List of systems and features by SID.
===========================================================================
Last Update: 09/10/99
[] 00002 / Airtouch LA / Eastern Ventura Co.
-EMX swtich
-CDMA
-BAMS CT-A can't roam
-No caller ID for BAMS 215,
[] 00004 / Airtouch San Diego
-EMX switch
-CDMA
-BAMS CT-A can't roam
-No caller ID for BAMS 215 (no ooa, just nothing)
-No caller ID for GTE 415 (no ooa, just nothing)
-No 1R on CF
-*71*8 will NOT work for GTE, works fine in other Airtouch markets, like
LA, but you can switch your phone to the A side for GTE/SD 00043 and it
will accept it on that side.
-Poor call delivery (failures and "network difficulties" to 215)
[] 00007 / CO (SWBMS)-Boston
Roam Port: (617) 633-7626
Outdial ANI: Boston Area (617) 890-
Worcester Area: (781) 202-0053 (also I-93 just in NH)
200-2053
SE Mass (I-195 Fall R) (508) 223-4002
NH (Hamton Beach area): (603) 425-1100
No CDPD coverage (as of 10/98)
*General Notes:
-As of late March 1999, CO/Boston will be offering the ex-Metro Mobile
(now SNET) RI 00119 market as part of their "home" coverage area. I have
yet to verify that they are billing correctly for this, but they did send
out literature to that effect. A sorely needed addition to their system
to remain even slightly competitive with BAMS.
-In December 1998 was offering a few new (and remarkably un-cheap) deals:
One matches BAM's unlimited off-peak with NO LOCAL CALL CHARGE (in the
Boston system); don't know if you also get to call to RI for free
(knowing CO/Boston probably not)
Another is a digital unlimited plan for like $70, where you can make as
many calls as you like in the Boston system at any time for a flat rate
of $70 per month. There may be local toll charges, though.
-Inferior system in terms of coverage and services to Bell Atlantic's
Boston/RI system.
-This has been updated as of 3/99, see above (they now include RI as the
"home" market, finally) System doesn't cover RI, so home rates on many
plans do not apply. (This may change as soon as SWBell Cellular acquires
SNET Cellular's A-side in RI, SNET got the system from Metro Mobile after
Bell Atlantic bought Metro Mobile and thus had both systems in RI; they
had to sell one, so they sold the A side to SNET.)
-CO/Boston charges a "Roamer Administration Fee" in every month that you
roam outside the Boston, southern NH, and RI systems. A *ridiculous*
charge, and probably the only company to do so.
-Double Airtime charges: CO/Boston charges HOME and ROAMING airtime when
a call is delivered outside the Boston system. Thus, a 1-minute call
delivered to Chicago would cost: $4- one time monthly roamer admin fee,
$3- daily roamer surcharge, $.50 per minute for home airtime, $.19 per
minute per minute for the long distance charge to deliver your call (or
whatever rate fo long distance you pay if you have another carrier), and
$.99 per minute for airtime in Chicago! (Note on the BAMS regular plan
this would be about half; BAMS also offers for $5 per month a roaming
plan which allows you to roam anywhere in the US/Canada and pay only $.50
per minute for all calls [plus toll delivery]; they have been rumored to
occasionally make "mistakes" and charge home airtime when calls are
delivered as well (for Boston customers only; I've never seen this on any
other bills), but I don't think that is going on any longer. )
-CO/Boston also charges for local calls, and calls to/from RI are not
free, as are all local calls, including RI, with the Bell Atlantic
system. (Some corporate BAMS/Boston plans charge per minute local toll,
but most other plans do not.) As of 8/1/98, they charge 4 cents to set up
any local call, and then 4 or 5 cents per minute for any local call.
(Most Bell Atlantic plans allow you call anywhere in the Boston/E.Mass/RI
area at no toll charge and totally free during free airtime or included
airtime periods. )
-VOICEMAIL DEPOSITION CHARGES HAVE BEEN DROPPED, see full parapgraph:
CO/Boston charges airtime for voicemail deposits (when people leave you
voicemail), although retrieval from your cellphone is free. (I do not
think it is free from a landline, I may be wrong.) Most systems have
abandoned this since it allows anyone to call and run up your bill simply
by leaving voicemail messages. UPDATE: 8/6/98: They are changing this to a
more reasonable policy of charging only if you retrieve messages from your
cellular; ie, there are no longer voicemail deposition charges.
-They push their Digital service as "much more affordable" and offering
the largest digital footprint in the Boston area. While I doubt this, BIG
DEAL: Their rates are MORE than BAMS for just about any type of use in
the Boston (home) market, and Cell One Boston's roaming "agreements" (ie,
make more money from the poor customers who have to roam plans) offer
little in terms of regionwide, single-rate roaming like BAMS does with
its Digital Choice plans, unlimited off-peak and first incoming minute
free plans (but there are toll charges outside your area if you use toll
delivery, grrrr...! You can use the roam ports and then it is free, though).
-In general, now that BAMS had unlimited off peak plans, stay away from
Cell One Boston as they are thoroughly uncompetitive with BAMS in terms
of pricing, rip-off roam charges with Cell One/Boston charges and airtime
charges, voicemail pricing, and coverage. Stay away from them until they
progress 5 years or so and realize that there is some competition all
around them! Get RID of your Cell One / Boston plan and switch to BAMS --
its rare that such a statement can be made with authority, but frankly,
its amazing how CO/Boston gets any new customer who have actually
COMPARED them to BAMS...!
*General Problems:
-CO/Boston uses #xxx-xxxx to accees a direct calls via No-Answer-Transfer
to voicemail. This makes VM difficult to access from outside of their
system and difficult to forward to from some systems which even though
they are on the NACN don't pass the *71-#xxx-xxxx back to Boston. (For
example, doing so WILL work in the Vanguard "Super System" 00103 is
eastern PA, but in ATTWS/NY 00025 the attemtp to send calls to VM via NAT
fials, ie, the NY switch will not allow that call (nothing new for NY,
ATTWS in NY is probably one of the LEAST NACM compliant systems anywhere)
*Coverage Problems:
-If they do one thing well, it is build towers, and they have managed
offer generally good coverage over their service areas. (The NH Lakes
01485 system shared with Cell One/VT is an exception, service there is
pathetic on CO/Boston's towers -- they should just sell their half of the
system to CO/VT and leave that area, CO/VT is a superior carrier which
would offer much better service in the entire area if they were allowed
legally and by the sale of the system to operate ALL of the 01485)
-Bad handoff area near the MA-9 / US-20 JCT. Calls regularly drop if
initiated on US-20 Eastbound and continued on MA-9 east. Drops usually
occur right at the US-20E to MA-9E merge or shortly thereafter heading
eastbound.
-Poor coverage at the JCT of US-20 and MA-31, about 10 miles east of the
US-20/I-84 (old I-86) JCT in Sturbridge.
*CDPD Notes: Ha! You think THEY have CDPD? Not unless they can find some
way to charge a "packet administration fee" and a roam charge for using
it more than 4 miles from your registered place of home or business! :)
Please..these dinosuars, who make pathetic attempts to copy BAMS service
plans (but who's cheapness and nickle-and-diming tactics show through
nevertheless) have NO idea what CDPD is or see why they should offer it
is they can't rake huge "access fee" charges for it!
[] 00008 / BAMS-Philadelphia
Roam Port: (215) 870-7626
(302) 270-7626
(302) 530-7626 Elkton, MD port (despite DE A/C)
Outdial ANI: Philly: (215) 382-9901
Jersey: (609) 547-1967 (I-295 Trenton Area)
(609) 428-0316 (Haddonfield, NJ area)
(609) 472-0006 (Mapleshade/Willingsboro Area,NJ-92/I-295)
(610) 397-1032 (Bucks County, New Hope area)
(610) 861-9309 (Bethlehem, PA)
(302) 322-9433 (Devon area, Concordville, PA-252/352)
(302) 322-9433 (Dover area, prob. all 00008 areas of DE)
(302) 530-0003 (Delmarva Pen., DE-9 opp Jersey Nuc. Plnt)
(610) 861-9309 Water Gap / I-80
(410) 287-3740 Elkton, MD area north of Havre
*On some accounts, mainly home accounts, the ANI of the Subscriber is
shown. Actually, works for most BAMS acts, ie, real ANI shows.
Customer Service: *611, *226 (*BAM), (800) 922-0204
CDPD coverage: in effect throughout most of the 00008 system, see below.
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID is displayed throughout the 00008 system.
-Alpha messaging works uniformly throughout system. System also
offers Numeric Paging with their Octel Voicemail systems (Option 5)
-ATT 0-500 calls do not route to ATT, but instead routes to MCI and BAMS.
As on 6/98, they now seem to get an ATT recording saying "Your call did
not go through, please try your call again. 0223" Last tested: 7/12/98
-ATT 0-500 will work when prefaced with 10288-0-500, but it immediately
supervises.
-Voicemail audible TONE on all calls works when new messages are present
-Voicemail Digital phone alert works when new messages are present
-Switch Recording throughout system(s) is 00008
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works
-Feature Code Compliance: Fully compliant; will not "block" feature codes
and seems to defer to the home switch/subscriber
profile rather than impose restrictions of its
onw.
* General Notes:
-Can pick up the 00008 system from Jones Beach, Long Island, NY! Bleeds
in and out with the NY 00022 system. The 00008 is not digital, so
generally analog customers will notice this while digital customers'
phone will try to "cling" to the digital NY 00022 system.
-Philly Digital Choice customers get the Atlantic City/00250 system as
part of their extended home coverage area (home airtime rates apply, even
free off peak), however, I noted that they were not always billed as
such, and in many cases were billed at full roamer rates. I've called
them to fix this; we'll see how long it takes. (They fixed the New
England system roamer issues to the 1516 system in a few months, so
hopefully this won't take too long either.)
-Caller ID works when roaming in the SNET 00088 system even though SNET
is not part of or related to BAMS other than as roaming partners.
*Coverage Problems:
-Besides the usual Digital Choice (CDMA) "silent-drop" (phone just hangs
up in mid-call when coverage gets weak without any warning) and failed
non-CDMA system handoffs (won't hand off to a non-CDMA systewm if it is
in CDMA / Digital mode), generally good coverage throughout the system.
