VZW Network Update-

Wow, a lot of sites there. VZW is also making a big push to improve the network in the Philly region. Nearly every day for the past few weeks I get an email telling us that a new site has been added. I even spotted a new site on my commute to work that should be activated any day now.

 

Jayc is there any new sites coming up soon for the Tri-Cities, TN/VA area?

 

Verizon broke ground last week on a site in Edisto Beach (about halfway between Beaufort, SC and Charleston, SC. Should be up and going within the next 30 days.

 

They just keep putting up sites that Verizon has probably needed for along time
They never stop working for us in building sites now.

 

What exactly does improving coverage at existing sites consist of? Do they just mean added capacity, or did they reposition panels etc...

 

How about Forsyth County, NC? There's a desparate need for a site in the Lewisville area where no one covers well. Verizon is the best, but the best is still not good. There are plenty of dead spots all over Lewisville.

 

I don't think sectorization really does much for coverage. Sectorization is designed to increase capacity, that is why carriers use it. It is so much less than the cost of a new site that it is a cheap way to add capacity. I am glad that carriers do this, but not glad when they claim it increases coverage.

 

I remember there were rumors that Sprint's 3G voice system would increase both capacity and coverage. I had my doubts about that and sure enough the experts said it did nothing for coverage but helped capacity a great deal.

 

I was with Sprint at the time, and I did notice some of the newer phones did have improved recepiton over some of the prior, models, but I think that had more to do with phone design instead of network.

I did notice some problems however, I had the Treo 300 and when I would travel from a site that was 1xrtt and one that was IS95 it would drop the call every time.

 

It depends on what changes they make...if they are going from an omini antenna too three seperate antenna systems then yes that will generally improve coverage. It can also improve coverage by putting it exactly where it is needed if optimized correctly....i.e. if you have a main road running north south and your sectors are firing east west you will have some problems...putting the signal where it is needed is important.

 

While I understand all that, I don't think Verizon has many omni directional antennas in use in GA. If they do, I don't understand why they weren't replaced a long time ago. Also, while optimizing sites by repositioning panels can improve coverage (as I pointed out in my first reply) I'm not sure this is what they are talking about....

 

Many of the changes were in the Savannah area, which up until last December was a TDMA network ran by Price Communications...aka Cellular One. I'm sure they had allot of stuff to clean up, and are taking it piece by piece. I also believe they may still be supporting TDMA in that area...not sure however because although they are only 30 minutes away they are a completely different market.

 

Question

Can anyone post pictures or tell me how to spot Verizon towers? How can you tell who's is who's???

Sprint, ATT, Verizon, t-mobile???
I am just curious to know who's tower is close to my house..and how to tell between towers... TDMA, CDMA, GSM...

thanks

 

Not really, I'm sure if you contact Al Quida, they will have all of the details....if you look in the Web links forums, I believe their are some sites where you can look up some limited information. And some companies will post their tower locations online, Sprint PCS has a section buried in their business site for this, however Verizon is pretty tight with sharing exact tower locations even to their sales reps.

 

Sad, but probably true.

 

If you walk up to the base of the tower there is some indication of whose tower it is. Some companies will just provide a telephone number to call "in case of emergency." So I just call number and find out, when you call they will tell you who they are and if it's an actual person just say "uhhh, I must have the wrong number, bye." lol

 

That is what Field Test is all about. Helped me find the tower servicing my mothers house in Columbia,SC. Found it was near Leesburg Road.

 

You think cell-one would have used omni-directional antennas in Savannh? I know VZW had a lot to clean up from their network, but I doubt many omni-directional antennas were used. There would really be no point in using them....The only places I have ever really seen them used is in the West to cover highway passes through mountains, interstate 75 (through the everglades) in Florida, and I think I remember seeing a few the the Florida Keys. Why they would be used in Savannah doesn't make sense, but I guess a lot of things that don't make sense seem to get done anyways.

 

There used to be a lot of omnis in GA-2 (Gainesville/northeast GA, former BAM) but when VZW turned up CDMA in that area all the omnis all got sectorized. Same goes for former analog-only sites in east TN (e.g., the isolated Ducktown/Copper Basin site) -- they got sectorized when CDMA came along.

In general, it's VERY odd to see CDMA sites (or GSM sites) running on omnis (because of issues with pilot pollution/etc. on CDMA, and frequency reuse issues on GSM); it's not at all unusual to see old TDMA sites, iDEN sites (the vast majority of SoLINC sites and most rural Nextel sites are omnis) or AMPS-only sites on omnis, though.

-SC

 

USCC had a bunch of omnis in Southwest VA, but I believe as the went digital they switched those out.

 

There are a bunch of Nextel omni directional antennas in Ohio now that I think about it....

 

i have also heard rumors from my regional manager that verizon is getting towers in Roan Mountain, TN and Mountain City, TN. Not sure on what date these towers will go into effect, but i am anticipating it.

 

Now, they just need to get the go-ahead to put a tower up by my campus, and then we might give Verizon another try...

 

This comes as very welcome news. Cellular One had some gaping holes in their coverage in Savannah which Verizon inherited when they overlayed CDMA. So this is great. Also very nice to see added coverage on St. Simons and Sea Island. I used to play tennis on St. Simons a lot when I lived at home (in college now), and coverage there (and on Jekyll) was a little lacking.

Also, the TDMA network is still operational on the old Price Communications network. My mom and dad have been with Cellular One (now Verizon) since they opened their doors in my hometown (St. Marys). (My dad now has Verizon through work.) She still has an old Nokia 5160 TDMA phone that she's happy with. No real reason for her to leave. 400 minutes for $40, no roaming nationwide, nights starting at 7, and a full signal at home. We live on a peninsula adjacent to Cumberland Island, so no one except Verizon (old Cell One) provides good coverage there because they're the only one with a tower on the peninsula. The TDMA network is starting to degrade there, but whenever she leaves St. Marys, she roams on AT&T or Suncom, whose networks suit her needs just fine. I bet she's costing Verizon a bunch in roaming fees to AT&T. I keep hoping that Verizon will offer to let her keep her plan when she upgrades to CDMA, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

How and why, when a) VZW has no licenses for Johnson County (Thank You Commnet Wireless ), and b) ALLTEL has a presence there and VZW can just roam on them?

-SC

 

Just the obvious. Alltel is getting towers there and they've let VZW know that improved coverage for VZW's roamers is on the way.