iPhone on Verizon - hope lives

[zap2]

It for Verizon's 80 million customers,n leaves.

Verizon doesn't have 80M...yet

If you had Verizon, you'd realize it doesn't blow, fanboy!

I did have Verizon...while I can't say Verizon isn't good in some area, I can say AT&T is better in my area, and thats all that matters for me

Buy whoever has good coverage in your area, and don't claim that any company is crap, its all about where you are located.

 

[grndslm]

Buy whoever has good coverage in your area, and don't claim that any company is crap, its all about where you are located.

It's more about the radio in your phone than anything, honestly.

My Treo 755p hasn't had a single dropped call anywhere in the country, and I've been thru quite a few states this past year. I even got DATA service with sprint at my grandfather's farm when I couldn't do that with any other previous Treo.

Sprint + 755p = NO dropped calls, ever!

 

[nakile]

CDMA is better than GSM, that's why all GSM carriers are switching to W-CDMA!! AHHAHAA =^p

Actually, Verizon has chosen LTE as their 4G network technology. The interesting thing about this is that LTE is the natural GSM evolution path.

Alltel has also done this, but that doesn't really matter because of the whole being bought by Verizon thing. T-Mobile and all the others have talked about LTE, too.

So in the end, it's CDMA that's dying. Sprint is the only one who's not going over to LTE. Their 4G technology of choice is WiMax, although they've not said much of anything about it yet.

 

[grndslm]

I'm all for standardization, and WiMax may not be the answer (I hear WiBro was supposed to be the "real" WiMax, allocating bandwidth better between end-users).

But I do know that LTE is an evolution of UMTS, which is based off of CDMA. The argument lies with the fact that everything we will be transmitting is going to be data-based. When you digitize pictures, digitize music / movies, digitize voice calls... there's no need to focus on anything other than networks that evolved from CDMA.

 

[grndslm]

And Verizon & ATT will be years behind in their "advanced data" coverage once again, when Sprint releases their "4G" WiMax. It's here today about as much as ATT's 3G network is available.

Sprint's always ahead, but they *do* loose lots of money. Prolly from people sucking thru these SERO straws. Good stuff.

 

[SFStateStudent]

Verizon nor Sprint will see the light of day with the iPhone. Thank God!

 

[question fear]

Just wanted to clear one thing up: CDMA and W-CDMA are cousins, but W-CDMA is not the same as the CDMA used by Verizon. There's a great article from wikipedia here that explains the differences between the USA CDMA (mostly evolved from Qualcomm) and W-CDMA, which evolved in Japan from NTT DOCOMO and is the evolutionary path for GSM.

I also think we're getting OT if we're getting into a debate of CDMA being better or worse than GSM. It is pretty obvious that no matter what the current technology is, most major carriers are moving to LTE or WiMax. So we can table this debate and just bring it back when it's Sprint vs the rest of the USA and international carriers instead.

 

[yadmonkey]

Verizon nor Sprint will see the light of day with the iPhone. Thank God!

Another lame response...

1. Declarative statement with zero supporting evidence.
2. Offers nothing new to discussion.
3. Inexplicable and obnoxious expression of deific gratitude for the disappointment of those who depend on Verizon or Sprint.

 

[candan9019]

Just wanted to clear one thing up: CDMA and W-CDMA are cousins, but W-CDMA is not the same as the CDMA used by Verizon. There's a great article from wikipedia here that explains the differences between the USA CDMA (mostly evolved from Qualcomm) and W-CDMA, which evolved in Japan from NTT DOCOMO and is the evolutionary path for GSM.

I also think we're getting OT if we're getting into a debate of CDMA being better or worse than GSM. It is pretty obvious that no matter what the current technology is, most major carriers are moving to LTE or WiMax. So we can table this debate and just bring it back when it's Sprint vs the rest of the USA and international carriers instead.

I hope everyone reads what you wrote because so many people make comments when they are completely uninformed.

It's funny when two people debate about something and neither one knows what they are talking about

 

[SFStateStudent]

Why are you so threatened by him.

I'm not, I just haven't got the time of day for someone that feels slighted by someone replying to "his/her" thread in a manner that doesn't require a declarative statement or supporting evidence, due to the fact that his simplistic thread has been answered by others telling him the same thing. I simply made a "value claim" asserting the quality of a person, place thing or idea. Basically, my statement makes a claim about the value of something; making a value judgment that cannot be checked against data. Just as "Drugs and alcohol are a threat to public morality" is clearly a value claim. I think the OP is confusing my value claim with a factual claim, simply because it has the same form. IMHO.