*Other problems:
-Calls which are initiated in the NY/00022 system, transit through the
Philly/00008 system (properly handed off), do not seem to hand off to the
DC-Baltimore/00018 system (no trunking between NY and DC systems?),
although the calls lasts well into the 00018 system, at least as far as
the Maryland House rest area about 15 miles south of Havre de Grace where
handoffs normally would occur.
-Handoffs between 00008/Philly and 00018/DC-Baltimore seem inproved over
early 1997 around the Havre de Grace/I-95 bridge; Harrisburg/GTE system,
which used to bleed in while on the bridge, no longer seems to penetrate
down there (althogh it IS still present along the US-1 freeway in PA for
a few miles).
-Philly Digital Choice customers (and others?) are being billed for
free/unlimited off-peak and weekend plans, BAMS is aware of the problem
and is trying to correct it; they are currently crediting customers who
call manually. (5/26/98). UPDATE: Problem seems to have been fixed for
the most part as of 10/98 billing cycle.
-Alpha messaging seems to work well throughout system; prior to Dec
1997 it was spotty and seemed that in certain areas of the system, alpha
messaging did not work (such as the current state of affairs with the
NY/00022 system in Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), Richmond (Staten Island)
counties. UPDATE: This was fixed after I placed a few calls to the Exec
appeals dept. at BAMS, which after 6 MONTHS of dealing with the local
BAMS offices in NY and CT, they got it fixed in a day!!).
*CDPD Notes:
-Excellent CDPD coverage south and west of Philly, but needs more work
north towards I-95, the PA Turnpike extension, and up to Trenton.
Definitely true around US-202 corridor; King of Prussia has practically no
coverage where I-76, I-276, US-202 and US-422 meet (but just to the east
on US-202 coverage becomes strong), neither does Devon and other
communities bounded by I-476 to the east, US-202 to the west , I-76 to the
north and PA-3 to the south. The Mainline (US-30) is quite poorly
covered at and west of JCT PA-252, and only south of PA-3 and the
US-1/"old" US-1 in the Media area and south does coverage get any good.
Basicaly needs work north of US-1.
-Very good CDPD coverage between Christiana and Dover on US-13 and the
new DE-1 "Relief Route" -- very strong signal all around the Dover area;
needs more coverage to the West of the Delmarva Penn. Coastal areas near
Rehoboth and south also spotty. Acceptable for beach use , but still
needs more work in many coastal areas.
[] 00013 / Cell One-DC (SW Bell)
[] 00018 / BAMS-DC
Roam port: (301) 502-7626 DC (will not ring Balt)
(410) 382-7626 (Aberdeen)
(410) 726-7626 (Cambridge - will not ring Balt)
(301) 491-7828 (Hagerstown, will not ring Balt)
Outdial ANI: (410) 382-1002 (Baltimore, I-83 to York, PA, N. Baltimore)
(410) 726-1002 (Eastern Shore of MD)
(301) 502-0002 (South of Rest Stop south of Balt on I-95 + DC)
(703) 408-0002 (Virginia side at Glebe, I-66 corr, etc.)
-CDPD: Reasonably good coverage in DC, and on Balt-DC I-95 corridor.
Very poor coverage on Beltway (I-495) section between JCT GW Pkway
in the Glenn Echo are all the way up to CT ave, and even poor there
until NH Ave (MD-650) or even I-95 JCT. Really needs work there!
So so coverage along US-301 on Delmarva Pennninsula, and OK coverage
in Annapolis and bridge area. Gaps in coverage in sections along
I-97, but gets better north on MD-32 up to JCT I-695/Balt. Beltway.
Decent coverage on US-1 north of Beltway to Conowingo Dam, then
pretty poor coverage north of Dam until Philly CDPD system kicks in
at the MD/PA line where US-1 becomes a freeway.
[] 00022 / BAMS-New York Metro
Roam Port: (917) 301-7626
Outdial ANI: (generally shows mobile # if you are in the state where your
number is, ie, a 516 Long Island, New York account will show the full
516# if the mobile is in NY state; if the mobile goes to NJ a generic 516
number is sent; they are changing this to show the actual number as the
ANI and CID throughout the system)
CDPD SPNI is: 9 (ex-NYNEX NY system, eg, east of the Hudson River)
BANM NY Metro (ex-BAMS NJ system, eg, west of the Hudson R.)
-Caller ID is sent on LD calls
-Caller ID is displayed,
-Alpha messaging does NOT work uniformly throughout system:
For certain Bell Atlantic customers only (below):
(Below applies to BAMS-CT customers; seems to work in all areas for
BAMS-Philly customers as of 4/98)
-ATT 0-500 calls properly route to ATT
-ATT 0-500 calls do not supervise.
-Voicemail aubible TONE works on calls when there is a new voicemail msg
-Voicemail Digital display works when there is a new voicemail msg.
-Switch Recording throughout system(s) is 00022
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 - does operate normally
*71 - does operate normally
*72 - does operate normally
*73 - does operate normally (will not work
for BAMS 00119/CT customers even though it
returns a confirmation tone; BAMS CT customers
MUST use *70, which doesn't work in some other
other markets, such as 00078, see below. 5/98:
-This has been fixed for 860-604 CT customers,
but tests with 203-915 accounts indicate that
*73 will still not work; won't even work
in CT.
Notes:
-A good deal of progress has been made since the NYNEX days when it
arguably had the poorest coverage of any major city served by a Bell
carrier outside of LA. Customer service is still pretty much unresponsive
(in Orangeburg), and roaming issues are generally beyond their grasp, it
seems. However, after the BAMS merger, things have become much better, in
terms of coverage, handoffs between systems, etc.
-The NY system has been "expanded" to include ALL of New Jesery, ie, all
of th 00250 system and the Jersey sections of the 00008 system. The
billing for this is not great; they are still making mistakes in a number
of cases for calls dialed via the Philly roam port (215) 870-7626 placed
to a NY-00022 roamer in the Jersey 00008 system. Additionally; the Philly
(roaming) and Jersey ("extended home") 00008 system is not wel
delineated; I've been billed as roamer/Philly for calls made on I-295
near Florence, which is a number of miles east of Philly and right near
the New Jersey Turnpike. They need to tune their billing to correct these
mischarges; if I am in NJ I should pay NY/NJ rates -- it's not like I am
right on the river looking at the Philly system. NOTE: NOT ALL NY
ACCOUNTS GET ALL OF NJ; CHECK WITH BAMS TO SEE IF YOUR PLAN DOES.
-NY Digital Choice accounts finally have expanded home areas including
Fairfield County, CT (need to switch to the A side, 00119), Poughkeepsie
and Orange County (00486/00404), and all of Jersey (00250 and parts of
00008). Before it was just the 00022 system and maybe Jersey, adding
nothing to the coverage area over analog, and making you suffer the
silent drops and almost-as-bad-as-static "half-duplex-like" and
frequently distorted digital CDMA service with very little in terms of
additional benefits in terms of coverage, pricing, or features over what
an analog customer could get and at a much cheaper price (ie, not having
to buy the phone).
*General Problems:
-Customer servie out of the ex-NYNEX areas in NY used to be pathetic,
especially for people calling the (800) 227-1069 number of Orangeburg (NY
Metro) service area. Has become a bit better since the complete
transition to Bell Atlantic. In many ways, better than ATTWS which has
had to as of 9/98 hire a lot of less-than-competant cust. service reps to
make up for the *30* minute delays in reaching customer services as a
result of their One Rateoffering during the summer of 1998.
-UPDATE: Alpha messaging now seems to work in the ENTIRETY of the
BAMS/NY 00022 market. After 6 months of calling the tech depts in CT
and NY, I got fed up and placed ONE call to the BAMS Executive
offices and in ONE DAY they fixed the problem. I'm very glad that they
helped out and got it working, but at the same time I am concerned that
it needed to be escalated to that level before anyone did anything
about it. (All the "right" people in the NY and CT markets were AWARE
of the problem for 6 months, but no one did anything until I called the
Executive offivces...)...The following is what the problem USED to be:
Previous: STILL major areas of BAMS's-NY/00022 market do NOT
have alpha messaging, namely Queens County, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.
When a mobile is in any of these areas, alpha messages will not come through.
Instead, they are held, and re-transmitted when a subscriber heads east
from Brooklyn/Queens at the Nassau County line (almost immediately after
crossing it, BTW), when heading west from Brooklyn and Queens almost in the
middle of any of the East River crossings, when heading north from
Queens in the middle on the Throgs Neck (I-295) and Whitestone (I-678)
Bridges, when heading off of from Staten Island to NJ at the middle of
the Geothals, Bayonne, or Outer Bridge Crossings. BAMS mentioned over the
summer of 1997 that these should have been corrected by November of 1997
when the switch software (or the switch?) was to be upgraded, but so far
there is no alpha messaging in any of these counties.
*Other problem areas such as the Bronx and portions of Westchester have
been updated so that messages do work in those areas; prior to October
1997 there was no messages there either.
*Coverage Problems:
-A glaring coverage problem is on one of the most traveled intersections
of their system, the JCT of I-495 (Long Island Expressway) and I-278
(Brooklyn/Queens Expressway). Calls initiated on I-495W anywhere before
"the Tanks" (old gas storage tanks which are no longer there but still
used as a landmark by traffic reporters; Woodhaven Blvd is the closest
exit) generally either drop completely (60% of the time) or are so full
of static that they are unintelligible. This was reported to BAMS a year
ago, 6 months ago, and in Jan 1998, each time they said "We're adding
towers". (In all fairness, it is a very congested area, but it seems a
bit stretched that such a major intersection in a
not-so-topographically-challenging area STILL has coverage problems; the
A-side manages this area expertly.)
-Very poor coverage on a major highway (Sprain Brook Parkway) north of
the Yonkers(?) reservoir and south of NY-100C (near I-287). A problem for
years on a major highway; never fixed. (Same is true for the A side/
ATTWS too.)
-Very poor coverage on the Hutchinson River Pkwy at and around Mamaronek
Blvd./Rest Area .6 watt/handhelds will generally cut off, digital service
drops, and 3 watt mobile will have a lot of static if not drop completely.
