Travel to Alaska - Suggestions on Access?

The Arctic Slope is a gradually sloping plain that stretches for hundreds of miles. It is featureless and utterly devoid of any of the normal things that create interference. Here's a picture for your reference (taken a little before midnight):



When I drove the Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay last year, I was able to place calls easily on my .6W Kyocera 2235 over 40 miles from the lone ACS tower serving the area. With an external antenna and more wattage, I could probably have stretched it another 10-20 miles, terrain and weather conditions permitting.

 

From the look of the coverage map, it's probably ACS. Unicom publishes a toll-free number, and they'd probably tell us for sure if someone called.

Wow, did you check out those rate plans? It's hard to believe that anything could be more expensive than Bristol Bay Cellular Partnership, but these guys have managed to do it! I'm not sure why anyone would choose their "basic" plan at $1.99/min when they apparently offer credit card roaming at $0.99/min.

The way roaming works with Unicom is a definite throwback to the early 1990s, when I was first getting into cellular. There were still a couple of small carriers here in the Northwest that didn't offer automatic roaming (Inland Cellular was one of them), and carriers still had paper-based roamer billing in many cases (they'd actually mail paper bills to other carriers for settlement of roaming charges).

 

I'm flying up to Kodiak tonight...I contacted the wireless companies at Kodiak (there are 2 of them) and was told that my phone would not roam on their network...even in analog. They said they have no roaming agreements with Verizon. Kodiak wireless did tell me that they have agreements with Cingular and ATT however and they operate a TDMA network.

 

As a heads up, the following SIDs went to Extended Network for VZW America's Choice Customers: 5269, 5513, 5510, 5685, 5682.

So, with the newest PRL, the following systems are Extended Network:
Alaska Digitel Anchorage
Sprint PCS Fairbanks (operated by Alaska Digitel)
ACS Wireless PCS (SIDs above - Juneau, Fairbanks, Anchorage)

And the following systems remain paid roaming:
ACS Wireless B-Side Cellular Anchorage
ACS Wireless B-Side Cellular Fairbanks (AK RSA 1 - Wade-Hampton)
ACS Wireless B-Side Cellular AK RSA 3 - Haines
ACS Wireless/Matanuska-Kenai (MTA Cellular) B-Side Cellular Wasilla (AK RSA 2 - Bethel)

Well, at least there's some improvement, and with ACS Wireless PCS going FR, there's hope for ACS Wireless B-Side Cellular.

 

Sprint just sent out an internal news bulletin about a new roaming agreement for Alaska that will double their current roaming coverage. The agreement is effective immediately and will not even require a PRL update for any of us. This agreement almost certainly has to be with ACS.

 

I'm sure it is, ACS has a much bigger coverage area than Alaska Digitel. We will be adding 16 sites on top of the 78 we already have. We have the largest CDMA network in the state, and are the only ones offering data on CDMA. Dobson has launched their GSM network and they are also offering data.

 

I'm going to be in Anchorage tomorrow and am curious about data connectivity. Is 1xRTT available for roamers? What number is used for 1xRTT connectivity, #777 or something else?

 

TProphet,

There is no data roaming set up yet. ACS is in the process of going to Mobile IP, which will enable roamers to access the 1x and EVDO systems, but I don't think there are even any data roaming agreements signed yet.
You will have to let me know how the ACS system performs. Although, if you are only going to be in Anchorage, I think Alaska Digitel is still before ACS in most PRL's.

 

I confirmed that analog roaming on ACS works, so it looks like the roaming agreement is now active. You're correct that Alaska DigiTel is still prioritized above ACS in the PRL, but if I find an area that they don't work and you guys have a signal, I'll make a long call and take it with me.

One ACS annoyance I've noticed so far is that you have to dial 1 first for long distance calls. This means that holding down the 1 key to check my voicemail doesn't work on your system. I've actually never encountered a cellular system that requires 1+ dialing for long distance calls; NPA-NXX-XXXX has worked everywhere I've gone.

 

I have encountered a roaming system that require dialing the 1 before the area code. I don't remember which one but it possibly could have been Cell One West of Inyo/Mono County.

 

This is true on the Analog system, but on the CDMA system, 10 digit dialing is allowed for long distance. (2 different switches). Hopefully you can get out of Alaska Digitel's coverage area and take ACS's CDMA system for a spin.