 

[wra1979]

maybe tmobile will have a iphone too?

i am basing my comment above on 0 actual facts, just like the person who started this thread. actually if u look at what technology the iphone uses there is more evidence that tmobile will start selling it then verizon will.

 

[MacNut]

Not going by how many customers or how large the networks are but what is better spec wise. From what I have heard CDMA has better signal strength than GSM while GSM is more compatible.

Is there a reason why GSM is the worldwide standard. Cheaper? More reliable?

 

[yadmonkey]

actually if u look at what technology the iphone uses there is more evidence that tmobile will start selling it then verizon will.

You might well be right about that. Forgetting Verizon for a second, in the lack of any sort of good evidence to the contrary, I have a hard time believing the AT&T exclusive will go further than another year. Surely AT&T will have gotten the majority of their potential iPhone-switchers by then. At that point, it's easy to imagine that the benefits for both companies of an exclusive agree would be less clear.

Talk about low-hanging fruit - Tmobile would be an easy market to get into. At that point, I imagine Apple will be asking the following questions of their engineers and market analysts:

1. How much much would it cost us to produce a CDMA iPhone?
2. How many could we sell to Verizon customers and others?
3. Is the profit margin large enough that it's worth it?

These are the questions which nobody here can answer. I imagine that Apple's going to want to get the app store into as many hands as possible, just like with iTunes. That could factor into making CDMA networks more attractive to them. It's not just a phone sale anymore - it's a platform for app sales.

 

[MacNut]

Apple would have to relax their demands if they ever go to the other 3. Would they agree to the other companies demands.

 

[butterfly0fdoom]

i am basing my comment above on 0 actual facts, just like the person who started this thread. actually if u look at what technology the iphone uses there is more evidence that tmobile will start selling it then verizon will.

T-mobile uses their own oddball spectrum for 3G that requires a custom chip/antenna. They're as likely as Verizon is to get a iPhone 3G (whereas both Verizon and AT&T are using the 700 spectrum for LTE).

Not going by how many customers or how large the networks are but what is better spec wise. From what I have heard CDMA has better signal strength than GSM while GSM is more compatible.

Is there a reason why GSM is the worldwide standard. Cheaper? More reliable?

Qualcomm patents? *shrugs* Not sure, but that seemed to have been a problem for Nokia.

 

[skwoytek]

You're muddling with muddling.

Future entails all carriers using some form/derivative of CDMA services with VoIP calling. All cell phone carriers use VoIP. Face the facts! They just charge extra for voice because that's how it used to be, and they think that's how it always will be.

Now you're going to add VoIP to the drink?

All cell phone carriers use voice codecs over digital communications, not VoIP. In fact, that's not even true; some cellular providers still use analog signals which are an inefficient use of frequency spectrum. Voice over internet protocol currently has little to do with cellular communications unless you're running Skype or another VoIP client over the data path using packet switching. Just because data is packetized during digital cellular communications does not mean it's VoIP. It's not.

As I mentioned above, you're confusing GSM with TDMA. TDMA and CDMA are competing multiplexing technologies. GSM could technically be sent over either transmission technology which is the case as seen with UMTS.


Multiple access schemes for digital radio:

TDMA is a method of multiplexing multiple sources of data into one transmission stream by dividing the stream based on time.

CDMA uses a pseudorandom code to alter the data sent over the air. Using different codes allows multiple sources of data into one transmission streams which can be separated based on their unique coding. CDMA is a simply a technology for sending multiple data streams across one frequency channel and has nothing to do specifically with cellular communications. It is used in a variety of applications including the GPS satellite network, military guidance systems, transportation logistics systems, etc.

2G digital cellular standards

GSM is a standard which covers methods of encoding data and voice for transmission. GSM 2G uses TDMA.

cdmaOne is a cellular standard which uses CDMA as its multiplexing method.

3G digital cellular standards

UMTS is the 3G successor to GSM and uses much of the GSM infrastructure. However, instead of transmitting over TDMA it uses W-CDMA, which is a wider frequency band than traditional CDMA.

CDMA2000/EV-DO is the 3G successor to cdmaOne.

4G digital cellular standards

LTE is the 4G successor in the GSM upgrade path.

UMB is the 4G successor in the cdmaOne upgrade path.


