Cell Tower in need of Verizon Hardware

[veronicad1]

We have been waiting for, well, since cell phones came out for a cell tower here. And we FINALLY got one! AT&T (aka the Death Star) has contracted to put and has installed their hardware on the tower but it is still not active. The tower has been up and active for the police/fire/rescue for almost a year. I'm am HOPING Verizon will see the advantage of putting their hardware on this tower too. There is an absolute black hole here - NO cell service for anyone - you can go off the grid with no problems here. However, had we had cell service when I fell and broke my ankle, I wouldn't have had to crawl 500 feet to my house, crawl inside and get the land line to call 911. Took forever for them to get here and I fell again doing more damage to my leg.

Please don't mention boosters; I've tried add ons for my car, my house etc but I have 30 - 40 foot tall trees and if the wind is wrong - nothing. I get cell service on my roof but who wants to get the ladder out every time you want to use your cell? I CAN tell you that even though I've been a loyal Verizon Wireless customer since 1998(they were Primeco here at that time),  I 'WOULD strongly consider going to a competitor if Verizon falls asleep on this. They need to get their hardware on the tower out here - PRONTO. They're punching through a road (CR305) in the next year that will cut 20 minutes off the drive to St Augustine and Winn Dixie has just been approved to put in a store out here. Rumor has it Target is coming soon too. Land is being turned into retention ponds and storm drainage already to support the new businesses in this sleepy little farm community - it's coming. You either get with the program or spend the rest of the time playing catch up!

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2013-05-07/flagler-estates-get-cellular-phone-service#.UfcJBt...

[Ann154]

If the tower is owned by AT&T, I would guess it is unlikely Verizon is willing to pay AT&T to add their equipment to the tower.  If the tower is owned by a third party tower company, those owners might contract with multiple carriers to place equipment on a tower.

[Jonathann]

So is Verizon just done expanding coverage at this point? My family has been waiting for years for Verizon service up in Crane Lake, MN and now I'm reading articles about how Verizon is not investing in expansion anymore. AT&T has a TON of coverage up on the border around that area, including Voyageurs Nat'l Park.

We've had to resort to using crappy basic phones and prepaid AT&T plans for the 2 weeks we spend up there each summer. And AT&T doesn't allow iPhones to be used on their prepaid smartphone plans.

What the hell is with these carriers. None of their policies ever make any sense.

[Ann154]

Jonathann wrote:

So is Verizon just done expanding coverage at this point? My family has been waiting for years for Verizon service up in Crane Lake, MN and now I'm reading articles about how Verizon is not investing in expansion anymore. AT&T has a TON of coverage up on the border around that area, including Voyageurs Nat'l Park.

We've had to resort to using crappy basic phones and prepaid AT&T plans for the 2 weeks we spend up there each summer. And AT&T doesn't allow iPhones to be used on their prepaid smartphone plans.

What the hell is with these carriers. None of their policies ever make any sense.

You should check again.  I saw something recently that indicated iPhones can be activated on their prepaid plans.

[vzw_customer_support]

That's correct, Ann154. You can activate the iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S on the prepay plan.

Tamara_VZW
Please follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

[vzw_customer_support]

Dear Jonathan,

Good morning. I understand the importance of having reliable service with a good carrier. At this time we do not have any information regarding future expansions in Crane Lake, MN. However, please feel free to register for alerts on new products and services by clicking http://bit.ly/dDumph 

Thank You,
MichelleS_VZW
Please follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

[Jonathann]

After writing this post, I walked into an AT&T store the next day to ask about their smartphone pay as you go plans. The rep told me that they had just started allowing iPhones for it. Then I mentioned that I have a Verizon iPhone 4S that I am interested in a prepaid plan. He then immediately insisted that I must buy an AT&T specific iPhone to use on the AT&T network, EVEN THOUGH THE IPHONE 4S COMES IN ONLY ONE HARDWARE CONFIG AND WORKS ON BOTH AT&T AND VERIZON! He kept telling me I would have to purchase an unlocked phone to use with their network. So I asked the rep, what would happen if Verizon unlocked my iPhone 4S for me, because my family's account (4 iPhones with Verizon) is in good standing, so presumably they would allow it, right? He STILL kept insisting that that is not allowed and told me false information about the iPhone 4S having multiple model versions (the only other one is for China, and so for me that is irrelevant).

Why am I not allowed to take a phone to any carrier that it can physically connect to? It's not like I'm not paying enough money. I would still be paying for me Verizon contract, so Verizon is happy, and then I would be throwing an extra $60 at AT&T for prepaid data service, which they would not be normally getting. EVERYONE IS HAPPY, INCLUDING ME!

These restrictions make no sense. Sure, I bought the iPhone 4S subsidized by Verizon, but I am paying them back with the monthly payments that we plan to continue indefinitely. Why can't I give AT&T some extra cash? I own the hardware and the hardware is physically capable to get service from both companies.

[Jonathann]

(bumping this because this is slightly time sensitive...)

[Ann154]

Read this

[Jonathann]

Thank you. But are these Verizon policies even legal? Blocking United States GSM for no reason except to kill competition?