This has been improved over the years, but is still unacceptable for a
heavily used highway. Locals are opposed to new towers as usual. (A
side/ATTW is *slightly* better here, and handoffs work much more often,
but still some static and it does still drop all too frequently.)
-Static-prone coverage, even for 3-watt phones, on the Hutch between
exits 19 and 22 heading, even more so (to the point of repeated drops)
during busy periods. There needs to simply be more/stronger coverage
here; this has been a problem since cell service started. (A side has
similar problems, but not quite as bad)
-Poor/non-exitstant handoffs if a call is originated in Manhattan, and a
caller then travels through the Lincoln Tunnel, to I-495 (now NJ-495?) to
US1/9 JCT. Call will usually drop by that time. Last tested 7/8/98.
*CDPD notes:
-CDPD: BAMS has unlimited CDPD plan for all BAMS CDPD areas for one flat
rate per month. This plan is now (as of 6/1/99) available for $39.95
with a 2-year contract, or $54.95 with a one year contract. They do not
sell it without a contract.
CDPD system is OK in most coastal areas (except CT and RI), but needs work
inland. Handoffs occur well between NY/Philly/DC systems on the I-95
corridor (or since I-95 was never finished in NJ the alternate routes),
but overall the CDPD coverage still needs to be significantly more built
out for it to be very useful.
-Poor coverage on I-280 in Newark near NJ-21 JCT, gets better about
1 mile east, but in northern Newark along I-280 there is poor CDPD
coverage; gets better near train yards.
-Poor coverage to no xcoverage on the North Shore of eastern Nassau
County along NY-25A (Bayville, Cold Spring Harbor, etc). AT&T WS
slightly, but not much better with their CDPD coverage.
-UPDATE: As of 6/1/99, Staten Island coverage is dramatically improived --
very good coverage on the West Shore Expressway NY-440\ all the way to
I-278 and then up to the Verrezano Bridge; still needs some work along
Richmond Blvd. and southern Hylan Blvd. (You can now initiate a connection
in DC, drive all the way to NYC (staying on the B side and driving up the
I-95 corridor [I-95 isn't finished in NJ -- they sold the right of way to
the NTJP Authority so they can monopolisticly keep all the toll revenue]
and go over the Outerbridge Crossing on SI and not have your connection
fail, even with faily continuous data going through. BAMS's CDD still
does about as many "Initializing Encryption" (ie, re-registering) as it
sends data :) (which is really annoying, AT&T rarely does this, BAMSA does
it every time you go over a brisde or just even if you move a bit -- I
don't see why they have to do this all the time), but overall, their
coverage in NY, especially SI and to a lesser extent Westchester, has
improved a lot since summer 1998. (OLD-- pre 5/99 : poor CDPD coverage on
all of Staten Island, but especially true of the West Shore, where there
is no coverage for its entire legnth. Signal doesn't really get good (-90
dB or less) until you get to northeastern SI neat the bridge. )
[] 00025 / ATTWS(CO)-NY
Roam Port: (917) 847-7626 (used to be 212) "RP" Switch (Rochelle Park, NJ)
(201) 960-7626 "TB" Switch (Teterboro, NJ?)
(718) 753-7626 "WD" Switch (Woodbury, LI)
(860) 480-7626 (Ltchfld 01101) "RP" Switch
(NOTE: you can use either the 860 or 917 ports to page
customers in either system, thus, if you live in
NYC and want to call a customer roaming in
Litchfield, CT, you can use the local 917 port
rather than place a long distance call, etc.)
Outdial ANI: RP: (212) 261-0000 (for both CT and NY calls, all routed here)
TB: (201) 368-0122/(201) 646-1392 (near NJ-23)
WD: (201) 587-0199 (odd that Woodbury, LI has a 201 outdial)
M1: (201) 587-0199/(201) 368-0122
M2: (201) 587-0199
R2: (201) 646-1392/(201) 368-0122 (I-80)
R3: (201) 587-0199
(973) 565-0072
1: all go to (212) 261-0000
tb: gsp sth of us22, also south of ccp in westchester (950 wks in gsp?)
upper east side 79th and 5th, tb switch too, 950 doesnt work, also
SI (950 works), also Brooklyn (950 works), also NJ-23 (950 works)
also NJ-10 at JCT I-287 (950 works)
rp: westchester north of I-287 950-1044 works
wd: queens, 950 goes to recording since the outdial is (201) 587-0199
cuts in around I-495/I-278 JCT.
m2: westchester south of I-287 but north of CCP 950-1044 does not work
also, upper west side (B'Way/77th St),
m1: at wtc on way to tunnel and ny-9a wsh, also covers holland tunnel, lower
manhattan, downtown brooklyn (near mahattan br), up I-278 to K. bridge,
then M2 kicks in on I-495E to tanks, where wd cuts in.
r2: Jersey, I-280 area near Eisenhower Parkway/NJ-10 general vicinity, e. of
I-287. Not the rp switch, Litchfield won't page here. Goes all the way
to covered roadway on US-1/9 near Holland Tunnel, then M1 kicks in.
950 doesn't work, but recording goes to RP, not R2. Also Clifton area
on I-80 to at least I-287.
r3: I-80, at JCT GSP, up to NJ-19/Clifton-Paterson area.
Where covered: (Do 950 numbers work?)
tb recording is played in m1 and m2 areas when 950-1044 is dialed.
950-1044 generally gets "tb" (manhattan) or "rp" (jersey) recording if it
won't work, even if it is in another switch. (ie, if in M1 it gives "tb",
if in "R2" it gives "rp", etc.)
-ATT 0-500 are properly routed (AT&T does own this system, after all...)
-ATT 0-500 calls are not supervised
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
-If a call is initiated on the LIE/I-495 heading westbound into NYC at or
before Woodhaven Blvd (near the ex-"tanks"), it will become increasingly
staticy and eventually drop near Van Dam street if you proceed west on
the LIE or at the Williamsburg Bridge ramp if you take I-278. I reported
this problem YEARS ago and they have never fixed it.
-Very poor coverage in south central Staten Island (Arthur Kill Rd and
Richmond Rd. area) covering a large portion of the area West of Hylan
Blvd and east of NY-440; can't easily place or receive calls due to poor
signal/no signal in the general area.
-Still has coverage problems at Peekskill Hollow (a long, narrow valley)
where the Taconic Parkway crosses it; calls are generally dropped or so
filled with static that any conversation becomes inaudbile. BAMS fixed
their coverage *nicely* there abuot a year ago (Winter 1997/8) and now
has significantly better and seamless coverage in the area than AT&T
Wireless. AT&T's coverage generally gets static-prone heading north just
in the Hollow, and never recovers, until it drops about a mile north, or
heading south, the drop occurs about two miles after the hollow after
going up a somewhat steep grade. The problem was reported over 2 years
aog and as on 12/98 has not been fixed. Seems like a mojor problem for a
heavily traveled road, and if BAMS could convince the locals to allow a
tower (or use someone else's), AT&T should be able to as well.
-Static-prone coverage, even for 3-watt phones, on the Hutch between
exits 19 and 22 heading, even more so (to the point of repeated drops)
during busy periods. There needs to simply be more/stronger coverage
here; this has been a problem since cell service started. (B side has
similar problems, but a bit worse)
*CDPD:
-The best and most extensive CDPD carrier in the NY Area, with the
fastest connections, fewest areas where encryption needs to be
re-initialized, etc. Its area is smaller than BAMS *overall* boundries of
the CDPD footprint since BAMS covers central Jersey (and all of NJ with
its 250 and 00008 *SID* [not SPNI] CDPD systems) and western NJ, while
AT&T has to contend with the idiotic holdout Susssex Cellular system
which is lucky if its cellular signal gets outside of the antenna wire to
its towers let alone offer anytihng like CDPD service!
-CDPD drops off badly on the Taconic Parkway near Ossining heading north,
and comes in again starting at the northern end of Ossining at NY-134.
(IE, generally between NY-133 and NY-134 on the Taconic there is no CDPD
coverage.)
-CDPD goes out dramatically on thr Hutchinson River Parkway between
exits 19 and 22, and then comes in again (heading north) at the Rest
Stop/Mamaroneck Ave. area...
=CDPD shows very low signal (despite strong cellular signals) in the vic.
of Smithtown, LI, west of the NY-25A/NY-25 JCT, north and westward along
NY-25A. Also, sub-standard CDPD coverage in the "downtown" Smithtown area
in generall (generally between the LIRR tracks over NY-25/25A and east of
that were the two roads split off. NY-25A has somewhat better coverage
east of that heading to the north and east, while NY-25, which heads
directly east, doesn't get very good coverage for about 3 miles east of
Smithtown.
[] 00027 LA Cellular (ATT?) / also vENTURA attws SYSTEM
- caller id WORKS on CT A 860 in Ventura, but NOT in LA area.
- CDPD - excellent CDPD from Ventura Co. line west, alsdo can pick up but
not loc (register) cdpd from Palos Verdes at the end of I-110 and on
the Terminal Is freeway CA-43 bridge;lso at jeff's house on Mulholland
just west of the hollywood fwy / us-101
[] 00028 / BAMS-Boston & New England
Roam Port: (617) 571-7626
(401) 529-7626
(617) 285-7626
Outdial ANI, Boston: (617) 542-5047
SE Mass: (617) 426-8853
Charlton: (617) 482-6719 I-84/I-90 JCT Sturbridge/Worscter US-20
RI: (401) 453-4416
NH: (617)
(603) 434-9840 (just over MA/NH line on I-93 in NH)
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls (3/98)
-Caller ID available throughout system
-Alpha messaging generally works throughout system, although RI has
some noticeable exceptions, eg, Pawtucket.
-0+ calls are NOT routed to ATT or any other operator in the RI area
-ATT 0-500 are properly routed, NOT in RI, though
-ATT 0-500 calls are not supervised
-Voicemail audible tone at the beginning of calls works
-Voicemail Digital Choice visual notification works
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00028
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 does operate normally does it? montauk 3/6 no
*71 operates normally
*72 operates normally
*73 operates normally
*Notes:
-For a while there was no Three-Way calling availability for many CT-A side
customers. Initial queries resulted in the usual "It's due to fraud
concerns" catch-all. After investigation with other BAMS numbers from NY,
DC, and Philly, as well as SNET, and GTE/SF, all of which allowed
three-way calling, BAMS/CT consulted with BAMS/Boston and fixed the
problem in Dec, 1997.
