I began this blog as a way to help i wireless customers understand and effectively use wireless data. I have not maintained the blog since leaving i wireless in 2008, but it continues to get a lot of visitors, so I have decided to dust it off and see if I can keep it updated with fresh content. I no longer live in Iowa so I can't address what is going on with i wireless, but being a bit of an Apple fan boy, I thought I would try to cover some of the ways that I use iOS devices in my daily life.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
i wireless Coverage Map Updated
i wireless has updated its local coverage map. A larger version can be seen here.
so what is the ETA for alot of the "future coverage" in western iowa? is there even a broad estimate? 90 days? 6 months? sometime between now and my death?
Well, being one of the people frequently leaving you messages I know it must seem like all we (the subscribers) do is bitch, bitch, bitch. Honestly, i Wireless is a good company, but their public-facing side could use some work. They're just slow at announcing things that other companies may announce ahead of time; for example people knew awhile in advance regarding Cingulars UMTS plans and T-Mobiles UMA and 3G plans. Its certainly i Wireless decision not to release that information, but when a site like this (or Howard Forums) exists, it offers us a chance to voice our feelings back. On the whole I think i Wireless does an awesome job, and quite frankly, has made wonderful technical strides. The fact that over memorial day I had GSM service in the middle of freaking nowhere Iowa was one that amazed me. It certainly doesn't happen often that a company is told when they've met or exceeded expectations, but that is human nature.
To make a long story short, I guess what I am trying to say is I think i Wireless is a great company, but it would be nice to get more press releases or even just public announcements regarding their future plans. For instance, will international roaming ever be available? The "rumor mill" side of me thinks that the fact that Canada was added is a good sign, but yet I don't know.
Keep in mind that T-Mobile and Cingular are publicly-owned companies that have to keep their shareholders and analysts happy. i wireless is a closely-held company.
Do you like your wireless company to quietly surprise you (like your Memorial Day experience)? Or would you rather they dangle a bunch of carrots out there, then disappoint you when the launch of some new service you were looking forward to has to be pushed back?
Your point is well taken regarding the differences between a public and a private company. However, your second point, is not quite so clear. i Wireless publishes its coverage map online, so the fact that I was surprised was not quite the same as simply turning on my phone and suddenly having EDGE or UMTS coverage.
We all know that i Wireless didn't bid on, and wasn't awarded any of, the AWS auction. We also know that the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City/Quad Cities market was bid on (and won) by T-Mobile amongst other carriers (US Cellulars bidding agent, and Sprint IIRC). We know that T-Mobile has announced their plans to give this spectrum to i Wireless but thats all the information we have. Will i Wireless build out a similar 3G network as T-Mobile (1900/2100) or will it be more similar to Cingular (850/1900)? We saw the addition of UMTS roaming on Cingular according to the GSM Alliance, so that makes one wonder even more...
I guess... my point is, sometimes its good for a company to announce their plans. And if they don't, the people who follow this sort of stuff start to wonder if there is a plan at all...
sorry to bother you guys but i have a motorola v235 and im trying to download ringtones but it says "browser setup incomplete" i need to know do any of you know what i can do thanks
I'm curious as to when iWireless will get 3G in the major cities. I'm particularly concerned with CR because that is where I live, but it would seem to me that they can (and should want to since everyone else is) do better than Edge for data speeds.
i wireless has updated its local coverage map. A larger version can be seen here.
13 comments:
Why did they switch back to the Feb 07 map on their website?
Hmmmmmmmm...
Also, you might want to touch base with those who have the rights, but the coverage map for Iowa Wireless at GSM World is painfully out of date:
http://www.gsmworld.com/cgi-bin/ni_map.pl?cc=us&net=iw
so what is the ETA for alot of the "future coverage" in western iowa? is there even a broad estimate? 90 days? 6 months? sometime between now and my death?
Man! Tough audience! ;)
Well, being one of the people frequently leaving you messages I know it must seem like all we (the subscribers) do is bitch, bitch, bitch. Honestly, i Wireless is a good company, but their public-facing side could use some work. They're just slow at announcing things that other companies may announce ahead of time; for example people knew awhile in advance regarding Cingulars UMTS plans and T-Mobiles UMA and 3G plans. Its certainly i Wireless decision not to release that information, but when a site like this (or Howard Forums) exists, it offers us a chance to voice our feelings back. On the whole I think i Wireless does an awesome job, and quite frankly, has made wonderful technical strides. The fact that over memorial day I had GSM service in the middle of freaking nowhere Iowa was one that amazed me. It certainly doesn't happen often that a company is told when they've met or exceeded expectations, but that is human nature.
To make a long story short, I guess what I am trying to say is I think i Wireless is a great company, but it would be nice to get more press releases or even just public announcements regarding their future plans. For instance, will international roaming ever be available? The "rumor mill" side of me thinks that the fact that Canada was added is a good sign, but yet I don't know.
Keep in mind that T-Mobile and Cingular are publicly-owned companies that have to keep their shareholders and analysts happy. i wireless is a closely-held company.
Do you like your wireless company to quietly surprise you (like your Memorial Day experience)? Or would you rather they dangle a bunch of carrots out there, then disappoint you when the launch of some new service you were looking forward to has to be pushed back?
Your point is well taken regarding the differences between a public and a private company. However, your second point, is not quite so clear. i Wireless publishes its coverage map online, so the fact that I was surprised was not quite the same as simply turning on my phone and suddenly having EDGE or UMTS coverage.
We all know that i Wireless didn't bid on, and wasn't awarded any of, the AWS auction. We also know that the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City/Quad Cities market was bid on (and won) by T-Mobile amongst other carriers (US Cellulars bidding agent, and Sprint IIRC). We know that T-Mobile has announced their plans to give this spectrum to i Wireless but thats all the information we have. Will i Wireless build out a similar 3G network as T-Mobile (1900/2100) or will it be more similar to Cingular (850/1900)? We saw the addition of UMTS roaming on Cingular according to the GSM Alliance, so that makes one wonder even more...
I guess... my point is, sometimes its good for a company to announce their plans. And if they don't, the people who follow this sort of stuff start to wonder if there is a plan at all...
sorry to bother you guys but i have a motorola v235 and im trying to download ringtones but it says "browser setup incomplete" i need to know do any of you know what i can do thanks
Sam,
Please contact Customer First at 611. They should be able to help you out with this.
Any idea when iWireless will have Google Phones???
I'm curious as to when iWireless will get 3G in the major cities. I'm particularly concerned with CR because that is where I live, but it would seem to me that they can (and should want to since everyone else is) do better than Edge for data speeds.
I only just found out about iwireless, I gotta look into this more before going with T'Mobiles stock plans.
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