Cell coverage Angel Fire (Alamogordo, Taos: buy, moving, license)

[speak_e_z]

This occurred last week in Angel Fire. Call came in on Sprint. The call was lost literally in the midst of an emergency on caller's end in DC. Several fam members had phones...mostly Verizon, again no service! To hear my friend relay the story was very scary and frustrating. I did a quick search on dead cell areas and found that Tracphone prepaid phone worked consistently in Angel Fire in January of this year. Any thoughts about best cell coverage to use in case of emergency?

[gumby111]

Just visited the area a few weeks ago. I have cingular. I didn't always have service while driving through the mountains, but most of the time and anywhere near the towns--Angel Fire, Eagle's Nest, Red River--it worked fine. The service was through a "partner" network. Can't remember which one though.

[Mountain Gal]

Best Angel Fire Cell Service:

T-Mobile.

Verison used to work, but no longer.

[mtncat]

Trac phone does not have it's own towers. Not sure who they run off of up North but down around the Alamogordo area they run on the verizon towers.
So, it would pay to find out who's towers they are using and go with that service.

[movingmaybe]

I have Verizon, the trick to getting it to work in Angel Fire is to have a tri-mode phone.

[Greenmon]

Originally Posted by movingmaybe

I have Verizon, the trick to getting it to work in Angel Fire is to have a tri-mode phone.

I read in a phone forum that all transmissions or cell phones will be Digital ? Something to check out.

[Zoidberg]

Some friends of ours in Taos (who get around a lot) use T-mobile and swear by it.

I think what it ends up coming down to, far more than your network, is the phone you have. A cheaper phone will drop the signal, but people will most often blame the carrier.

Sprint (and TracFone which uses Sprint's network) gave very poor results for us up that way. When you combine lots of mountains, lots of NIMBY's, and sparse populations, maybe you're just better off with a sat phone.

[Trevor92]

Originally Posted by Greenmon

I read in a phone forum that all transmissions or cell phones will be Digital ? Something to check out.

What it is, in February of 2008, the FCC will no longer mandate that cell carriers must keep AMPS (Analog cell service) operational. At this point, depending on the area, a carrier may choose to pull the plug on analog service and go to digital only. However, in a rural area, a carrier may also choose continue to broadcast an analog signal. Also, many newer phones no longer even pick up an analog signal, so if analog coverage is necessary, make sure you get a phone that will pick it up.

[Trevor92]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gal

Best Angel Fire Cell Service:

T-Mobile.

Verison used to work, but no longer.

T-Mobile does not serve Angel Fire. If you go to the T-Mobile website and try to view plans or coverage, it's all roaming. T-Mobile uses a small company called Plateau Telecommunications in the area which does serve the area as a local provider. This sounds like what Gumby was referring to. Any GSM provider should roam on Plateau in the area.

The other providers with cell sites in Angel Fire are Nextel Communications and Alltel Wireless according to antennasearch FCC database (I've never been there so I can't vouch for the quality of these networks). (With Nextel locations currently there, Sprint may be able to improve coverage there in the future.) Since Verizon use to work, what has probably happened is that Verizon use to roam on alltel, however now their PRL (preferred roaming list) no longer allows the utilization of the alltel network in the area because Verizon has their own network in the area, which unfortunately does not extend into Angel Fire. Zoidberg gave another good point. Whenever you're frequently in rural areas where the signal is weak, don't buy the cheap phone that's free. They're just made too cheaply. Pay a little more and get one that's made out of better material and picks up a signal better. Usually Motorolas and Nokias are best in this regard.

[BillRadio]

Here's the deal at Angel Fire. The only carrier there is Plateau. Alltel has the other cellular license there, but as of my last visit there earlier this year, they chose NOT to buld there. AT&T and T-Mobile phones will readily roam on Plateau.

Since Plateau also transmits analog, some other phones will roam on them. Verizon phones will roam on Plateau ONLY if they have analog capability AND the phone has an old "America's Choice 1" plan, and even then, at .69/minute. All-digital Verizon phones or phones with "America's Choice II" will not roam on Plateau.

Sprint phones with analog capability will roam on Plateau as well. So there could be a lot of variation for coverage among phone models.

If your "emergency" call was made to 911, the phone will access whatever network the phone can "see", but if the only signal it can see is analog, and you don't have an analog-capable phone, it still won't work. Yes, the Analog Sunset rule is coming next year, however, Plateau has indicated to the FCC they will NOT be turning off analog in the foreseeable future. We have a review of Plateau on the New Mexico Cellular Reviews.

Commnet tried to install a CDMA cell site at Angel Fire, but Alltel asked them to wait because they will be installing their own.