-Feature code access to roamers is VERY (and refreshingly) unrestricted.
GTE/SF accounts may use *71*9 to No-Answer-Transfer calls to voicemail,
something which is generally restricted in most systems. This proves that
it is possible to support such codes while roaming (based on the given
market's equipment and software revisions).
*General Problems:
-(Corrected as of Summer 1998) Alpha messaging does not work well in RI,
that is, there are many areas of the state which do not yet have alpha
messaging. Tests in Pawtucket indicate that there is no messaging there
(despite strong coverage right along I-95), but just a few miles south of
Pawtucket in Providence or north on to Attleboro neat JCT I-95/MA-123
messaging starts to work again. The same is true at JCT RI-5/US-6 (the old
"Black and White", psuedo interstate, would-have-been-I-84, route 195),
where alpha messaging does not work, but a few miles east in Providence
messages start to come in fine.
-Autonomous registration problems seem to exist between Mass. and RI. on
MA-146 heading south. A number of tests conducted on a BAMS CDMA Digital
phone, which was used at the JCT of US-20/MA-146 in Mass and thus
registered there indicated over 80% call completion failure on MA/RI-146
until just 2 miles north of the end of RI-146 at JCT I-95. The A side
handoff between Cell One(SWB)/Boston (00007) and Cell One(SNET)/RI,
although pretty messy in sections, still has significantly better call
completion rates. Registrations are a continuing problem with BAMS
Digital phones in a number of markets; its one of the major drawbacks of
digital service around here.
-For some reason, charges a $.10 local toll charge for calls to
CO/Boston (00007) Waltham numbers. They were notified about this on
7/30/98. (617-633-7626, the CO/Boston Roam Port, bills at 10 cents per
minute, while all other Boston Metro calls, including calls to
non-Waltham CO/Boston numbers, such as 617-584, do not bill. Some BAMS
plans DO charge for local calls, the ones we have do not, thus the
charge is incorrect.)
*Coverage Problems:
-Very poor service in the East Greenwich, RI area, over a wide area of
the town itself, near the Amtrak tracks, and down near the Marina and
restuarant areas. .6 watt habdhelds are hard pressed to be able to make
or receive calls, and 3 watts get a good deal of staic and drops. This
is one of the few places where Cell One/RI has markedly superior coverage.
*CDPD:
-Good coverage in RI, even along US-6 and US-44 to western RI. E. Mass
has good coverage around Boston, but the South Shore lacks the intense
coverage which RI has, and there are a good deal of dead spots of MA-3A
in Hingham, Cohassett, Plymouth, with better coverage coming in around
the Bourne Bridge and Barnstable. The Cape is still spotty to none.
-North of Boston coverage is pretty good, with most areas inside of I-495
coverage up to NH. Nashua and Manchester also have pockets of coverage,
and you can more or less go up I-93 and west on NH-101 till it stops
being a freeway before CDPD stops. Everything north towards Maine is not
BAMS territory (although STAR Cellular does (used to?) run off the BAMS
switch), so there is no CDPD coverage on the B-side, however, there is
excellent CDPD on the Vanguard 00499/00501 properties well into Maine.
-West of Boston there is generally good coverage out to I-495, and then
corridor coverage on MA-9, US-20, I-90/Masspike. Coverage extends to I-84
in Sturbridge, and hands off acceptably to either the SNET SPID 6800 system
or the BAMS/Wallingford System. (BAMS drops out pretty quickly as you
head west towards Hartford; stick with SNET which has generlaly OK CDPD
coverage on I-84 all the way to Danbury and the NY State line. Generall
VERY good coverage in unexpected areas, like north of MA-2A around
MA/NH-111, NH-101a, MA-113, MA-119 near Harvard and Groton, as well as
Dunstable MA and E. Dunstable, NH, into Nashua (and the 00428 system)
[] 00029 / ComCast-Cell One Philadelphia
Roam Port: (215) 350-7626
Outdial ANI:
-Roam port will page in the 00029 system, as well as ComCast/Trenton (NJ)
00575 system.
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD: Comcast (both in Philly and the rest of its NJ/PA/DE markets seems
to be experimenting with CDPD. Pockets of coverage exist, such as along
PA-23 and the City Line Ave, along US-202 at the JCT of PA-252, and in
the DE markets near the I-95 Delaware House Rest Stop and JCT-896, but
overall, there is no systemic, continuous coverage like BAMS has
extensively implemented in the same markets. It really isn't a viable
contender in any way as compared to BAMS.
[] 00031 / Cell One SF
- No CID at all inward
- Presents CID properly outrward
- Brandes as Cell One (not AT&T WS), although CDPD says AT&T
- *73 does NOT get a confirmation tone but does work; call just dropslike
there was fraud on the line.
- Sprint can not roam on the A side here, even though it uses AT&T in
Ventura county.
- Swithc rec for Santa Clara. San Jose area is CK
- Just link NYC's flaky Ericcson,m if you dial the 415-860 port and enter
a nmonile # and it is registered in someother switch , like SJ, themn you
get an out of vehicle message.
-
-
-CDPD coverage starts about the same polace as GTE (and both can be
used),ie, about 5 miles south of the SJ city limnits on US-101.
[] 000032 / BAMS Pittsburgh
- CDPD - Comes in at DuBois, exit 20 all the way up on I-80 west to the
rest stop west of DuBois
[] 00040 / GTE SF and Santa Barbara
Roam port: (415) 722-7626
-CDMA system SF noreth ofWartsonville on US-101, none in SB
-SB section (used to be a separate SID until 1994, now part of 00040)
-doesn't send out caller ID, but caller ID works inwar (both SB and SF)
-215 BAMS works and caller ID shows, BUT, calls to the 415 (home) do NOT ID,
even when called from the SAME phone (weird that a roamer gets better
CID then a home customers, could be the BAMS gets the CID in Philly
"better" ans then GTE SF just takes whatever it gets from BAMS, inc the
caller ID, wihlke home GTE customers can;t get it since their own
interface witht he PSTN isn't as good in terms of CID?) Maybe also
in how cals are rouyted to the SB syustem -- these tests were
done on US-101 in Los Alamos on the old SB system.
IN SF SYSTEM: Caller ID works on both the 215 and 415, from both W/IN
SF LATA amnd from outside (ie, called from 5230 ni NY direct and via 500
and both worked fione)
-GTE customers roaming in:
Boston /00028: can place outgoing calls but no call delivery, and can't
even receive incoming calls via the roam ports
SNET-CT/00088: can place/receive, but caller ID doesn't work, not even
via 631-0000 roam port (it does for other roamers);
redirects back to Voicemail or NAT if not answered
do not work.
-*71 and *72 and *720 and *710 as well as *74 and *740 give a one ring
and then a recording of :You have (de)activated <feature>". It only does
this in the SF part of the system. the SB part of the system has the
genreirc stuter tones. *73 has the stuter tone in both places (obviously,
it does not know for sure what you want o do with *73) and doeswpork, ie,
it effectively cancells all CF.
- 1R on CF WORKS for Philly 215 act, but NOT for (home) 415 act!
- Spriunt roams by default on the B 00040 system on US-101, north of
where it seems to use the ATT SB 00531 (although it also is San Lousi
Cell?), Sporint does NOT preswents CID outward from the 00040 SB and SF
systems (no phone does. not even my 415 in the hokme 415 SF market), vbut
getsd in ward CID all over the 00040 system. Sprint also gets the "ypu
have acigtvated x-forwasrding" for *72 and *720, amnd won';t be allowed
to use *73 (gets an error recording, although it works for the 415# with
just the stuter tones)
-
-CDPD notes: no CDPD coverage in any part of the coastal SB system
Works or stsarts to weork abouy 5 miles south of SJ cty limit on US-101
and I can use it as an AT&T customer, as well as the AT&T (or so itis
called) via the 00031 (Cel;l One/SF) system.
[] 00043 / GTE San Diego
-CDMA system
-an A property
-CDPD - good, but somewhat slow, CDPD coverage from /I-15/I-215 split
all the way to CA-905 at the border, and from rest stop south on I-5,
alsopicked it from from San Clemente at CA-1 /I-5 JCT. Slowness re-verified
on 3/16/99.
- * codes return message "your feature update was successful", even *73
- Sprint uses this side first, then B if no cvg.
- no caller id for ct inward 860 # (not even OOA, ie, there is NO CID)
- no outward CID for sprint or 860 #
- no inward cid (not even ooa, no cid at all) on 415
- no outward cid on 415
- if you set up NAT via *71, you MUST use 1+ or it will go to an error rec
when the phone is called and not ring, same for *72, 20331 (CT?) maybe
it is sending the wrong info back to the CT switch if the 1+ i not used?
- 215 # can not roam
- no 1 ring on CF for 860.
[] 00064 / GTE Las Vegas (also ex-Alltel is Vegas itself)
- EMX switch
- CDMA coverage in Vegas Area, BUT when phone is in CDMA mode, *71 and *73
and other featire codes get a recoridng saying "You need to dial an
area code before the 7 digit number, Altell Las Vegas", ie< when in
CDMA mode, it treats the feature codes incorrectly, but while in
analog mode they work fine! (611 gets a GTE Wireless recording in
both CDMA and analog modes)
- coverage starets on I-15 on downhill just 4 miles west pf NV state line
- no CID on 215 or 415, maybe since it is an EMX?
- redirects work, ANDS, callwer ID is oreserved in the redirect to the
distant number! (yet the system itself can't dosplay CID) -- this
is inconsistent, though...
- seems to understand *82 (other EMX Frwsno? thought it was a feature code!)
butr doesn't send CID outward anyhow on either 215 or 415
- CT v860 can't auto roam
- no 1r on cf
- NO CDPD coverage, at lkeast not at CA/.NV line
[] 00078 / BAMS-Albany, NY
Roam Port: (518) 424-7626
Outdial ANI: (518) 285-6040
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID available throughout system
-Alpha messaging generally works throughout system
-Voicemail notification TONE during calls does NOT work
-Voicemail TONE alert to signify new messages during calls does NOT work
-Voicemail Digital Choice (Digital Service) alert works
-ATT 0-500 are properly routed
-ATT 0-500 calls are not supervised
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00078
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 does NOT operate normally
*71 operates normally
*72 operates normally (as does *720)
*73 operates normally.
