Why do WorldCom phones say roam while in home area.?

I am not sure where you are located but I can give you one possible answer. You could be on a Cingular tower instead of an ATT tower...you have no control over that.

 

See the following article I wrote. It discusses the concept of roaming

http://whitehare.topcities.com/RatePlans.htm

 

Sometimes that will happen in extended roaming areas, especially if your IRDB hasn't been updated. If you aren't getting roaming charges on your bill then you should alright. If you decide to call tech support again then ask them to update your "flashing". If your on an AT&T underlying carrier this can be done directly from the switch.

Tom

 

The reason is because there are more than one provider in a particular area. Only companies that doesn't allow roaming even for their nation-wide customer's are able to restrict your phone from "roaming".

If a company didn't allow it's phones to use another company's towers, they would only be able to offer local plans. The only way these company's can offer nation-wide plans is by placing towers nation wide. The main disadvantage of this is that it's very difficult and expensive for a company to do this. Take for instance SunCom. Their phones use other company's towers for traveling. This allows a customer to use their phone anywhere there's a cell phone provider. SunCom doesn't have to place towers everywhere in the US.

If SunCom only allowed roaming on their own towers and no other, they would only be able to offer local plans, such as cities or family. They wouldn't be able to offer Simply More, States, America, etc.

S. Cole

 

Another explanation could be you are in the extended area (still considered home for billing purposes). If your phone has a default flash code it might show roam when in reality it is extended coverage. So as I recommended before, I would get your phone reflashed but this time I would request that you do it directly versus over the air. Part of the problem with over the air is it goes to a default IRDB not necessarily the most current version. Go to a AT&T store and get the phone reflashed directly. This should then help the phone distinguish between extended and actual roaming areas.

For my own education, could you report back to the forum and let me know if that worked?

Tom

 

Kevin:

Thank you for the link!

Always a pleasure to read your stuff.

For some reason, when it comes to this topic, I always walk away from your "help" with a sharper picture.

When it come to cellular....I am NOT the brightest bulb in the lamp!

Dan