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I received some confusing or contradicting information about mobile technology and coverage by Cingular, AT&T and T-mobile, the 3 GSM providers in US. Could anybody help to clarify some of them?

1. Some says that Cingular and T-mobile basically share the same GSM towers, so they have exactly the same coverage. But some source says that they only share 1900 GSM in NYC, CA, NV and northern NJ. Which is true? Do they share the same tower in central Jersey (I live in Princeton)?

2. Some says that AT&T uses 850 MHz while Cingular has only 1900, others say the other way round: AT&T use 1900 while Cingular has both 850 and 1900. Which is true? (particularly in NJ?)

3. Some says that AT&T and Cingular have already started sharing towers and the complementary 850 and 1900 bands due to the acquisition, but others say that they haven’t. Which one is true?

4. Some says that as AT&T boasting its GSM America plan, it will install more towers and improve the coverage, other says that there’s not going to be much difference since the 850 and 1900 band are already used. So will there be any improvement?

If you live around central Jersey area and use GSM service, could you share some of your experience with any of these 3 companies?

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Posted: 2004-07-23 03:53:47
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T-Mobile only uses the 1900 band. AT&T WS and Cingular WS both use the 850 and 1900 bands. Now that AT&T WS has their GSM America plan, they DO use the same towers. Hope this helps you. :-) This message was posted from a T616
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Posted: 2004-07-23 05:06:17
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Both AT&T and Cingular use both bands (depending on where you at) where T-Mo only uses 1900 mhz. If the AT&T purchase by Cingular goes through, you should see a primary 850mhz use by Cingular within 2-4 years.
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Posted: 2004-07-23 20:32:44
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Thank you for restating what I said. Yeesh. This message was posted from a T616
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Posted: 2004-07-23 22:36:02
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chill! its OK! He also added some stuff about the 850 band.

Yeesh!
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Posted: 2004-07-23 22:40:08
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Kim, not to knock you, but what did he say that I didn't? Cingular WS already DOES use the 850 band. This message was posted from a T616
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Posted: 2004-07-24 10:14:02
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Answer to question 1: T-Mobile and Cingular does share some towers/networks but only on the 1900 band.


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Posted: 2004-07-24 16:49:45
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I live in Flemington NJ and have ATT WS so i know what I'm talking about around here.

NJ is divided up into two markets, the northern half belongs to the NYC market, which AT&T has both 850 and 1900 spectrums on GSM. THe southern half of NJ belongs to the Philadelphia market, which AT&T owns only 1900 GSM. However, ever since the cingular and AT&T merger talks, cingular has allowed its 850 GSM roaming to AT&T users in the greater philadelphia market. In the NYC market (north jersey), cingular and tmobile both share 1900 towers and neither has or roams onto AT&T's 850 band. so in short, AT&T is the best so far with both 850 and 1900 GSM in both markets, which encompasses the whole NJ.

and FYI, princeton is in the philly market.
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Posted: 2004-07-24 20:53:07
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Roaming New Jersey with a UK phone, AT&T appear to the dominate carrier as my phone always connects to the carrier in the area with highest signal strength. Can anyone advise on the best US service provider/carrier for travel in California, Texas and New York?
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Posted: 2004-07-25 11:38:04
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Thanks all of you for the helpful info, esp. kevinqian.

I signed up 2 trial phones from both AT&T and Cingular. They both work alright within Princeton area. Seem that AT&T was slightly better. So I think I'll sign up for that. (BTW, I used a SE T616 with AT&T and Nokia 3100 with Cingular.)

The 850 band DOES make the difference!
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Posted: 2004-07-26 06:48:27
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