BAMS-CT 860-604 now can use *73, so below is a not an issue, however,
other BAMS-CT customers, such as 203-915 acts, can't, so to unforward, you
need to switch to A side, Cell One/Albany, 00063, which incorrectly
charges for EVERY call, including Fraud Protection (*560-xxxx), Feature
code activation/deactivation, incomplete calls, and incoming unanswered
calls, in order to unforward. You will likely be charged for this, so
if you need to unforward on the A side in Albany, check your bill and
call your mobile co. if you see "A" side charges to odd/invalid numbers.
*Notes:
-Albany/B has a very small (a few miles) coverage footprint directly
south of the city; about 5 to 7 miles south the Catskills (independent)
B system 01516 kicks in.
-This seems ot have been fixed as of 8/98.The lack of *70/*73 working to
unforward calls for some roamers (above) is problematic. *70 is not the
most widely used unforward code. It stems from early NACN implementations
which tried to force all NACN markets to change their customers feature
codes for call forwarding to *71-AC+number to set up immediate call
forwarding, and *710 to turn off any call forwarding. This never caught
on, but Metro Mobile (pre-BAMS A side system in CT) implemented ONLY *70,
and left the other, "traditional" call-forwarding codes alone. (They have,
as of 4/98, added *73 as an aceptable code to SOME accounts, but it is not
universal throughout their system.) As a result, many systems which honor
the traditional codes of *71 (NAT), *72 (Immediate Call Fwd), *73
(Unforward any user-implemented call forwarding, may not unforward NAT to
voicemail in some markets), *74 (busy call forwad), *720/3 (remove only
immediate call forward), *710/3 (remove only NAT), *740/3 (remove busy
call forward), do NOT know what to do with *70, and thus customers can not
unforward calls. The A side NACN seems to be more "tolerant" than the B
side automatic roaming backbone (although this could be more a function of
the switch and networking in the visited market), so switching to the A
side for CT/A customers or Carolina/A customers should work. BAMS-B and
other B customers shouldn't have too many problems since most B carriers
never adopted the silly NACN *710/*70 feature codes.
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
-Due to the relatively small coverage area south and east of Albany, hard
to tell where Albany 00078 is lacking and where it is the "fault" of the
other carriers, namely 01516/Catskills (branded as BAMS).
-PATHETIC to no coverage on US-20 east of I-90 (the North South section
where it is NOT part of the Thruway). As a matter of fact, anything more
than 15 miles east of Albany is spotty at best. (The A-side is not much
better, and is so totally incompetant in terms of billing roamers that if
you can, roam on the B; the slightly better coverage of the A-side is
outweughed by the fact that they bill for everything, even if someone
rings your phone and you don't answer!)
*CDPD: None yet :(
[] 00088 / SNET-CT-W.MASS(B)
Roam ports: (203) 631-0000
Outdial ANI: (203) 238-9657 Meriden, CT
(203) 634-0320 Central CT and Great Barrington, MA
(203) 865-0299 I-84 Danb
(413) 442-0526 Ex-NYNEX Pittsfield system
CDPD SPNI is: 6880
-500 and 700 does NOT work (at least in Fairfield County)
500 and 700 do work in Hartford / Tolland counties
-Philadelphia 00008/B (and other BAMS? Non-BAMS?) roamers get Caller ID
while roaming in this market.
-SNET initially owned only the CT system (all of Connecticut, and it is
the ONLY carrier to cover all of CT; Bell Atlantic does not cover
Litchfield County and many BAMS customers have to pay roaming rates and
toll charges there to place and receive calls.).
After NYNEX sold the Springfield area to SNET around 1987 or so, SNET
added Franklin County Mass (all the way up to the Vermont line; BAMS sold
its equivalent property in 1992 or so and BAMS customers now pay roaming
and toll charges there) area, and slowly expanded coverage in Western
Mass and somewhat more aggressively in CT. Coverage along the CT
shoreline was improved in the mid-90's, as well as US-6, US-44, CT-2 and
other eastern CT routes which had coverage problems. Service was also
improved in Litchfield in 1995, but despite SNET's coverage maps, most of
Litchfield remians a virtual dead spot since there is no real competition
from AT&TWS, which owns the system and has more or less not expanded it
at any noticeable rate past what was necessary to meet FCC bare minimums.
In 1993 or so, when Bell Atlantic bought Metro Mobile (the CT-A
carrier), Bell Atlantic / NYNEX Mobile owned the Pittsfield, MA system
(it had an SID of 01488 or something like that, it is now SNET's 00088),
AS WELL AS the Metro Mobile - A side in Western Mass, so due to FCC rules
about the same operator being prohibited from owning two systems in the
same market, one system had to go, and BAMS/NYNEX sold their Pittsfield
system to SNET.
As a result, SNET operates by far the largest and most comprehensive
system in CT/Western Mass, with one single home coverage area, no toll
rates between areas (like BAMS) and with generally better coverage in
Western Mass and "difficult" sections of CT (like the Redding area, the
entire area between Danbury/Waterbury south to the Meritt, which BAMS
seems to have totlally forgotten about, and of course Litchfield, which
is pathetically "served" by ATTWS.) Their pricing and digital offerings
aren't as good as BAMS though, their CDPD coverage, although better in
area than BAMS, is flaky, and doesn't really work (you'd think CDPD is
CDPD, but they apparently have differences in throughput and how they
hold a connection, etc.), and their roaming packages with neighboring
systems aren't too great. (BAMS offers "Home Rates" [but there are toll
charges; they need to nickle and dime you somehow!] in all of New
England/Upstate NY, including free off peak airtime. SNET really doesn't
have anything like this outside their coverage area, so if you roam a lot
in New England, SNET, despite its larger CT/W Mass coverage area and
"no-toll" rates throughout its system may not be the most cost effective
carrier. If you do stay in CT/W Mass mainly, overall SNET is the superior
carrier in terms of service area. One caveat: they STILL (I think) charge
airtime for voicemail deposition to voicemail, which almost every other
carrier, including the "nickle and diming-est" carrier of them all, Cell
One/Boston (see above under system 0007 for a scathing review of their
pricing and service) has abandoned. Hopefully SNET will drop this
rediculous practive of trying to make airtime money when callers leave
you messages.
-Cutoff between the ex-NYNEX Pittsfield system and the older SNET (also
ex NYNEX but from way before) Springfield system is around Mile Marker 24
on the Masspike.
*General Problems:
-Still charges airtime for voicemail deposition, no one else seems to do
this anymore. They are a holdout, and not in step with the rest of the
industry.
-A lot of their service/rate plans seem out of date. They are probably
waiting for the takeover with SW Bell to be complete and perhaps
introduce more competitive plans with their RI (00119) and SW Bell's
Boston (00007) A-side properties.
-Whenever you roam out of the SNET coverage area, if someone calls you,
they hear a silly message "Your call is being forwarded at our customer's
request to the city in which they are traveling". First off, it confuses
callers no end, secondly, I don't want them to know I am traveling,
thirdly, sometimes I answer in the middle of the message as it is being
played to the caller and the caller is even more confused, fourthly it
sounds highly unprofessional, and finally, the connection via ACD
(automatic call delivery) go through so quickly now that the initial
reason for this message -- that callers didn't want to wait so long and
just hung up before the roaming mobile was rung -- is no longer an issue,
and they, like BAMS and another of other B carriers who used similar
brain-dead messages, should just get rid of it and play standard ringing
tones.
*Coverage Problems:
-Continuing handoff drop and static problems on I-95 right at the
Westbrook town line near State Police Troop F ("F Troop", errr, wait a
minute, that describes most of the CT State police! :) )
-Good handoffs to the NY and RI/MA markets, as compared to the
A-side BAMS/CT, SW Bell/Boston, Cell One(SNET)/RI-A, and ATTWS/NY systems
where handoffs don't work as well and calls don't last long in the
visited system (BAMS/CT <-> ATTWS/NY is a good example of this -- because
of trunking issues, calls do hand off but do not allow you to go far into
each others' systems before they drop.)
[] 00096 / Harrisburg, PA Verizon 8/2000, ex-Alltel Cellular
*Notes:
-EMX Switch
*General Problems:
-Pretty much a "soak-the-roamer" system; all calls, even a few seconds of
incomplete calls, are billed, 611 goes to the roaming operator, etc.
-02/01/99 reports from another reader indicate that Alltel's behavior in
this market is not unique, and that they practice the same sort of
roamer gouging in at least some other markets in the Southeast.
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD notes:
-No CDPD (last tried 08/2000)
[] 00103 / Vanguard Cell One "Supersystem" for eastern PA and Scranton
as of 04/2000 branded as AT&T Wireless and part of the ATTWS
CDPD Network, still shows SPNI 615 and 671(?)
Roam Ports:
Outdial ANI:
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD notes
-CDPD: SPNI is 615
[] 00119 / BAMS-CT(A)
(note also SNET-A in RI has 00119, but it is a DIFFERENT system
with different features and pricing. Metro Mobile used to own
the RI system hence the 00119; when Metro Mobile was bought by
BAMS they owned BOTH RI systems, and had to sell one, so they
sold the RI-A side to SNET.)
Roam Ports: (203) 856-7626 Norwalk
(860) 930-7626 Hartford Metro
(413) 531-7626 Springfield (same as HTFD?)
(413) 448-1000 Pittsfield, MA
Outdial ANI, Norwalk:
Hartford: (860) 525-8234
Springfield(413) 533-9684
Pittsfield (413) 448-2576
Waterbury: (203) 866-0408
Danbury: (860) 527-1401 (via 860 Digital and 203)
CDPD SPNI is: BANM Wallingford
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID available in CT and Springfield, MA (central western Mass)
segments of systemsystem; does NOT work in the Berkshire/Pittsfield system.
-Alpha messaging generally works throughout system (Berkshire/Pitt too?)
-ATT 0-500, 0-700, 10288-0-500, 10288-0-700, 10288-0+ does NOT work.
-Can't tell is 0-500 calls are supervised since they can't be dialed.