 

Just to follow up on my Alaska trip...

I found a way to force ACS digital roaming on my handset, and also visited some areas without Alaska DigiTel coverage, so I got to test it out quite a bit on my trip (if you'd like to try this trick yourself, force analog on your handset, then immediately switch back to "automatic" and dial a call as soon as you can. On my handset, calls made this way routed via ACS and my handset camped on ACS for awhile before switching back to Alaska DigiTel). I also visited some areas outside the Alaska DigiTel coverage area, but within ACS coverage. Here's what I discovered on my most recent Alaska trip, as pertains to Sprint roamers:

- Sprint claims that usage on Alaska DigiTel's network is not billed as roaming for their customers. This usage seems to show up in Sprint's minute counter as rapidly as on-network usage, at least in the Anchorage area (I'm not so sure about Seward). I made some test calls on Alaska DigiTel to specific numbers, and will find out for sure when I get the bill.

- Neither Caller ID nor Caller ID blocking work on either the ACS digital or analog systems, or on Dobson. Conversely, Caller ID *and* Caller ID blocking both work correctly on Alaska DigiTel. Voicemail notification works on ACS digital, Alaska DigiTel, and (surprisingly) Dobson analog, but not on ACS analog.

- Inbound text pages didn't work with any carrier I used. This is how Sprint delivers messages sent to [phone_number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com, as well as numeric pages sent from your voice mailbox. This service works properly when roaming on Telus Mobility and (reportedly) some other carriers, so I was surprised it was unavailable. As expected, however, Vision services are completely unavailable anywhere in Alaska.

- 3-way calling operates differently on ACS. You have to press TALK, dial the number, press TALK again, and press TALK a third time when it supervises. You don't get a second dial tone after pressing TALK the first time (as with VZW). Unlike VZW, you can't simply dial the second number, press TALK, and then press TALK again once it begins ringing. Dobson works the same way Sprint does.

- Call waiting also operates differently on ACS. You hear a *busy signal* interrupt your call. That threw me the first couple of times it happened, but I eventually figured out what it meant. Dobson works the same way Sprint does.

- ACS has slightly better coverage breadth than Alaska DigiTel, but the coverage depth seems competitive. From my admittedly limited testing, both carriers seem about even in the Anchorage area. The quality was about what I'd expect from Cingular or T-Mobile GSM here in the Seattle area. I dropped a call on Spenard (a major street) while on the ACS system, and also in my downtown Seward hotel. I dropped a call in the airport on Alaska DigiTel, and also inside the Dimond Ave. Costco.

- Overall I think ACS has a very respectable network for having only been active a month or so, and Alaska DigiTel seems to have improved their coverage in response. Neither carrier is up to Lower 48 standards for a CDMA carrier, but I think ACS will get there once after a few months of tuning their CDMA network. Alaska DigiTel had a free pass on network quality for a long time, and I'm very glad that competition has apparently forced them to improve their network. It's hard to express how glad I am, actually; I truly dreaded roaming on Alaska DigiTel in the past because their network quality was so atrociuos.

- Dobson Cellular should really be added back into the PRL, although prioritized below more friendly roaming agreements. The reason for this is that Sprint lacks a roaming agreement with Copper Valley Wireless, who is the "B" carrier throughout a good chunk of southcentral Alaska. Copper Valley Wireless has a better AMPS network (by a wide margin, especialy marine coverage), so I often picked up their network rather than Dobson. Power cycling the phone would normally flip it back to Dobson, but in the meantime, I'd lose all my incoming calls.

- There is no roaming available at all in Cordova, AK. This is the biggest city in the area and is the fishing hub for the famous Copper River, so I was pretty shocked not to have coverage. The two carriers available are Copper Valley Wireless and Cordova Wireless, but Sprint doesn't have roaming agreements with either of them. I complained to Sprint, and they said something about setting up a "roaming gateway" with VZW and Alaska DigiTel, both of whom have roaming agreements with Copper Valley Wireless. However, I'm not sure whether this will actually work and would like to see someone test it. If Sprint does obtain a roaming agreement with Copper Valley Wireless, they could safely place these folks in the PRL instead of Dobson (this would avoid system collisions in Cordova, but since a roaming agreement is in place with Dobson, system collisions with them would be inconsequential).

