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Montana area - Chinook Wireless and iPhone

The final purchase is running a little late, but it is still progressing. The last official statement said by the end of Q1 2010, although we're past that now ;) I think ATT is just still working through some regulatory issues. I do know that ATT network engineers have already been out to the valley several times to comb through Altell's existing network here and making plans. That's not to say there will be iPhones here day 1 when the purchase goes through officially. They will likely wait until 3G towers are in place.
 
I will be moving back to Montana fall of 2011 after being gone (serving my country) for 27 years. We will be moving to the Libby/Troy area. Does anyone have any input or recommendations for me and my wife to keep using our iPhones? Will AT&T have service in that area by the time I get there? I really do not want to change from AT&T since I have been using the same phone number and AT&T since they were original, then went to Cingular and now back. I will change my number when I get there as I never ever intend to leave Montana again.
 
Android.

I'm sick of waiting for att and there crappy network. I'm not even interested in the iphone at all anymore. I'm fine with my itouch. Since verizon has the best coverage in montana and in the US I am going to get a Htc Incredible form Verizon when it comes out. iPhone os has gotten stale and boring for me. So I'm all for android now. Plus verizon is getting LTE 4g works on the gsm architecture and apple is supposedly working on a LTE iphone so i hope the iphone comes to verizon. Even tho i'm not interested in it anymore.
 
just a FYI

tanman889 said:
I'm sick of waiting for att and there crappy network. I'm not even interested in the iphone at all anymore. I'm fine with my itouch. Since verizon has the best coverage in montana and in the US I am going to get a Htc Incredible form Verizon when it comes out. iPhone os has gotten stale and boring for me. So I'm all for android now. Plus verizon is getting LTE 4g works on the gsm architecture and apple is supposedly working on a LTE iphone so i hope the iphone comes to verizon. Even tho i'm not interested in it anymore.
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you have a Touch not a ITouch Madonna had a Itouch! :p get your HTC enjoy life!
 
Well hopefully they are done by the end of 2010, because my contract runs out this year and I would prefer to be with AT&T because I hate Alltel and they don't have any interesting phones what so ever. So I will probably end up going with Verizon even though I've heard their customer service can be terrible.
 
SFC Archer said:
I will be moving back to Montana fall of 2011 after being gone (serving my country) for 27 years. We will be moving to the Libby/Troy area. Does anyone have any input or recommendations for me and my wife to keep using our iPhones? Will AT&T have service in that area by the time I get there? I really do not want to change from AT&T since I have been using the same phone number and AT&T since they were original, then went to Cingular and now back. I will change my number when I get there as I never ever intend to leave Montana again.
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I never thought I'd say this, but hopefully AT&T will be here fairly soon (I live in Kalispell). They are buying the part of Alltel that is here from Verizon (Verizon had to divest it since it would leave them as the only major carrier here) and will convert it to GSM. It is before the FCC along with a related deal to sell the other part of Alltel divestitures to Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN). It seems to me (by reading the filings on the FCC's web site) that the major holdup was accusations that the bidding process Verizon used to sell these Alltel pieces to AT&T and ATN was improper because:

- It favored larger companies over smaller or minority-owned ones.
- Morgan Stanley handled the bidding, and since they own stock in ATN, it was a conflict of interest.

The FCC just approved the ATN deal and found nothing wrong with the bidding process, so I expect that the AT&T deal will be approved shortly also. AT&T says 12 months to complete the transition after approval, so maybe summer 2011? Alltel already has an old GSM network here they maintain for roaming purposes, so AT&T may already have in-network voice coverage soon as the deal closes.
 
mentalward said:
I never thought I'd say this, but hopefully AT&T will be here fairly soon (I live in Kalispell). They are buying the part of Alltel that is here from Verizon (Verizon had to divest it since it would leave them as the only major carrier here) and will convert it to GSM. It is before the FCC along with a related deal to sell the other part of Alltel divestitures to Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN). It seems to me (by reading the filings on the FCC's web site) that the major holdup was accusations that the bidding process Verizon used to sell these Alltel pieces to AT&T and ATN was improper because:

- It favored larger companies over smaller or minority-owned ones.
- Morgan Stanley handled the bidding, and since they own stock in ATN, it was a conflict of interest.

The FCC just approved the ATN deal and found nothing wrong with the bidding process, so I expect that the AT&T deal will be approved shortly also. AT&T says 12 months to complete the transition after approval, so maybe summer 2011? Alltel already has an old GSM network here they maintain for roaming purposes, so AT&T may already have in-network voice coverage soon as the deal closes.
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Thanks for the info...if you get any updates/news on this, could you please update the thread. I just can't wait to come home and still want to be able to use my technology and IT degree when I grad next summer.
 