-950 numbers do not work in some parts of their system (Harftord/Wallingford)
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00119
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 does NOT operate normally
*71 operates normally
*72 operates normaly (*720 as well)
*73 operates for some accounts, such as
860-604, but not others, such as 203-915
*Notes:
-Used to be Metro Mobile, covering CT (except Litchfield County), Western
Mass (added Franklin County in a partnership with 'Boston Cellular' around
1991, then sold it to Atlantic Cellular's Cell One/VT 00313 around 1994 or
so), and all of RI and southeastern Mass. Became Bell Atlantic Metro
Mobile, then Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, then Bell Atlantic NYNEX
Mobile, then (currently) Bell Atlantic Mobile. Metro Mobile also owned
properties in the Carolinas (current A-side BAMS there) and in New Mexico
(also A-side), which we (?) sold to Ameritech when BAMS took over Metro
Mobile. When BAMS and NYNEX mobile merged, it was forced to sell of its RI
and SE mass properties to SNET (which now owns the A-side there, soon to
be merged with Southwestern Bell's Boston-A/00007 system, which presently
has a hard time competing with BAMS's unified Boston-B/00028 market).
BAMS also sold its ex-NYNEX Pittsfield, MA system (an awful, underbuilt
system) to SNET, which has given SNET complete coverage of Western Mass
(which BAMS-A does not have due to Franklin County and has generally not
built up as much there as SNET). SNET has convered the Pittsfield SID to
its own 00088, but left the RI/SE Mass A-side at the old Metro Mobile/CT
BAMS-A 00119, causing some confusion since there roaming rates apply now
in RI for most CT-A customers.
-BAMS in CT still does not own the Litchfield-A system (01101) , which
ATTWS bought out a few years ago. Coverage is pathetic (unusual for ATTWS;
perhaps they are just holding it and building out as little as they
legally can waiting to sell it?), and SNET does a much better job there.
SNET is truly the only carrier to cover ALL of CT and Western Mass, BAMS
has too many holes where it can not offer service for it to make any such
claim. There are CT-A plans which allow for home rate roaming into the
Litchfield-A market (such as their Digital plans), however, coverage is
so pathetic there that the .6 watt digital phone (working in analog mode;
there is no digital service there) can barely be used. CT-8 is probably
the only road with decent converage, and even there it is spotty and has
handoff problems WITHIN the Litchfield/01101 system. Indeed, handoffs
between BAMS and Licthfield are often better than those within the
Litchfield syste -- it really needs to be built out some more.
-The routing for outdials from their switches seems to change often. For
example, in December 1997, calls placed from a 860 digital in the
Springfield area went out of the Hartford outdial, then in Jan 1998, they
went out of Springfield. (Analog always worked that way).
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD notes:
-CDPD coverage in Mass begins southbound on I-91 at MM 35, even before
the Franklin County (ex-Metro Mobile) Cell One/VT system ends and the
BAMS-CT/W. Mass cellular system begins. (CO/VT doesn't offer CDPD so it
so you can pick up BAMS signal in the CO/VT system.)
[] 00123 / ComCast-Cell One Wilmington, DE
Roam Port: (302) 740-7626
Outdial ANI:
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
[] 00112 / Airtouch Sac
[] 00129 / ATTWS Sac
-Has CDPD
[] 00153 / ATTWS Fresno
- Has CDPD
[] 00162 / Airtouch Fresno
[] 00159 / ATTWS (Ex-Vanguard) Harrisburg/Lancaster PA
- Switch Recording (NACN type) "HB-xx"
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-CDPD SPNI: SPNI 671
[] 00173 / ComCast-Cell One New Brunswick, NJ
Roam Port: (908)
Outdial ANI: (732) 826-0458
(732) 572-0474 GSP/NJ-18 area, just north of 00177 sys.
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-pocket of CDPD coverage at JCT NJTP and I-287, otherwise, not much.
Doesn't even begin to compare with BAMS...
[] 00177 / Ocean Cellular (?) (A) NJ
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI: (732) 321-0156
-500 numbers are processed properly
*Notes:
-included in ATTWS home rate coverage area for NY Metro customers
(this area is part of the 00022 NY B-side so ATTWS uses the 00117 system
to simulate for the A customers the same large system which the
competing B side Bell Atlantic system offers theirs.)
-comes in south of the 00173 Comcast system and north of the 01489 system
on NJ-35 just south of the barrier island Seaside Hights
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
[] 00211 AT&T Las Vegas
-Caller ID works on Sprint
-Caller ID works on ct 860
- no 1r on cf
= redirects work and caller ID is preserved
- outward presentation works oerfectly,m asnd respects proivacy and *82,
etfc, for both psrinbt and the 860
-CDPD satarts on hill on I-15 heading easat and is pretty good at the
little mino Casaoino towen - Pri,mm Valley, although uit slows from time
to timr..still mainly in ther bklue
[] 00224 Airtouch Stockton
-note "double" of Sac system (112)
[] 00250 / BAMS-Atlantic City-South Jersey
Roam Port: (609) 226-7626
Outdial ANI: (609) 272-0816 (Cape May area, also extreme east DE on DE-9)
(732) 269-1610 (Seaside Hights outdial on barrier island)
(609) 272-0186 (Is this the correct #, I-295 NB rest area)
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID available throughout system
-Alpha messaging works
-ATT 0-500 does NOT route to AT&T, goes to MCI or BAMS operator service.
-Prefacing 10288-0-500 does route to AT&T, but it supervises
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works(?)
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00250
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 works
*71 works
*72 works (so does *720 to unforward)
*73 works
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
[] 00254 / Unicell Bangor, ME from Bangor out along I-395 to US-1A to
Ellensworth to Acadia Park to Buckport; parts along I-95 and
Bangor are included in the BAMS extended-home plan, other areas
south and east along US-1 and towards Acadia Ntl Park are not.
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI:
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes: No CDPD as of 08/26/2000
[] 00300 / BAMS-VT
Roam Port: (802)
Outdial ANI: (802) 860-7625
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID available in system
-Alpha messaging works
-ATT 0-500 works
-ATT 0-500 does not supervise
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring does NOT work
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00078 (Albany)
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 works
*71 works
*72 works (so does *720 to cancel)
*73 works
*Notes:
-Seems to work off of the Albany switch, all recordings have the Albany
00078 SID message code.
-Used to be Contel or something like that, and was sold to NYNEX Mobile
around 1994. Reasonably decent coverage along I-89 from where the 01484
system cuts off (heading north) just west/north od White River Junction
(at the JCT of I-89 and I-91) all the way to the Canada border (or about a
few miles before where the Bell Mobility (Canada) PQ system takes over.
-Local calls are free for BAMS customers in tne entire 00300 system, but
be careful where you call, since 00300 does not cover all of VT and
northern NH, so areas outside these general zones may not be local toll
free.
-Handoffs between the 00300 and the 01484 Keene (NH) system to the south
seem to now take place along I-91 just about 1 mile south of White River.
Calls used to drop there and not hand off (12/98)
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
-Poor coverage between Mile Marker 75 and 77 in Vermont along I-89, a
lot of static, and handheld calls generally drop.
*CDPD Notes:
-No CDPD coverage as of 10/98
[] 00313 / Cell One VT and Western NH
Roam Port: (802) 343-7626
(603) 448-7626
(413) 772-9626 (note 9626, Franklin County, MA)
(518) 572-7626 (NY properties)
Outdial ANI: (802) 655-1859
(603) 434-9840
Cust Service: (800) 215-7004
*Notes:
-The superior system in Western Northern New England, covering all of
Vermont, Western NH, and parts of northeastern NY state. Very good
coverage, often "handheld quality" on all major Interstates and limited
access Federal (US) and state roads. Also excellent coverage on most
major cross Vermont roads such as VT-30, VT-11, US-4, etc. System has
grown in area and coverage quality dramatically since it first started
around 1990. System acquired the failing Montpieler system, which covered
a small section of northeaster Vermont around 1993 or 1994, as well as
the undercovered Franklin County mass system from Bell Atlantic (which I
think was owned by some rip off soak-the-roamer outfit called Boston
Cellular. Properties around Lake George NY were added around the same
time, and new towers in the current (large) coverage area are added
regularly. Unlike many system bogged down with zoning issues and poor
planning, this system continues to grow and develop at a rapid pace and a
relatively unpopulated and very challenging (topographically) area is in
many cases more well covered than some large cities. Atlantic Cellular
(Providence, RI) own this system, and unlike their Lake Tahoe/El Dorado
county system in CA which is poorly integrated into the B side roaming
network and has relatively poor coverage in a topographically similar
area, this system is exceedingly well covered and even with an aging
Motorola EMX switch still manages to integrate nicely into the NACN.
(It's nice to see an EMX working so well and working well with OTHER
nearby systems...!).
-Handoffs between this (00313) system and Eastern NH 00445 system getting
better, including on I-93 and NH-25 heading north and east from 00445
system into 00313 system, as well as NH-101 heading east from 00445
system to 00313 system, around the vicinity of NH-123, where it always
used to drop prior to 10/98. Last tested 12/98
-Interstingly, it can be picked up in a small area along MA-9 east of
Amherst at the US-202 JCT, and if you head south on US-202 until the JCT
of MA-21. That whole area comes in and out of the CO/VT 00313 and
BAMS/00119 system (and just north and up the road on US-202 where you can
see clearly to Worcester you can get the Boston/00007 system (as well as
the Boston B-00028 system)
*General Problems:
- Poor coverage (even with 3 watt phones) on Mile Marker 48 on I-91, calls
frequently dropped.
- Fixed, 11/98 (sort of, there is still a lot of static beween Mile
Markers 3 and 0 on I-91, but it will eventually hand off to the Franklin
County system in Northern Mass.) (prior problem: Handoffs between the
"old" VT system and the more recently acquired Franklin County system are
still not working, although they have been informed of this problem as of
November 1997. Last test 7/98. Fixed 11/98)
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-No CDPD coverage
[] 00404 / BAMS-Orange County, NY
Roam Port: (914) 343-7626
Outdial ANI: (914) 334-0000
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID available in system
-Alpha messaging works
-ATT 0-500 works
-ATT 0-500 does not supervise
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works(?)
