At 07 May 2008 18:35:20 -0500 The Bob wrote:

> > I never said it'd be easy! ;-) Seriously, though, Cingular managed
> > ok back when they were TDMA east of the Rockies and GSM to the west,
> > so it can be done, apparently...
>
>
> True, but that was because they were originally TDMA everywhere and did
an
> overlay with GSM starting on the east coast.


I was really referring to the pre-conversion days, when Cingular was formed
by the combination of SBMS (TDMA), BellSouth Mobile (TDMA), and PacTel (GSM)
they ran the two separate networks for years. I always found it ironic
when traveling in the west with my SBMS-market TDMA phone, that I had to
roam on AT&T or Verizon when the air above me was filled with unusable
Cingular signal!

> But your post gave me an interesting thought. ATT Wireless, Verizon,
> Cingular, T-Mobile and Alltel all ran dual technologies at some point in
> their lifetime while going from analog to digital platforms. The only
two
> major carriers to not have any experience running two technologies at the
> same time? That would be Sprint (digital from day one) and Nextel
> (always iDen). Maybe that explains the integration problems.


Good point! ;-) (Although, AFAIK, T-Mo's always been GSM, back to
Voicestream, Omnipoint, Aerial, etc.)

But kidding aside, generally the examples you mentioned (AMPS-to-TDMA or
AMPS-to-CDMA) were overlays with full backwards compatiibity with the old
technology, so users "upgrading" never LOST coverage as a result.

Contrast that with (old) AT&T conning (um, I mean "encouraging") customers
to switch from their excellent AMPS/TDMA network to their then still
unfinshed GSM network- many users lost coverage in many areas, as well as
losing a ton of roaming coverage.

The confusing part of operating two completely incompatible networks is
educating customers (and employees!) about the network differences - back
in the AT&T TDMA/GSM fiasco, now with Sprint/Nextel, and perhaps with a
future "T-Sprint", you have the problems of separate coverage maps, perhaps
separate rate-plans, etc. depending on equipment chosen. How do you
(easily) explain to a customer that his CDMA phone works in East Cupcake,
Nebraska, but his wife's GSM phone on the same family plan can't? Or why
your buddy's T-Mo phone works all the way up and down Route 66, but yours
cuts out completely between exits 7 and 17?

Hybrid GSM/CDMA phones would be an answer, but like with old AT&T, that
adds to confusion, and limits phone selection vs. other carriers ("why do
you only sell these two phones that work on your whole map? ALL of
Verizon's and AT&T's phones work on theirs...")

Like I said- it wouldn't be easy or pretty, but long term it might make
sense- after the 700 MHz auction, T-Mo, and to a lesser extent, Sprint, are
very "spectrally challenged" compared to Verizon and AT&T, limiting future
capacity. Together Sprint and T-Mo can be a strong third player, while
separately they're probably always going to be marginal sideline players,
subsisting on whatever market share slips out of Verizon's and AT&T's
fingers.