Would all of you in the same region as me please offer your advice. I need others advice as to which carriers to consider for Lexington and central Kentucky. I am currently a Bluegrass Cellular subscriber, but I'm moving to Lexington next week to stay. I love the coverage that Bluegrass provides, but I need an 859 number. It just so happens that my future brothers-in-laws and finace are with Cingular but ready for new contracts also, and we would all like to be on the same carrier because of mobile to mobile minutes. My family in central Kentucky are on Bluegrass as well, but in a year could change. One brother-in-law is considering Sprint, I know Sprint is CDMA but are they a viable option for those who need to go to the small towns in central Kentucky as well as the cities. I personally would like to go to T-Mobile because of their reasonable rates and specifically the SDA, but am worried about limited coverage especially in areas like Campbellsville, and along the roads to get there from Lexington. There are as many as eight of us ready to switch carriers. I'd appreciate all advice and information about roaming partners.
Welcome to WA!! First off I would try the list of providers you're considering. Most of the carriers have coverage maps. Check the coverage and see which one is best for you. I'm with you however, I like the rates of T-Mobile. I just checked t-mobile coverage for you Campbellsville is on the T-Mobile 850mhz roaming (which is included in your plan) I've noticed a few places where you wont get coverage. But they are increasing coverage so by the time you get service there might be coverage. Another choice might be Verizon. The have coverage almost everywhere. Cingular could be an option too. Just check out the web sites and look at the coverage. Hope this helps you!!
and added note..I believe the 850mhz roaming in place with T-Mobile is with Bluegrass Cellular..I believe. Hope Matt can verify this for me!!
Bluegrass is CDMA and T-Mobile is GSM, so no. The 850 roaming is on a combination of Dobson and Cingular. -SC
Yesterday I took my Bluegrass phone (V262) and an older deactivated Sprint phone (Sam n200) and was comparing bars. The signal strength on both phones was practicaly the same, but my Sprint phone stayed in analog roaming much of the time. I know the Sprint phone is an 850 analog, 1900 cdma, and my moto is 850 cdma, 1900 cdma. Do you think that and possibly an older PRL are all that are to blame for that?
Yes, it has everything to do with the combo of PRL and phone. Newer Sprint phones/PRLs will roam on Bluegrass digital and not analog. -SC
Verizon offers the best "all over KY" coverage - even in the southeastern part of the state where Cingular is very spotty. There is good CDMA coverage in most places either with Verizon or their roaming partners.
I would also go with a CDMA provider because they have better coverage over the entire state. Verizon has limited native coverage geographically over Kentucky so it is very difficult for many people in Kentucky to sign up for Verizon. In many areas of the state they roam on Appalachian or Bluegrass. So Verizon isn't a bad option if you're in Lexington and can get their service, but I would go with Sprint because they will let you roam on those same carriers and they do offer native coverage in most of the larger cities, even in SE Kentucky, so they are a little better built out over the state. Just be sure to go with a plan that will incur no roaming charges anywhere for when you do go into the more rural areas and need the Bluegrass network. Sprint plans are usually a little better deal than Verizon plans so they would be a good option for your crew.
True - but the coverage for that part of the state is best with those carriers as the others do not have as extensive coverage for the more difficult places to get signal. Depends upon where you live as to whether Verizon is a good choice and Lexington and Louisville are great. Planning for coverage throughout the states where you travel is tough but I've found Verizon and their roaming partners (CDMA) to work well for me.
I don't often travel much in the eastern part of the state...but here in western ky...cingular is tops. It works very well in bowling green, lexington, and louisville as well. Cingular is by far the best carrier on this side of the state.
