Sprint's Roaming Contract with Verizon...

[chazglenn3]

I just had an online chat with Sprint and was told in no uncertain terms that mobile to mobile calls within the US are free of charge regardless of on the Sprint network or roaming with the Everything Data Family Share 1500 plan I have...I still wasn't convinced so I called and got the same answer.

 

[muncher]

sprint is usually pretty good at giving you 1/2 bar of service just so you don't go on roam. the only thing making me hesitate on getting the evo is there is no easy way to toggle roaming only like i am able to on my 4 year old 700p...

 

[IOWA]

Thats another thing i wonder about... I wonder if some phones be default are sold with roaming disabled?

My friend has an HTC HD2 (?) on sprint and says he's not once ever been without signal. Roaming is enabled on his phone.

He drives back to Colorado to visit family once a year and says he's good the whole way.

I highly doubt he has and HD2 on Sprint, being that is a GSM phone and all...

 

[mms1946]

This is the only thing that concerns me about sprint, but I am giving them a shot. I have verizon and no problems with dropped calls or call quality. So far the Evo has no issues either. I have only used it for about 15 minutes and it's solid. Hope it remains that way.

 

[pwabbit]

While roaming onto Verizon, my Evo shows 3G as the network connection. Does the Evo lack the 1x capabilities? I have yet to roam onto Verizon and see anything but 3G. I am curious if anybody here has been roaming on Verizon 1x?

 

[finndo77]

While roaming onto Verizon, my Evo shows 3G as the network connection. Does the Evo lack the 1x capabilities? I have yet to roam onto Verizon and see anything but 3G. I am curious if anybody here has been roaming on Verizon 1x?

I was roaming with my Evo earlier today, in the middle of nowhere, and my 3G icon was not at the top of my screen. I had the normal triangle all Sprint phones get when roaming. it did not show 1x or 3G and I was using Sprint navigation the whole time.

 

[alewifebp]

New to Sprint here and trying them out for the 30 days. I tend to roam a lot in certain areas around where I live. However, I still seem to get 3G, although it is a lot slower. It is possible that it is actually on 1X and I don't even know it. Next time I roam I'll try to find out in the programming menus.

As someone who has come from Verizon with rock solid service, this is my only reservation about Sprint.

 

[axisofoil]

My phone picks up weak 3G signals a lot... even though sprint doesn't have 3g towers anywhere near me.

As of now, EVO's are incapable of picking up 1x data... that's what I've been told.

 

[Rigmaster]

sprint is usually pretty good at giving you 1/2 bar of service just so you don't go on roam. the only thing making me hesitate on getting the evo is there is no easy way to toggle roaming only like i am able to on my 4 year old 700p...

You can set your phone in the Settings to stay on Sprint-only. I've used it to test out Sprint coverage in NJ, which has turned out to be pretty good. Haven't gotten to the Pine Barrens or towards AC, but everyone's network seems to struggle there. Can't be worse than what I had with AT&T's almost non-existing coverage.

 

[daveydog]

hey so how did this turn out for any of you? on sprint? seamless roaming transition to Verizon when nec? surprise bills? curious.

 

[Puddin422]

We are no longer roaming on Verizon's network. We're SOL.

 

[bigdaadio]

Yes you can roam on verizon. The transition is not seamless so if you are on a call with the sprint tower it will drop when you roam. You are then free to initiate the call while roaming. Your phone will also ring while roaming. Data is at 1x.

Sprint may get pissy if you regularly use more than 50% of your minutes roaming.

This uses your minutes,PERIOD. Don't believe a word otherwise.

 

[BenChase7]

We are no longer roaming on Verizon's network. We're SOL.

Then what network are we roaming on?

 

[sikclown]

Then what network are we roaming on?

I think they are just confused. If you look at Sprint's newest Coverage map you will see it has shrunken dramatically (which you probably know) because Sprint has deemed to post actual coverage versus Roaming. I don't know the full in's and outs of it but Sprint and Alltel had a deal through 2016 with Reciprocal Roaming , meaning they could use each others towers and services without limit. Well , as you know, Verizon bought Alltel and I believe caused that Roaming agreement to expire. Verizon also sold off Alltel assets to AT&T further degrading Sprint's coverage in areas like Montana. Thankfully the FCC has ruled that the big boys essentially have to allow voice and data roaming to the smaller players at a reasonable price but Verizon is fighting that tooth and nail. So yes we are still roaming on Verizon's network mostly (I am sure we hit a few towers from some of the regional players like MetroPCS etc) but it has it's limits as it is Non Reciprocal. To my knowledge Verizon doesn't allow there phones to Roam on Sprint.

 

[BenChase7]

I'd say they are definitely confused, because I just checked my usage and one line has 11 megs of data roaming and the other had 4 megs of data roaming. Since that roaming has to be coming from some other network, I'd have say Sprint still has a roaming contract.

 

[Puddin422]

I noticed a significant drop in signal as soon as this happened. It is not just a matter of how they colored in their coverage map! I even started a thread in the Epic forum about roaming all the time all of a sudden before I knew about this:

Sprint Community: Voice and 3G coverage being drastically...

 

[TheEngineer]

There are two types of roaming actually.

