Cingular: TDMA & GSM

I recently traveled to Atlanta from Hartsville, SC on the weekend of May 30-June 1 and I had a problem with my phone (t68i) not working. Actually, it didn't work at all. I could not receive a network signal once I passed the Augusta area. I just made it around to calling about it today and they told me that they had some problems with the network in the Atlanta area that weekend which could have caused my problems. The answers they gave were all vague and I didn't get a straight forward answer as to what really happened.

My question is this: Is there anyone on the board that lives in that area that had problems with their phone at all that weekend? I lost all service after leaving the Augusta area and did not gain service back until returning to that area. I have the preferred nation calling plan and my home calling area cuts off in Augusta. I'm concerned that the reason this occurred is because I was outside my home calling area, which should not be the case. Also, they informed me that they are updating that network in the area and changing it over from TDMA to GSM and that was the problem. They wanted me to buy a phone that supports both bands and I'm not sure that is really necessary. I would think that Atlanta would already be up-to-date on the GSM network but maybe my assumption is wrong.


Here's a picture of the preferred nation calling plan in that area (and I-20 is covered through the entire route but it is hard to tell) so I should have been covered with no problems.


Anyone have any ideas?
Could it be that I need to buy a new phone or do I need to complain to Cingular some more b/c they gave me the runaround?

Could it be that I need to buy a new phone

That shouldn't be the problem, the t68i is a tri-band phone that you can use just about anywhere in the world that has mobile coverage.

Your T68i is fine for all GSM in North America and Europe so my guess is that the network was down, or that GSM in that area doesn't exist or is in the process of being implemented. TDMA if in that area, won't have been picked up on the t68, so maybe it is just lack of GSM.

Remember too that the map of coverage is their idealistic map in perfect conditions! Its not showing proposed coverage is it?

Remember too that the map of coverage is their idealistic map in perfect conditions! Its not showing proposed coverage is it?

No, it's not proposed coverage. Remember that I said once outside the Agusta area, I lost all coverage. I think it would absurd to think that from Agusta, through Atlanta, all the way to Dallas(GA), there would be no coverage whatsoever. To think that the entire state of Georgia(or close to it) was out of service for 3 days just seems to be unrealistic. I imagine that could be the case but it does seem odd.

My best theory would be just lack of GSM. The only problem I have with that theory is that Atlanta is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the southeast but it's one of the last areas to have a GSM network implemented? Does that seem kosher?

Does anybody live in the Atlanta area? Does anybody know anyone that does live in the Atlanta area?

I'm just concerned that my phone is going to be useless to me outside my home calling area because cingular hasn't updated their networks to GSM across the country(I'll be in southern Florida next week). If someone could point me to a map of GSM/TDMA coverages from cingular I sure would appreciate it.

The real question is the extent of Cingular's roaming agreements with T-Mobile and/or AT&T Wireless, both of which have GSM coverage deployed at various places in the U.S.

AT&T Wireless is also in the process of converting TDMA 850 over to GSM 850. This makes things confusing if you're an AT&T or Cingluar TDMA customer. On one hand, you could buy yourself one of these GAIT phones that tries to cover every spectrum and standard, but the phones are larger and klunkier.

I'll argue that the "right" answer is to get one of these new tri-band GSM phones that's biased in favor of U.S. rather than European frequencies. The phone I'm likely to get (once it's available without being locked to the AT&T network) is the Nokia 6200. It supports GSM at 850, 1800, and 1900MHz. That means you get one European band and two U.S. bands. You don't get GSM 900, which is the predominant non-US GSM frequency, but you're likely to get something when you're in Europe, and you do spend more of your time in the U.S.

AT&T Wireless is also in the process of converting TDMA 850 over to GSM 850. This makes things
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predominant non-US GSM frequency, but you're likely to get something when you're in Europe, and you do spend more of your time in the U.S.

The great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from!

So, if I were going to europe (which I am), I would want a phone with 900MHz GSM?

I just bought a Motorola P280 for use over in Amersfoort next month. I seems to support 900, 1800, and 1900MHz GSM. Is that optimal for over there? I bought the phone only for european use, so if it doesn't support US frequencies that is fine.

Yes that phone will be perfect, Europe uses 900MHz and 1800MHz only. 1900 is only in US as far as I know. A Triband phone (or world band) will operate on 900, 1800 ans 1900 MHz.

So, if I were going to europe (which I am), I would want a phone with 900MHz GSM?

Some of the other Europeans will need to chime in here, but it seems that the older / state-run carriers tend to have service at 900 MHz and the newer carriers seem to have service at 1800 MHz. Current U.S. GSM service is at 1900 MHz (the "PCS" band, where you'll also find Sprint CDMA). New U.S. GSM service is at 850 MHz, which is the same old space where you find U.S. TDMA and AMPS analog service. The original AMPS channels get reassigned, one by one, to be either a bunch of TDMA/GSM channels, or a bunch of CDMA channels, which is how they "seamlessly" migrate from one standard to another.

But, back to your original question, you should figure out with whom your U.S. carrier has roaming agreements in Europe. If you've got a "tri-band" phone, then you'll be able to talk to any other European carrier, one way or another. Also (so I've heard but never verified), you may be able to buy pre-paid GSM SIM cards at the local convenience store. That would probably get you much cheaper local calling, but you'd then have a local phone number.

Looks like $1.29 per minute with total coverage throughout NL. I bought the phone from Nextel for $99 new with all kinds of european charging stuff.

I don't plan to be yaking on the phone for more than a couple minutes per day. Only using it so people can reach me in an emergency. Good to know it will work.