The main differences between 2G, 3G and 4G cellular networks are the standards, codecs and back-end processing improvements.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Verizon has chosen LTE based on GSM as their 4G upgrade path over the expected UMB in the cdmaOne upgrade path. So technically, everyone is switching to the GSM upgrade path. Therefore, the GSM standard is better than the cdmaOne standard (often incorrectly shortened to simply CDMA), that's why Verizon is switching over to the GSM based LTE standard.

I work for a Fortune 500 broadband service provider who's looking at the future of wireless internet access. Contrary to what many are saying here, starting from the ground up with the opportunity to take any direction - WiMax isn't their first choice.

 

[iFemme]

I completely agree, except that the disinformation is being spread by those on your side of the fence, my friend.

No! Not disinformation!

 

[skwoytek]

Not going by how many customers or how large the networks are but what is better spec wise. From what I have heard CDMA has better signal strength than GSM while GSM is more compatible.

Is there a reason why GSM is the worldwide standard. Cheaper? More reliable?

That's not the complete story. Signal strength is only as good as the distance from the noise/interference floor.

Some standards create their own interference issues by having overlapping cell towers and asynchronous communications. If a signal strength is at -100dB but the interference's signal strength is very close then there will be more issues than a similar system with lower signal strength but more separation from the noise floor.

CDMA is known for having more channel noise in urban environments so the signal strength advantage is essentially negated.

 

[RedAbundance]

why do people like verizon so much?
in other words, why do people hate at&t so much?

at&t has the BEST coverage in the u.s. and their roll over feature is one of a kind in the industry...

 

[JBaker122586]

why do people like verizon so much?
in other words, why do people hate at&t so much?

at&t has the BEST coverage in the u.s. and their roll over feature is one of a kind in the industry...

Because they're the "big guy." Everybody always hates the big guys.

 

[butterfly0fdoom]

why do people like verizon so much?
in other words, why do people hate at&t so much?

at&t has the BEST coverage in the u.s. and their roll over feature is one of a kind in the industry...

Considering that the people that would have minutes to rollover clearly don't use their minutes often, I'll call it marketing fluff instead. My family has so many rollover minutes. If they didn't expire after a set time, we're practically have unlimited minutes by now.

 

[skwoytek]

Considering that the people that would have minutes to rollover clearly don't use their minutes often, I'll call it marketing fluff instead. My family has so many rollover minutes. If they didn't expire after a set time, we're practically have unlimited minutes by now.

On the contrary, in over ten years of cell phone use there are always months where I go over my minutes and nearly double a bill. After that first month, rollover minutes keep you safe and on a family plan you never know who's talking more than usual.

When we switched from Verizon to AT&T for iPhones, as the bill payer I found that I really love having those rollover minutes. They've saved us from overage charges twice in less than a year. Without them, we would probably have moved up a plan just to be safe.

 

[SFStateStudent]

When we switched from Verizon to AT&T for iPhones, as the bill payer I found that I really love having those rollover minutes. They've saved us from overage charges twice in less than a year. Without them, we would probably have moved up a plan just to be safe.

I concur; I used above and beyond my 1400 minutes due to a family emergency in April and went over by 700+ minutes over a two week run. If it hadn't been for rollover, you could multiply 700+ by $.40 roughly $280+ plus tax. I don't think that would be chump change in anyone's book.

 

[Siron]

I concur; I used above and beyond my 1400 minutes due to a family emergency in April and went over by 700+ minutes over a two week run. If it hadn't been for rollover, you could multiply 700+ by $.40 roughly $280+ plus tax. I don't think that would be chump change in anyone's book.

I totally agree. The Rollover minute scheme (not marketing fluff) was the sole reason I switched from Verizon to Cingular (two years before the iPhone was announced). I travel on business about 6 months out of the year. When I'm in the office I use about 50 of my 450 monthly minutes. When I'm on the job site I use a ton. The overages were killing me. Now I don't have to worry as I know my "bank" will tide me over.

 

[redman042]

why do people like verizon so much?
in other words, why do people hate at&t so much?

at&t has the BEST coverage in the u.s. and their roll over feature is one of a kind in the industry...

Open up two browser windows on your computer, one on each half of the monitor. Bring up the AT&T coverage map on one side. Bring up the Verizon one on the other. THEN come back here and post your findings. Do you still think Verizon has worse coverage? Better yet, check the option to show 3G coverage on AT&T vs Broadband Access (EVDO) on Verizon. Then tell us your findings.

Thank you.