The one that shows up on your phone is the regular type of roaming and counts as roaming. Meaning it uses your Anytime minutes instead of Any Mobile Any Time, will get you bumped for excessive roaming, etc.

The second one is a Strategic Roaming Agreement and does NOT show as roaming on your phone and is not considered as roaming on your account. It looks just like any other Sprint network call.

With regular roaming, Sprint pays the other carrier when you use their towers. That's why Sprint would rather you not roam.

With a SRA, the carriers allow each other's users to use either network. There may be some compensation one way or the other depending on what was negotiated. This is what happened in Wyoming and other states in that area that are now roaming to users. The SRA with Alltel ended. Sprint had few if any of its own towers there as it was not worth it for the number of subscribers. They just made a deal with the local carrier. That's over.

I suspect we will see more of this while Network Vision is being deployed. Sprint has more towers that any other carrier, but they are split between Sprint and Nextel. Once Nextel is finally killed off, you will see significant native coverage across the US.

 

[sikclown]

There are two types of roaming actually.

The one that shows up on your phone is the regular type of roaming and counts as roaming. Meaning it uses your Anytime minutes instead of Any Mobile Any Time, will get you bumped for excessive roaming, etc.

The second one is a Strategic Roaming Agreement and does NOT show as roaming on your phone and is not considered as roaming on your account. It looks just like any other Sprint network call.

With regular roaming, Sprint pays the other carrier when you use their towers. That's why Sprint would rather you not roam.

With a SRA, the carriers allow each other's users to use either network. There may be some compensation one way or the other depending on what was negotiated. This is what happened in Wyoming and other states in that area that are now roaming to users. The SRA with Alltel ended. Sprint had few if any of its own towers there as it was not worth it for the number of subscribers. They just made a deal with the local carrier. That's over.

I suspect we will see more of this while Network Vision is being deployed. Sprint has more towers that any other carrier, but they are split between Sprint and Nextel. Once Nextel is finally killed off, you will see significant native coverage across the US.

Or pretty much what I said above. The agreement with Alltel was a Reciprocal Roaming Agreement (Not Strategic Roaming) and was the first of it's kind in that it allowed both carriers voice and data roaming (1x and EVDO) on each others sites. Sprint also has this agreement with Verizon but only on 1x data not EVDO in so far as Sprint TV, etc but not sure where that is at now as Verizon is trying to change the game.

 

[Puddin422]

Did anyone read the link I posted? Not just the first post, but the whole thread?

 

[Gavisann]

Did anyone read the link I posted? Not just the first post, but the whole thread?

I read it and it is damn interesting. I hope they fix their problems soon or come contract time, they are going to lose many costumes.

 

[Puddin422]

They are lucky I am concerned about cost, or I would switch to Verizon or AT&T now! It is absolutely idiotic that I cannot keep decent signal along major interstates.

 

[lgmayka]

All indications suggest that Sprint customers can no longer roam on Verizon in the Chicago area. The Roam Control app confirms this, via two different explanations which only make sense in one possible way.

from Android Market:
---
Note: Samsung users may not see a signal when in "roam only" in the following areas: most of TX (except for the Houston area), most of FL, the Chicago area, and PR.
---

From the Roam Control FAQ:
---
Samsung phones have different behavior - when in "roam only", they only roam on the 800mhz frequency band. There are areas in the US that are 1900mhz only, which means that Samsung phones will not get a signal in those areas.
---

Verizon in Chicago runs at 800MHz. The only way I can explain the inability of a Sprint Samsung phone to roam on Verizon in Chicago is that Sprint has cancelled its roaming contract with Verizon here, and instead roams on a 1900MHz carrier like US Cellular (which is worthless, since another 1900MHz signal is no more likely to penetrate buildings than Sprint's own).

 

[hayzooos]

@lgmayka - I don't want to quote the whole thing, but I wanted to thank you for that info. I live in the Chicago area, and I got RC even though I saw the warning regarding this area. I mostly got it for when I travel up to certain areas in Wisconsin for family.

It's good information to know though, as now I know I'm SOL at my second office near O'Hare where in the building, service sux. Looks like even if I didn't have an Epic, it still wouldn't do me any good

 

[lgmayka]

Further information on the issue of Sprint roaming on Verizon in Chicago:

- One poster in a Sprint forum claims that he still occasionally roams on Verizon in Chicago, but always on the 1900MHz band, not 800MHz.

- Other Internet sources indicate that Verizon indeed now has both 800MHz and 1900MHz bands in Chicago.

- Just today, while in a basement office with no Sprint service, I noticed that my phone often indicated roaming service, but as soon as I attempted a call it switched to no-service.

Here is my latest interpretation:

Sprint's contract with Verizon permits roaming in Chicago, but does not specify the frequency band. Verizon has taken advantage of this loophole: Verizon now force-redirects Sprint roamers to the 1900MHz band. This is almost worthless to Sprint customers, since Verizon's 1900MHz signal doesn't penetrate any farther than Sprint's 1900MHz signal. The net effect is that a Sprint phone may appear to have roaming service, but will immediately switch to no-service as soon as the customer attempts to make a call.

 

[Puddin422]

I get that, too, with data services. I get warnings that I have no data connection. I don't make a lot of voice calls..