What's the Cingular Service Like in NYC?
I remember that Cingular had no network in NY before they bought AT&T. They had roaming agreements with T-Mobile as a matter of fact.
johnnyslick said:
That sounds about right. The way things work, 2 and only 2 carriers can build cell towers in each market. Originally one of them was local and one was national but things have gotten so ooky with the mergers and acquisitions and so on that it's just easier to remember them as 2 per market. Even if that market is New York City and it's mentally retarded to only have 2 competitors.
This cannot possibly be true. Here is why:
Before the AT&T/Cingular merger, AT&T had towers in NYC, and so did T-Mobile. That is how Cingular had coverage up there (a roaming agreement with T-Mobile). Verizon also had towers in NYC. That is 3 carriers, and I'm sure Sprint and Nextel had them there too. No...
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We've always had Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, and Voicestream (T-Mobile) self-owned towers here in Pittsburgh. The only national carrier that was unable to hold licenses in Pittsburgh (due to some ruling by the FCC in the past) was Cingular.
So clearly it is at least five, and I agree.
RUFF1415 said:
He is flat out wrong.
We've always had Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, and Voicestream (T-Mobile) self-owned towers here in Pittsburgh. The only national carrier that was unable to hold licenses in Pittsburgh (due to some ruling by the FCC in the past) was Cingular.
So clearly it is at least five, and I agree.
Thank you for confirming my statement, Ruff.
There are two cellular licenses in each market, one was originally wireline (run by the local telco) and the other non-wireless (Like L.A Cellular vs. Pactel in the 80's and early 90's).
In 1996 there were the PCS license auctions (or 1900 MHz). There were up to 7 licenses available in each market (PCS A-G) with the MSA (like TV stations) way of networks being designed going by the wayside for more regional licenses (like all of Southern CA being a region). There was also the great consolidation of SMR licenses that formed into the company we know as Nextel.
There can be up to 10 different carriers (and more in the future) in each market, offering a wide range of services.
If you don't know the...
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