Verizon has been in NJ for how long?

Wow, that is really suprising, I think there is another tower further back from the parking lot as well. I was there last weekend with AT&T and a friend with Cingular and we had full coverage thruout the park and inside buildings. I agree you would think they would have coverage in a major park like that. I also posted an experience in Feb, in A/C a friend with verizon had no coverage in any of the casino's or the convention center, where his wife with Cingular and myself with AT&T had great coverage in them.

 

If Sprint is extended can you force your phone to Sprint??
If so you have proof that the network there is crap :thumb: :crying:

 

I would guess Verizon (nee Bell Atlantic Mobile) has been around for almost 20 years - the first half mostly analog, since CDMA deployments didn't start until the mid 90s.

 

Having worked at Six Flags for four years, and knowing the way the park (and the corporate parent) does business, I wouldn't be half-surprised to find out that Six Flags signed some kind of agreement with Sprint - making them the "official carrier" of SF in exchange for giving them exclusivity on the towers. Great Adventure (and the adjoining water and safari parks ) is a bigger place than you'd realize - Six Flags actually owns about two to three times as much land as is currently built on, so not allowing VZW to put a tower on property can definately kill VZW's signal strength inside the park. Also, bear in mind that there are radio signals flying all over that park - wireless microphones, Pyro signals, etc. - plus the park supervisors talk to each other on Moto Spirit* radios - I don't know what frequency they use, but if they're near the 800 band, it might explain why VZW isn't there.

*At least, they did when I was last there. It's possible they've moved to Nextels by now, but I doubt it.

 

Hmmm, If six Flags gives exclusivity on there land to Sprint and ATT/Cingular were lucky then there realy isn't much VZW can do. Yeah, they need to let thee be free roaming on Sprint there.

 

but again... he'll be on extended network and won't be able to text msg, nor will m2m minutes apply to his calls. Yes, he'll have coverage, but he'll give up a good bit in return for it. Verizon has enough money, they could throw some @ the park's parent company and get those "exclusive rights" (if they exist) pulled. I'd say they could do it for less money than they would pay out in roaming costs to Sprint in a given year. The customers don't pay for roaming on Sprint, but I'm sure Verizon gives money to Sprint based on the number of minutes their customers use on SPCS's network. Amusingly enough, at Six Flags in Atlanta, GA, I remember VZW being strong throughout the park, along with even T-mobile GSM. I had a US Cellular phone that roamed on VZW down there and my Cingular phone at the time roamed on T-mobile GSM. Never really had any trouble with either. Go figure.

 

I doubt it, I've seen the churn numbers from the Philly and the NY Metro region and they have been very impressive.

As far as the park not being covered by Verizon or T-Mobile, well this basically doesn't surprise me at all. How many months out of the year is the park in use? How many other places can you think of that are weak areas but are populated year round?

Guess where the wireless companies are going to spend their money first to improve coverage?

 

That's weird. What casino were you in? I never had any trouble with Verizon at Bally's and the surrounding area.

 

Of course everyones experience will vary from carrier to carrier. Call it arrogence if you like, churn numbers and net adds don't lie. The fact is your phone isn't going to work everywhere with any carrier. Every carrier has coverage holes and issues, VZW just happens to be the best of the bunch.

VZW isn't for everyone, if another carrier suits your needs better then maybe you should change, no hard feelings here, it's just business.

 

VZW has consistently reported solid numbers quarter after quarter. They claim they are the best because obviously the average consumer thinks so (or else they wouldn't have the best numbers).

Just because your phone doesn't work in a few areas you'd like it to doesn't mean that they don't have their coverage together. When it comes to churn people generally fall into three categories a) people are satisfied with their service/coverage, b) they aren't satisfied but they know of no other carrier that would meet their needs, or c) the customer has found another carrier that will meet their needs.

With VZW having one of the lowest churn rates I'd have to say that a bigger portion of VZW (compared to competitors) customers fall into categories a or b.

 

We were in every Casino over the 2 days, plus this happened in the convention center as well.

 

We are talking about Service, Not the Number of Customers gained. fftopic:

 

My point exactly. If the service wasn't good people wouldn't be signing up.

 

I don't disagree with you on T-Mobile, they are a great company, and they've got the numbers to show for it. Many of the reasons that they are successful is because they offer more minutes for a lower price, have cooler phones, have lower credit standards, offer spending limit accounts, and is rapidly expanding coverage.

As far as VZW allowing Sprint roaming in NJ. I don't see it happening, and I don't think it's needed. Subscriber growth and churn numbers support my point.

 

The biggest thing with Verizon is they have to justify every decision they make...it has to have a business case. I don't know why they don't have coverage there, but it could be that area is not high on a priority list because since it is a gated contained area where people generally go for pleasure and not work, they figure that weak area's where people are more likely to complain need fixed first. Area's like that usually will not get coverage unless a deal is made with the park "give us all your phone service and we'll put up a tower" and so on. But I'm just guessing...in general if it's not going to get activations or keep customers from churning then it's not a big deal. For most people six flags is a once a year thing....more people will churn for not having coverage in a local Walmart than for not having coverage at six flags.

 

When the 800 megahertz carriers started building their networks they focused on major highways and travel routes. You generally only used your phone in the car, in door coverage wasn't a concern. The PCS carriers focused their concerns more on in door coverage because they started off with hand held units. Now that hand helds are the big thing more and more sites are being turned on to provide in door coverage. But the big money is still where the highways and the major routes are and that is VZW's primary focus. As Wirelessbeachbum said more people are likely to churn if they drop calls driving to and from work, but almost no one will churn just because it doesn't work at Six Flags. In addition, Six Flags is generally a weekend destination, they don't make money off of nights and weekends.

I've never been to Hershey with my cell phone so I'll take your word that it's bad (if I think about it tomorrow I'll look up the coverage on the map), but I see your point. Doylestown and Newtown, PA was the same way, in door coverage in town was bad but it was great outside the the town on the highway, that has just recently changed, now in door coverage is really good due to two new sites.

 

Just to clairify Cellular buildout in 1986 was on intercity metros (in cars) and highways. They did not design networks at first to be used in buildings always and homes in suburbs until the handhelds become popular. Cellular was supplemental not a take over for wireline. I think everyone knows that.

 

Here's a (potentially) more devious reason why VZW's signal doesn't penetrate Six Flags Great Adventure:

Verizon has the payphone concession. (Or at least, they did the last time I was there.)

 

It must just be SF in NJ. Verizon works fine at SF New England.

 

Enjoy the Park!

Here's my own personal solution: Turn off my cellphone so I can spend more time on the rides and less time testing coverage.

 

Re: Enjoy the Park!

How can you enjoy if one of your friend is missing in the park and you can't call him/her.

 

I was just in Hershey, PA on May 1st with Verizon and my phone and Skid's phone worked just fine.