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00078 (Albany)
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 works
*71 works
*72 works
*73 works
*Notes:
-Seems to be based in Orange County, and operates in conjunction with the
00486 Poughkeepsie/Ducthes county system
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
-Won't hand off general to 00486, picked up 00404 on US-9W before Mid
Hudson (Poughkeepsie) Bridge and then on east side got so much static
that it soon dropped, but was in good coverage on the 486.
*CDPD Notes:
-Small pocket of CDPD coverage in Middletown, NY, at JCT I-84 / NY-17
(soon to be I-86). Otherwise this system and the remainder of the
Mid-Hudson valley is pretty much "dead" CDPD-wise.
[] 00428 / BAMS-Manchester, NH
Roam Port: (603) 493-7626 (not working, 10/99?)
(603) 494-7626 THIS is the correct port
(617) 285-7626 Will page in the NH 00428 system, toll charge?
(617) 571-7626 Will page in the NH 00428 system, toll charge?
Outdial ANI: (603) 434-9840
*On almost all BAMS accounts (home and roamer), correct Subscriber ANI is
returned, ie, the subscriber's mobile and not the outdial ANI.
Covers mainly Manchester/Concord area, from I-93 north of NH-101 and
points west, meets to the sothwest with 01484 US Cell for Keene, NH, and
the BAMS-00300 northern VT/NH system. Included in BAMS Digital Choice
expanded home airtime market.
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID available in system (but as everywhere else, not for CT customers)
-Alpha messaging works
-ATT 0-500 does NOT work (It used to...11/98)
-ATT 0-700 does work
-Voicemail audible tone works on inbound/outbound calls
-Voicemail Digital Choice (and other) visual notification works (?)
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works(?)
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00028 (Boston)
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 works
*71 works
*72 works
*73 works
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-Pockets of CDPD coverage in Manchester and Nashua, otherwise pretty much
dead. In Nashua pretty good coverage up to the FAA facility in E.
Dunstable, and along US-3 until about Exit 4 on US-3.
-11/99 - Very much expanded CDPD coverage along the entire Seacost
US-1/I-95 corridor, up the Spalding Tpke from Portsmouth to some coverage
in Dover (JCT US-4), pockets of coverage along US and thwn very good 10
miles East of Concord, good coverage up to MM 55 on I-93 north of Concord
to about rest stop area, coverage on I-89 west to US-202 and then some
coverage for about 5 miles west on US-202, also full coverage from
Concord down I-93 to Manchester (where there used to be VERY little there
is now full coverage). Still need to try NH-101 from Seacoast to
Manchester.
[] 00445 / ?, Central Eastern New Hampshire, Nashua, Concord, and Manchester
Roam Port: (603)
Outdial ANI: (603)
*Notes:
-Relatively small system lodged between Cell One Boston the south and
east, Cell One/VT-Western NH to the north and west, and the Cell
One/Boston and Cell One/VT "partnership" 01485 system around the Lakes
Region. Coverage is pretty good, with decent handoffs along I-93 to the
Cell One/VT 00313 system to the north and Cell One Boston to the south,
as well as US-3 to the Cell One/Boston system south of Dunstable. Good
handoffs also to the east to the Cell One/Boston system along NH-101, as
well as to the west to the 00313 VT/Western NH system neae the JCT of
NH-123 and NH-101 (this used to be a problem until 11/98, when handoffs
started working, probably due to improved coverage by either/or the 00445
and 00313 systems along that route.
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
-Very poor coverage along Mile Markers 65 to 68 on I-93 near New Hampton,
but 3 watts generally do not drop. A lot of static, though.
*CDPD Notes:
-No observed CDPD coverage as of 12/98
[] 00482 / Star Cellular Portland ME and north along I-95 to Bath
Roam Port: (207) 233-7626
Outdial ANI: Kitterey (207) 283-8978
Portland (207) 721-0431
*Notes:
*General Problems:
-12/06/99: If you roam south into the Kittery/Kennebunk 00484 system the
233-7626 roam port will work, but Caller ID will not show up. Neither
will it if you are in the 00484 and are called via the (207) 468-7626 port.
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-No observed CDPD coverage as of 4/99
[] 00484 / Star Cellular South of Portland ME (Saco I-195) down to NH line
Roam Port: (207) 468-7626 + (207) 233-7626 (Portland port also works)
Outdial ANI: (207) 283-8978
*Notes:
-Has CDMA digital, 8/99, but does not seem to hand off to the Boston
system in Digital mode, only analog.
*General Problems:
-3 Way calling doesn't seem to work for BAMS/CT 00119 customers (8/99)
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-No observed CDPD coverage as of 4/99, none as of 8/2000.
[] 00486 / BAMS-Poughkeepsie-Dutchess County, NY
Roam Port: (914) 474-7626
Outdial ANI: (914) 471-4770
(914) 431-1140 US-9 south of POUGH also US-9/NY-299
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID available in system
-Alpha messaging works
-ATT 0-500 works, ATT 0-700 works
-ATT 0-500 does not supervise
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring works(?)
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00078 (Albany)
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 works
*71 works
*72 works
*73 works
*Notes:
-Seems to be based in Dutchess County, and operates in conjunction with the
00404 Orange County system.
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problem:
- System is OK for 3-watt in about 50% of its territory, otherwise spotty
and really needs work. Anytwhere off the main roads handhelds will have
lots of static, drops, and problems. A-side 00503 has superior coverage
in the area.
-Handoffs between 00486 to 00022/NYC does not work on US-6 Eastbound.
-BAMS has been trying for years to get a tower placed in Lagrange to
improve a poor area of coverage along the Taconic. Locals have nothing
better to do with their time but fight tower placement (there is already
a tower where it is needed, BAMS just wants to build it taller, and
locals are fighting it, despite general polls which show most residents
want better coverage in the area. Just another reason for Federal
Pre-emption of tower location; taking 2 years to get a tower put up in
just one part of an exurban market is rediculous). When completed, a
current coverage problem at JCT NY-82 and the Taconic Parkway should be
alleviated. Right now, calls don't hand off going north or southbound.
5/98: BAMS New England Region newsletter indicates that a new tower was
put up in the general area, but the handoffs on the Taconic and NY-82 are
still not working, and calls drop in that general area both northbound
and southbound on the Taconic.
-Generally spotty coverage along Taconic, which goes from strong to weak
and back to strong again. Needs better saturation and integration and
hadoffs with 01516 system to the north, and in some areas with the 00022
system to the south.
-00486 coverage in Bear Mountain area is poor, borders with 00022 NYC
system. Both need to cover the area better.
-Doesn't seem to want to hand off to 00404 system.
-On the Taconic, there is strong coverage in the area of JCT NY-82, yet
it drops all the times heading north or south, 3-watt or digital, around
the NY082 area. This may have been fixed after a recent report was
submitted AGAIN to them in Aug 1999, although it needs further testing to
see if they fixed it. It seems better as of 10/10/99.
*CDPD notes:
-No CDPD coverage anywhere in system; small patch of CDPD in sister 00404
Orange County system around Middletown, NY at the JCT of NY-17 and I-84.
[] 00499 / Vanguard Cell One Freeport/Bath, ME (ie, I-95N just N of Portland)
Roam Port: (207)
Outdial ANI: (207)
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-CDPD: SPNI: 766, VERY good CDPD coverage from central coastal NH inland
to Stratham NH on NH-101, ALL the way up to Portland, ME along coastal
sections and at least 5 to 10 miles inland, and then up to York along
US-1. (This covers parts of the A-side 00501 Vanguard and A-side 00007
CO/Boston systems as well.) Reasonably good coverage in the Kennebunk
area delimited by US-1 to the west and ME-9 to the east (they form a
closed circle around the Kennebunk area), with better coverage south of
ME-9A and north of ME-9B; good coverage in Kennebunkport, but drops off a
bit south/east of Bidderford along ME-9.
As on 8/28/00, coveragr continued well past (North) of Bath on US-1 to
the town with the downhill (US-1 north) slope before the bridge that
first has a 35 MPH zone wiokcly followed by a 45 MPH zone. I tried to
pick up the signal on the northside (eastside) hill a whilw back there
and it was minimal. Coverage then fades out there for about 20 miles
until Rockport (town with the US1-A "bypass" around US-1, which is not
any faster). Rockprt is basically along the bay, so you start getting the
AT&TWS (ex-Vanguard ) 01319 system along US-1 and then it comes in
strongly just south of Buckport and then further up? (need to check that)
Buckport is where US-1 meets ME-15...
[] 00501 / Vanguard Cell One Portland/Biddeford ME (ie, Portland and I-95S)
Roam Port: (207)
Outdial ANI: (207)
Cust Service: (603) 533-2100
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD notes:
-CPDP: See 00499 / SPNI 766 section, above.
[] 00503 / Cell One Poughkeespie US Cellular, now AT&TWS as of 5/2000 (?)
Cust Svc: (800) 442-3551
(888) 910-9191 (Vanguard/AT&T General Cust Service #)
(914) 453-1111 Fax
Roam Port: (914) 453-7626
Outdial ANI:
*Notes:
*General Problems:
-Call to roam port for some CO/NY numbers (917-855) cause the port to
just hang up and not query/ring roaming CO/NY mobile, others from CO/NY
and other carriers work fine.
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-no CDPD in systen
[] 00531 / ATTWS Santa Barbara - Solvang - Los Alamos Sysyem
- like the B side 00040, extends to western SB county along CA-166 to
county line
- like the Ventura system (and unlike the newly acquired LA), CID shows,
and is also properly presented outward.
- CID showed on the 860 AND Sprint (analog roam)
- CID was properyl presented outward from the Sprint too (didn't try the 860)
- PROBLEM: if the Sprint is iunanswered, the redirect doesn't go
anywhere, yert the call supervises for the caller (and is thr Sprint
customer billed?)
-
-
- CDPD Notes: Very good CDPD all along US-101, from Camarillo and the
US-101 grade (Ventura area and system) to this 00531 system and all the
way to US-101 in Los Alamos/Solvang. (NO GTE B coverage, either). A dead
spot at the rest stop north of SB with the GTE payphones, but comes in
just nboeth of the single northbound tube on US-101.
[] 00575 / ComCast-Cell One Trenton NJ
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI: (732) 826-0458
(732) 321-0156 (near I-195, East of Trenton)
-00029 Philly/A ComCast Metrophone
Roam Port: (215) 350-7626 pages in this system.