Just my $0.02

So, after reading through this thread and a few others, I took the plunge. The price is something I can live with and so far the service is great. Albeit, I'm a developer that is either in the office or at my house, so I haven't traveled a lot... only a 30 mile radius or so but so far no complaints. I've only had it for a short period of time.

The only thing to note, however is that your APN will need to be set in your preferences for internet access, even after paying for the service. I kept getting the "Could not activate cellular data network: You are not subscribed to a cellular data service" error running OS 3.0. It's a simple fix.

Just navigate in your system preferences to:
Settings-->General-->Network-->Cellular Data Network

And then type "internet.chinookwireless.net" in the APN field.
Leave username and password both blank.

Back out and try out safari, mail, weather and a few online apps! Worked for me!


Mike

P.S. -- got the address for the APN here:
http://www.cellonenation.com/support/HTCTouch_setup.pdf

P.P.S -- i go into a little more detail on my repair blog here:
http://blog.mic-b.com/?p=587
 
SFC Archer said:
Thanks for the info...if you get any updates/news on this, could you please update the thread. I just can't wait to come home and still want to be able to use my technology and IT degree when I grad next summer.
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Sure will... I'm on the lookout :eek:

For reference, you can follow what's going on here:

http://www.fcc.gov/transaction/att-verizon.html

It's FCC Docket 09-104. Be sure to read the RSS feed, it's updated much faster than the site.
 
I had to run into Alltel yesterday to get a new phone activated and all the employees in the store were talking about AT&T. So I decided to ask.... he said AT&T will be taking over the last little bit of Alltel this year. He said they are for sure it will be done by the end of summer. Then there will be a 3 year period where everyone will be able to ride out the remainder of their contracts using their alltel phones and what not. He also said they are "PLANNING" to build one huge AT&T building out by Kohl's here in Billings. That's about all I got. :)
 
RyanGrudge said:
I had to run into Alltel yesterday to get a new phone activated and all the employees in the store were talking about AT&T. So I decided to ask.... he said AT&T will be taking over the last little bit of Alltel this year. He said they are for sure it will be done by the end of summer. Then there will be a 3 year period where everyone will be able to ride out the remainder of their contracts using their alltel phones and what not. He also said they are "PLANNING" to build one huge AT&T building out by Kohl's here in Billings. That's about all I got. :)
Click to expand...

Similar thing here in Kalispell. Alltel had one smallish corporate store here, and they just opened a really big one north of town where all the new developments are. I spoke to one of the managers there and he told me that it was so that AT&T would have a big flagship store once the conversion happened. It is a very prominent building in the middle of the busy retail center, and would really shout out that AT&T is here.
 
pdpfilms said:
Hmm. I have trouble gleaning anything from that link. Legal jargon to the extreme!

Any guesses on how long until ATT starts opening MT accounts?
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Hard to know... AT&T has said that the conversion will be complete within 12 months of approval, but that markets will be converted on a case-by-case basis. Also, Alltel operates an older, 2G GSM network here already (they maintained it for T-Mobile and AT&T roaming, I believe) so it's possible that there could be native voice coverage pretty quickly if AT&T bought that network, too.
 
Just got an email from AT&T with new online deals for a few random phones. I've never received spam from AT&T before, and only remember giving them my email address when I signed up for coverage updates.

Could it be a sign? Has anyone else received similar emails? Could I overanalyze things any more?
 
I just found this thread while trying to understand iphones service in Bozeman....please forgive my ignorance.

Is AT & T the same as CellularOne?

I found this local company which says one can can simply unlock the iphone and use it with any GSM network?
I am so confused!

http://montanaiphones.blogspot.com/
 
that's actually not the same erin. they provide local coverage vs at&t who provides nationwide coverage. but cellular one is a cheap good deal if you are just staying in montana for the most part.
 
It's pretty crazy that the same month AT&T is finally supposed to bring the iPhone to Montana, Verizon get the iPhone too. Any Montana people deciding between Verizon & AT&T?
 
It is funny. I dont think I ever ad a good experience with ATT the few times i've had service with them, and I was always disappointed that they'd be my only legal option. I'm done with the whle unlocking/jailbreaking scene, and I'll be going with Verizon. Sorry AT&T, too little too late!
 
BRussell said:
It's pretty crazy that the same month AT&T is finally supposed to bring the iPhone to Montana, Verizon get the iPhone too. Any Montana people deciding between Verizon & AT&T?
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Have you confirmation of exactly when we will be able to sign up for AT&T? So far I have heard that existing Alltel subscribers are being transitioned soon, but how about signing up for new service?

I'm debating the choice between the two.
 
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