AT&T, Verizon to swap towers
Change not likely to affect bills of local customersBy ZACH SUBAR/The Leader-Herald
A recent cell tower swap between Verizon and AT&T in the area likely will not affect the pocketbooks of local residents.
The deal transfers towers previously owned by Verizon over to AT&T in both Fulton and Hamilton counties. It received final regulatory approval Dec. 18 and was completed Dec. 22.
AT&T spokeswoman Kate MacKinnon said the vast majority of company customers were on a nationwide plan, which means when AT&T customers are in range of a cell tower not owned by the company, they still are able to receive service, even though that service is roaming at the time.
When AT&T customers' phones are roaming, they are not necessarily aware of that status. The roaming charges are picked up by AT&T, so the customer is not forced to pay out-of-pocket charges for the use of a non-AT&T tower, MacKinnon said.
Because of this, AT&T customer prices generally will remain unchanged once the towers are converted to the AT&T network.
AT&T has not yet done any work on the towers to convert them. There is no set timetable for that work, though MacKinnon said it could be done this year.
"The year is young," she said.
Once the towers are converted, AT&T will have full control over the towers' service.
"Eventually, that will be an AT&T-owned area that we will be able to enhance, manage and tweak for our customers," MacKinnon said.
Along with that control, MacKinnon said, will come higher quality service.
John O'Malley, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, said the loss of towers in the area would not affect service here for Verizon customers either.
"In that area, our coverage is pretty solid," he said. "Our phones are going to pick up the signal from the nearest Verizon Wireless tower."
He said there were enough Verizon towers in the area to ensure quality service.
According to MacKinnon, the number of towers involved in the swap was not available.
Radio Shack Senior Manager Mike Bevington, whose Johnstown store sells AT&T phones, said AT&T service in the area already was better than Verizon. He said an AT&T tower on the north side of Peck Lake provides service near the lake and Kane Mountain.
"Once you get up that way, whether it's Verizon, T-Mobile or other networks, you need to turn off your phone because you don't get service," he said.
CCS Wireless in Johnstown sells Verizon phones. Its district store manager, Rado Ramirez, said he was not sure of Verizon's service in the Peck Lake area, but said Verizon had done upgrades in Fulton County two weeks ago for the carrier's 3G network.
The towers involved in the swap originally were owned by Rural Cellular, a service provider Verizon bought in July 2007. Under the terms of that deal, Verizon was required to swap some of its towers with AT&T.
Converted towers in the deal stretch throughout the entire Adirondack Park, up to Plattsburgh, and also are present in Vermont, Kentucky and Washington.
In the deal, Verizon will take over towers previously owned by AT&T in Kentucky.
Zach Subar covers rural Fulton County news. He can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com
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ignoredissue
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01-10-09 9:47 AM
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Verizon service is terrible in Gloversville and they do nothing about it. All they do is make excuses for there poor service and steal your money!!!
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westielover
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01-08-09 1:22 PM
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I hope it's better towards Caroga Lake. I just got an iPhone with AT&T. I'm hoping for more service with this deal.
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resident69
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01-08-09 11:49 AM
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I had AT&T and couldn't get a decent signal because it also roamed onto someone elses tower. Forget trying to call while in a store, Verizon I could get better service, but they still have bad spots....better than AT&T. Now time will tell with this swap.
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