 

I too just got back from Alaska last night after a wonderfully relaxing week in Seldovia. Thanks to a short power outage Saturday night, we were able to see the Northern Lights for an hour or so - in August, go figure!

I have AT&T GSM America and was amazed at the coverage on Dobson/Cell1's network. Anchorage coverage was great, and call quality was clear. Coverage down to Homer was good with just a few dead spots in valley areas. Seldovia was a different story. Zilcho for coverage on GSM or TDMA (a couple friends from AK are on C1 TDMA), probably because the town only has 300 people and is hidden in a harbor out of view of Homer. SO much the better. It was nice being in the boonies and not tied to a phone

 

Caller ID for roamers on ACS CDMA seems to be working now.

 

Caller ID worked for me (Verizon subscriber) when I was up there...and the calls made on the PCS network even counted as m2m.

195 08/04 11:52AM P (xxx)xxx-xxxx 1 Anchorag/ AK Minot ND MN Included .00 .0

 

The Busy signal call waiting is what I got in Gardiner, MT, just outside of Yellowstone National Park while on the Verizon Network...that threw me off as well... why would it be a busy signal instead of a call waiting tone???

 

Since you work for ACS, can you tell me why i get ACS authorization errors in Barrow, AK? I thought ASTAC was only here! I was in AMPS on a SprintPCS phone, and while I do know there is no ASTAC roaming agreement, this makes little sense to me.

Does this mean ACS is lighting up more towers on the north slope, or simply some bizzare provisioning error with ASTAC..?

 

ACS has a site in Barrow. It's been there for quite some time now.

 

So, as a SprintPCS roamer, would I also be able to use this ACS tower in Barrow? There is nothing more special about this tower?

I havent tried since last June, but I was given "Number cannot be completed as dialed" and i tried both with 1 as well. I tried both local and long distance numbers with no luck.

Maybe it works now...i'll try it next time im up there.

 

Thanks for the confirmation... Last I saw the Barrow site (which I thought existed) wasn't on any coverage map on the ACS web site...just towers in Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse. :headscrat

-SC

 

Any clue when ASTAC is supposed to do their conversion to GSM? Ppl in Barrow and the Northern Coast need not be left with only AMPS and CDMA if GSM is doable.

 

Pretty soon ... but only in major areas. There is very little incentive to move off of the existing infrastructure. I think the biggest draw to GSM would be GPRS data services and more roaming revenue. There is definately not an AMPS capacity issue..

 

yep. I was just up in valdez, prince william sound, for a visit and lots of fishing. I was jealous of my friends who are on CopperValley wireless and the entire sound is covered by 1 tower and you can get a signal just aobut anywhere including out by hinchinbrook/montague and their AMPS only phones worked fine. my quadband gsm phone drops signal in the "narrows" area about 10 miles from port of valdez....we were fishing roughly 65-70 miles out, just at the entrance of the gulf. so, yeah, in ideal conditions such as flat water, 1 AMPS with a good line can cover that much and more area. My phone roamed on CellularOne/DobsonUS btw.

 

I'm sure you will have good cellular coverage in the poulated regions, but if your going to be out in the boonies and _must_ have a voice communications device, then Globalstar satellite handsets can be rented. Haven't used one, but apparently, they are very popular in less populated regions or roadways of Alaska. Seems like a reasonable price and cheap insurance for the ability stay in touch and make emergency calls *almost anywhere.
*Note: Alaska coverage is better in the south, northern coverage may only receive one sat and service may be poor. See coverage map.
http://www.globalstarusa.com/en/content.php?cid=300

I suppose it is more difficult to receive satellite calls at any time, compared to cellular, since you have to keep the antenna up with a clear view of the sky, ready to recieve a call at anytime. Sorry, I can't tell you the exact procedure or limitations to expect...
Suppose this is similar to having to use an external antenna, with a cell phone to make calls in a rural area. It's not going to work sitting in a pocket, like around town.

 

If we are talking about Alaska in particular, i'd *highly* recommend Iridium. Globalstar just doesnt cut it up there.... maybe in southern alaska, but you are just playing with fire.

Iridium has full polar coverage, where Globalstar sats barely come in.

Your chances of an obstruction at the horizon are going to be far greater than in all directions above you.