Verizon Expansion

[gisbuxfan]

Hey, I have been hearing a little about Verizon actually expanding outside of Omaha and Lincoln, like to Grand Island and Kearney...Has anyone heard anything on this? I am fan, but I hate always being in "EXTENDED NETWORK" AUGH!!!!

[a42887]

They have owned spectrum covering Grand Island, Kearney, Scottsbluff, and maybe North Platte (it's been so long) since Qwest went from owning a network to leeching off of Sprint.  Verizon really screwed you guys because you used to get Alltel once you left Omaha, but now you have to use US Cellular, which does fine on networks they build, but Nebraska outside of Omaha and Lincoln (where you'd be on Verizon anyway) was acquired recently, and is almost a joke.

EDIT: So, since they own spectrum, its about time to use it (I believe Qwest even had some infrastructure out there, so I do not get what is taking so long besides being RURAL Nebraska.

[MTO]

I thought this was kind of cool..  Usually when a big company launches something new fun and exciting we as in Omaha are never included in the beginning.  But this time Verizon decided to include Omaha in its launch of the new "TV cell phone" V-Cast services.   Only 20 markets got the initial launch for this so I personally thought it was cool.  I just need to keep my hands off of one of these phones and hold out for the iPhone.  

Updated with additional cities. Full details of the VCAST TV launch have been revealed. Verizon will launch with seven channels Thursday: NBC News, NBC, CBS Mobile, MTV Mobile, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Fox Mobile. ABC is no longer in the launch lineup. The service will cost $15 per month or can be combined with VCAST for unlimited video clip downloads and online access for $25 per month. Verizon is launching the service with the Samsung U620; the LG VX9400 is expected next month. As of Thursday service will be available in Tucson, Albuquerque / Santa Fe, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Dallas, Denver, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Omaha, Palm Springs, Portland, Richmond, Salt Lake City, Seattle / Tacoma, Spokane, St. Louis and Wichita. VCAST TV will be available in Atlanta, LA, New York City and other areas in the near future.

[a42887]

Whats funny is that they chose markets like us so that they can try the service out in a moderate market to work out the bugs, but not worry about pissing off NYC or LA as a whole.  If they screw up, well, they lose Omaha.  Big deal to them.  (< What was basically said during conference call on service)

[RoadWarrior]

Verizon really screwed you guys because you used to get Alltel once you left Omaha, but now you have to use US Cellular, which does fine on networks they build, but Nebraska outside of Omaha and Lincoln (where you'd be on Verizon anyway) was acquired recently, and is almost a joke.

Just being curious here... is US Cellular now building and running CDMA towers?  My brother-in-law has US Cellular and his phone is GSM.  Since Verizon is a CDMA network, how could a Verizon phone roam to US Cellular, unless you're roaming in analog mode?  I thought Verizon, Sprint, and Alltel had pretty much quit selling analog roam phones.

[Ben]

Verizon really screwed you guys because you used to get Alltel once you left Omaha, but now you have to use US Cellular, which does fine on networks they build, but Nebraska outside of Omaha and Lincoln (where you'd be on Verizon anyway) was acquired recently, and is almost a joke.

Just being curious here... is US Cellular now building and running CDMA towers?  My brother-in-law has US Cellular and his phone is GSM.  Since Verizon is a CDMA network, how could a Verizon phone roam to US Cellular, unless you're roaming in analog mode?  I thought Verizon, Sprint, and Alltel had pretty much quit selling analog roam phones.

I'm fairly sure Verizon still roams to Alltel's CDMA network throughout most of rural Nebraska.  I do a fair amount of traveling around the state, and have Verizon service, which has allowed me to use the extensive Alltel coverage.  I haven't seen any changes recently, and am fairly certain I would have noticed if Verizon stopped sharing networks with Alltel

[a42887]

US Cellular does not operate any GSM in the country.  There are a few companies with similar names operating GSM networks, but US Cellular themselves do not operate GSM.  US Cellular bought the old Western Wireless / Cellular One network when Alltel bought Western Wireless out.  (They were forced to sell the network because if they did not, it would provide a basic monopoly on large areas of the state).  US Cellular bought that network from them, which was already CDMA, and operates it now.

Verizon did change the phones to prefer the US Cellular network over Alltel in Nebraska.  However, even US Cellular themselves have admitted that the network they inherited is pretty crappy.  They have promised upgrades to fix the wrongs from before.  When the US Cellular network drops, it does revert back to Alltel.

If you have not updated the roaming list in your phone lately, you may still prefer Alltel.  The change is fairly recent, and Verizon is not yet pushing changes as they happen.  It relies on you making the update.  If you're happy with your service, I wouldn't rush to update the PRL.

[Candleshoe]

Verizon Wireless has announced that customers in Grand Island, as well as a few other central Nebraska cities will soon have 4G LTE service.

The company plans to launch the service to Grand Island, Norfolk and North Platte October 18. Kearney and Hastings, Neb. will also be launching 4G LTE service before the end of the year.

http://www.nebraska.tv/story/19805133/s ... 4g-service

[Brad]

I wish I was still on Verizon!  I had it for years and years, even before they were Verizon.  I could go almost anywhere in the stat and have no problems.  

About 2 years ago, I switched to Sprint and got a family plan with my then girlfriend, now wife.  That guy that sold me my 4G phone said "Omaha will be on 4G within the next couple months".  Two years later and Omaha still only has Sprint 3G.  The only good thing about Sprint is Unlimited Data.

[Garrett]

You really don't need unlimited data. When I got my new Droid phone with verizon, i got 4 gigs on 4G because of some promotion... anyway, the most data I have ever used, and I use my phone heavily, was 1.7 gigs. That month I had watched a couple dozen videos and downloaded some PDFs multiple times daily. Usually, with my normal site browsing, I average around 1.2. Heck, this is my phone right now.