was no signal from Eloqui it would fall back onto Verizon but I can say myself that Eloqui's coverage is better in that particular area of TN than Verizon's is. At one time I had a US Cellular phone and ended up roaming on Eloqui more than Verizon in that area. This was back when Eloqui was still TDMA, to boot.

 

In fact it would be in their best interest to give the poster in question a CDMA loaner phone.... after all, his decision to renew his contract is dependent on CDMA coverage in the areas in which he travels. One other thing I will note is that CDMA is in fact getting a pretty nice foothold in eastern KY. Bluegrass went CDMA, Ramcell is turning up CDMA and even Appalachian Wireless (farther east) has gone CDMA as well. Sprint has CDMA in the Middlesboro BTA as well. Eloqui covers the TN section of the Middlesboro BTA from what I can tell along with all the areas north of Knoxville towards the KY border. At this point, I would have no qualms recommending a CDMA carrier to someone in eastern KY. BlueTech, do you guys roam on App. Wireless over in eastern KY?

 

Actually I'm not in what's generally considered eastern Ky. I'm west of I-75 and do most of my local travel west of the interstate. When I travel for business I go mostly north and south on I-75 between Lexington and Knoxville. So southern and central Kentucky and north-central Tennessee are more important to me.

I'm glad to hear that Eloqui is the partner around Oneida, Tn, I've borrowed CDMA phones from both Verizon and Eloqui customers and in Winfield, at least along US 27, the Eloqui phones seem to do better.

My problem with getting a loaner is that there's not a Bluegrass store within 100 miles of me. I don't have time to drive all day to get a phone. I'll probably just renew for a year and take the leap.

I think Bluegrass would do real well around here if they had a store or at least an agent in town. Lots of people are mad at CellOne and would jump if they had a chance. When I signed up 2 years ago I was the only customer they had in the county. Seems a waste to have a tower, even 1 of them, and no customers.

 

damn Cingular going all out with Cell cites! Crazy now only if they can get them all aproved and put up.. :loony:

 

Mainly Verizon and some Sprint.

That should change, slowly, over the next year or so. Agents will come first, then stores. Anyone can be an agent you know... wink wink

We are also expanding into Harrison and Crawford counties in Indiana, so we've been spread out pretty thin over the state lately.

 

actually I was referring to farther east than where Verizon has coverage... Pike Co. for example. In that area, Verizon roams digital on Appalachian Wireless, as does Sprint from what I can tell in the latest PRL. App. Wireless just went digital within the past year and are still further building out their network in that area. Cingular is the other cellular band carrier in that area and no CDMA carrier in their right mind should roam analog on their network when an acceptable CDMA carrier is available. It's interesting that you mention that you roam on Sprint some.. I would assume the Middlesboro BTA as that's about the only place they have native coverage. Strangely, Verizon doesn't appear to roam on Sprint in that area for some odd reason. The only other options are analog on Cingular and digital/analog on Ramcell (Ramcell is turning up CDMA).

As an aside, here's Verizon's map of southern KY. I'm confused by the dark brown, which is listed as analog roaming. I was under the impression that at least some of the area shown as brown is covered by Bluegrass, so should be digital (some of it is Ramcell, I know). Take a look and tell me your interpretation thereof. The light brown is digital roaming. Yellow is VZW native.

 

I've thought about seeking an agency relationship with Bluegrass before. I own a small radio station and we've got a natural fit with an existing office and access to lots of advertising. Just a matter of finding the time.

I really think it would be successful, especially now that CellONe has gone gsm. They only have one tower in the county, just like Bluegrass, and from what little I know the Bluegrass tower ought to provide better local service.

 

This might help you. Sorry about the resolution, its the best I can do.

Use the map and this list of KY RSA license holders.

I have to be careful what I say, when we partnered with Verizon, we got some pretty sweet spectrum deals from them and Sprint. Hopefully the maps and the list will help you get a picture of whats going on over there.

 

Heres a better map

 

Pretty neat stuff... obviously it doesn't tell who owns what licenses (FCC ULS search is your friend there, of course) but from what I can tell, RSA 9 & 10 are Appy Wireless, RSA 11 is Ramcell (and some Sprint). Do you guys cover RSA 5 & 6 or just 5? As I recall, Cingular covers 9-11 and Dobson has 5 & 6? Am I incorrect on any of this?

 

We've got 3, 4, and 5. Actively constructing in 6 and 11.

 

That'll be a really nice plus... Knox & Whitley counties didn't exactly have fantastic coverage the last I remember... granted that was a good while ago, but I can't imagine the companies that cover those areas are aggressively building out in those counties. Sprint actually did put up some towers along I-75 but has jack squat in the rural areas between there and Middlesboro.

 

We've got 6 towers standing in Whitley.

Corbin Down Town
Corbin South
Walden
Williamsburg
Saxton
Whitley County South (pretty much on the state line)

Not sure how far out into the RSA were going... havent heard about anything in Knox county yet. I know we got a good chunk of spectrum out that way, but the guy who has that info isn't going to tell me any time soon (even though his office is 2 doors down)... I'm still just a peeon around here.

We have some spectrum in the Evansville/Ownsboro MSA, and RSA 2... but it will be a while before any buildout happens there.

 

Interesting stuff for sure... It's really nice to see CDMA finally making some headway in central/eastern KY. I still remember going up through Kentucky and not even getting digital service with my US Cellular phone until I got just outside of Lexington. Now I could take my Sprint phone up there and have digital service almost anywhere. I wonder if there are any really good mountain biking areas up there to go visit so I can have a reason to make a trip up there

 

Lots of good mountain biking in McCreary Co, Ky (where I live) and in Scott Co, Tn in the Big South Fork National Recreation Area. I see lots of vehicles with mountain bikes attached to them almost every day, esp weekends. Many of them have Fayette Co (Lexington) plates, so maybe there's a group there that can provide some specific info on where they ride. I just know it's around here somewhere. I think around Oneida, Tn. are the best trails.

It's mainly a horse riders park with lots of trails along the river but I also think there are bike trails alongside.

Lots of kayaking and canoeing as well on the Big South Fork River from Station Camp, in Tennessee, to Blue Heron in Kentucky.