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
[] 01101 / Litchfield, CT ATTWS (see 00025, above)
Cust Svc: (800) 270-8111
Roam Port: (860) 480-7626, (917) 847-7626
Outdial ANI: (212) 261-0000
*Notes:
Run off of the ATTWS Switch "RP". 860 port pages anyone in RP switch (in
both CT and NY/NJ), NY/NJ RP port (917) 847-7626 pages anyone in RP
switch (in both CT and NY/NJ).
System needs work, very little coverage, should just sell it out to BAMS
already. Many BAMS/CT plans, including digital offer home rates in this
market (and a good number do not, check with BAMS).
Interestingly, AT&T doesn't include this system in its "A" side expanded
home rate area for NY customers. (They would probably complain they can't
get good coverage there :) )
Can get calls, and at tims even does redirects, via (9217) 8477626 port
Caller ID shows UNAVAIL for all calls, but no CID if called via the 860
or 917 rpoam ports - BUT - at JCT CT-10-0 CT 63 in lychfiled it DOES show
restricted, ie, caller ID, and this is VIA NY roam! I think there are two
switches or something...it works differently in downtown kent as compared
to here.
All features seem to weork, ibcludinfg redirects IF called directly.
Has an inresting way of "looping" onto itself (callin itsrelf over and
over) when calle dvia the roam port, even oif NAT or CF is in effect to
somewhere else. (will not eventially fwd to NAT after the loop)
At JCT CT-109 and CT-63, redirects via NY roam work!
*General Problems:
-BAMS/CT customers can not be called via the roam port; phone rings once,
and then stops. If call is answered during first ring, call proceeds OK.
-3-way calling is also quirky, many times when a second call is placed it
can not be added to the first call, but the caller can keep alternating
between the two as if it were Call-Waiting instead of 3-way calling.
*Coverage Problems:
-incredibly bad coverage, especially for an AT&T property. They inherited
it years ago, one would think they would make more progress than they
have. The FCC should give the license to someone else who will actually
BUILD a system there, and not sit on their hands all day long and do
nothing like ATTWS apparently is.
*CDPD coverage:
-since it is ATTWS there is CDPD, but it is mitigated by the incredibly
poor coverage. More or less worthless, in other words. OK coverage along
US from Kent to CY/NY-55 (5/1/99)
[] 01314 / UniCell, Northern and Western Maine
Roam Port: (207)
Outdial ANI: (207) 622-6478 Rockland to Buckport on US-1
*Notes:
-Pretty good coverage for a rather unpopulated area, generally along the
US-2 corridor. Still need to test coverage way north of that, between the
US-2 and the PQ state/province line.
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD:
[] 01315 / US Cell, Northern and Western Maine
Roam Port: (207)
Outdial ANI: (207)
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD:
-No CDPD coverage (unlike to excellent coverage of the Maine A-side
Vanguard systems to the south)
[] 01317 / US Cellular A-side, Augusta, Maine (I-95 north of Bowdointown)
Roam Port: (207)
Outdial ANI: (207)
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD:
-No CDPD coverage as of 10/98
[] 01318 / Unicell B-side, Augusta, Maine (I-95 north of Bowdointown)
Roam Port: (207) 242-7626
Outdial ANI: (207) 764-1071
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD: HAS CDPD coverage as of 4/8/99, SPNI: 666, but AT&TWS customers
as of yet can't use it ("Not Authorized for Network").
Seems to have abandoned CDPD as of 3/2000 and still no CDPD
anywhere in this system on 08/26/2000.
[] 01484 / US Cellular B-side southwestern and western NH and southern VT
system.
Roam Port: (603) 252-7626
Outdial ANI: (603) 798-9999
*Notes:
-Notrel (?) system, has the same funny three-way calling implementation
that the Catskills 1516 system does.
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD:
-No CDPD coverage (12/98)
[] 01487 / Felmington, NJ ComCast? Or ATTWS now?
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI: (201) 646-1392
*Notes:
-Seems to be branded as ATTWS, did they buy it?
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
[] 01489 / South of Seaside Hights, NJ, ie, south of 00177 system
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI:
- Comes in on NJ-35 just south of Seaside Hights right on the barrier island
*Notes:
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD notes:
[] 01491 / Sussex Cellular, Sussex County, NJ
Roam Port: (201) 380-7626
Outdial ANI:
*Notes:
-Pathetic little A side system just north of ATTWS/NY/00025 system. Has
had a number of fueds with ATTWS; AT&T once cut off roaming to them.
Initially they had an Ericsson switch which was connect to AT&Ts and got
some services from them (roaming perhaps?) ATTWS then got into some sort
of fight with them and ATTWS customer coulds not use their phones on the
A-side there until late 1997 or early 1998 when they apparently worked
something out. The system has pathetic coverage, and I have no idea how
they make any money other than scamming roamer traffic on I-80 (they get
a decent chunk of I-80 for a few miles in NW New Jersey). They should
just sell out to ATTWS and get out of the cellular business already;
elsewhere were there is little incidence of roaming they have pathetic
coverage and do a disservice to the communities which they supposedly are
licensed to serve.
*General Notes:
*Coverage Notes:
*CDPD Notes:
-No CDPD anwhere in system
[] 01508 / Frontier Cellular, Lake Champlain Area
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI:
*General Notes:
-Interferes with BAMS 00300 VT system along I-89 north of Winoski (along
with Bell Canada's 16420 system), comes imn and out along US-2 all the
way through the islands in Lake Champlain to the NY bridge/line, where
all three systems (00300, 01508, and 16420 all come in).
*Coverage Notes:
*CDPD Notes:
-No CDPD anwhere in system
[] 01513 / Orange County, ex-US Cellular, now AT&TWS after 5/2000(?)
Roam Port:
(914) 453-7626 Poughkeepsie/00503 also works, seems the two
are networked together.
Outdial ANI:
*Notes:
-Didn't this use to be the 00479? Covers Orange County, NY, from I-84
just east of Port Jervis until Bear Mountain, basically above the 00025
system, and west of the 00503 system.
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-No CDPD anywhere in system
[] 01515 / Kingston Cell One (who owns this?)
Same area (Columbia County and Catskill region) which its analog, the "B"
carrier for the region, covers.
*Notes:
-Well integrated into NACN, coverage is OK, no major problems here.
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD notes:
-no CDPD anywhere in system
[] 001516 / BAMS(?)-Columbia County-Catskills System
Roam Port: (518) 755-7626
Outdial ANI: (518) 755-9999
(518) 755-9998
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID not available in system
-no Alpha messaging
-ATT 0-500 works(?)
-ATT 0-500 does not supervise(?)
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring does not work
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns no specific information
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 - works
*71 - works
*72 - works
*73 - works
*Notes:
-system integration was updated (mainly due to my pestering :) ) so that
everything works now, all features, call delivery, etc.
(There used to be no automatic call delivery to many carriers, notably
BAMS's own CT 00119 system, despite BAMS suggesting that their A
customers switch to the B side in this market for better rates.)
-BAMS New England Digital Choice customers get this as part of their extended
home airtime rate system; early bills did NOT reflect this; I called them
a few times about this in the fall of 1997 and it seems to have been fixed.
-Old stuff:
12.6 inability on 860 # to make outw. calls on East side
of Hudson River.
no call deliv. to eitehr CT a side #
is call deliv. to 516 and 201 NY numbers
calls to 860 # via roam port return busy when 860 is busy
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes:
-no CDPD anywhere in system
[] 01626 / 360 Communications, now Allcom Communications, Hazleton, PA
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI:
*Notes:
-Part of a plethora of small RSA's owned by 360 Communications in the
general area bounded by I-80 to the north, I-78 to the south, I-81 to the
east, and I-99 (misnumbered IMO) / US-222 to the west, including State
College and the I-80/I-180 JCT area.
*General problems:
-Needs more testing, nothing stands out as of yet
*Coverage Problems:
-Generally good coverage considring the semi-challenging topography of
the area and the endless series of parallel valleys in central/northern
PA. Needs some more work in terms of handoffs between systems and even
between towers in the 16216 system (ie, you can go up a hill, drop, and
then get to the other side in a few seconds and have very strong
coverage, so it is in the handoffs from tower to tower that you loose the
call).
-System needs further testing; other than general tower-to-tower handoff
problem noted above nothing in terms of coverage stands out; needs to just
have more coverage (more saturation)
[] 16420 / Bell Canada Southern Quebec system
Roam Port:
Outdial ANI:
*General Notes:
-Generally does not interfere with 00300 BAMS VT system, although comes
in along US-2 near the VT/NY line, and on I-89 just south of the border
crossing. Also, along VT-105 in the hilly section 10 miles west of I-91
border crossing also comes in. Also comes in quite well on I-91 from St
James(?) (border) down for about 7 miles to hill just south of JCT VT-1.
-Good system, very well covered in Quebec, seems like they are unifiying
the SIDs and not having lots of small systems anymore. The 16420 covers
the entire legthn of Vermont, and I think before there were amny
different systems.
*Coverage Notes:
*CDPD Notes:
-No CDPD anwhere in system
[] 02058 / BAMS-(NY-17 system, not Binghamton, which is RCI/Frontier) Oswego?
Roam Port: (607) 435-7626
Outdial ANI: (518)
Cust Svc: (800) 227-1073
-Caller ID not sent on LD calls
-Caller ID not available in system (?)
-Alpha messaging works
-ATT 0-500 works
-ATT 0-500 does not supervise
-Special Immediate Call Forwarding ring does work (?)
-Switch recordings throughout system(s) returns 00078/Albany switch recording
-Feature Code Compliance: *70 - works
*71 - works
*72 - works
*73 - works
*Notes:
-It now IS part of the BAMS/Northeast Digital Choice plans according
to their 1/98 coverage maps. Below is old \/
NOT part of the Northeast Digital Choice rate plan; standard (BAMS?)
roam rates apply. (why? it is a seemingly little-utilized system which
would benefit from NE BAMS roamers using the system, drive testing it,
etc. It is immediately adjacent to the 00404/00486 NY systems when
heading West on NY-17).
*General Problems:
*Coverage Problems:
*CDPD Notes: