Bluegrass Cellular & Sprint Agreements

[longbottom]

When will my Sprint iPhone see Bluegrass Cellular towers as native coverage and LTE instead of 1x? I thought that they had agreements via RRPP or CCA?

[AppleFanBoy]

I'm not sure about when LTE roaming will be available. However a past PRL update marked voice and data as native and then a subsequent update marked it as extended but I know for a fact that data roaming on BG does not count towards your roaming data allotment.

 

 

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Edited October 28, 2015 by AppleFanBoy

[longbottom]

Ok I see.  I wish there was a way to force the phone onto Bluegrass because there are panels on a tower literally 400' away.  Instead the phone tries to hold onto a Sprint tower that is about 8 miles away resulting in a weak 1x signal unfortunately. 

[AppleFanBoy]

I'm sure there are ways for jailbroken phones but not stock. Stock Sprint phones will almost always choose native Sprint towers over roaming.

 

 

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[thensley1983]

I'm going to be going to a BG only area in 2 weeks I'll see if a android phone pinks up lte

[AppleFanBoy]

I'm going to be going to a BG only area in 2 weeks I'll see if a android phone pinks up lte

Don't hold your breath. I live in BG area and have never connected to their towers.

 

 

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Edited November 29, 2015 by AppleFanBoy

[longbottom]

I thought the whole point of the agreements were to let the phones roam onto eachother's networks.  LTE not included I guess.

[AppleFanBoy]

I thought the whole point of the agreements were to let the phones roam onto eachother's networks.  LTE not included I guess.

I've looked into this before.

 

Here is a few issues with LTE roaming on BG.  First, BG leases Band 13 spectrum from Verizon.  I don't see Verizon allowing BG to in a sense sub-lease to Sprint by allowing Sprint devices to roam on that band.

 

Second, BG owns band 12 spectrum in parts of KY but initially built that out for a fixed wireless broadband solution (I think no longer available). 

 

My belief is that unless BG opens up their own Band 12 to cellphones there may not be reciprocal LTE roaming for a while with Sprint.

 

Some info here:

 

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20140723/carriers/bluegrass-cellular-touts-lte-rollout-progress-as-part-of-verizon-wireless-rural-program-3

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/rural-lte-bluegrass-builds-lte-band-12-and-13-while-iwireless-considers-lte/2014-03-27

[S4GRU]

BG is deploying more than B13. Their B13 network is VZW only, if course. BG may not just deploy also on their bands, but also Sprint bands too. Most RRPP members are also adding Sprint bands with their own for more capacity.

 

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[RAvirani]

BG is deploying more than B13. Their B13 network is VZW only, if course. BG may not just deploy also on their bands, but also Sprint bands too. Most RRPP members are also adding Sprint bands with their own for more capacity.

 

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As of now they're B13 and B4 only right

[WiWavelength]

VZW lease or not, band 13 is worthless to Sprint.  Sprint handsets do not support it.  Let us make that clear so as to stem any further confusion.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

As of now they're B13 only right

 

I don't know which LTE bands they have completed deployment or working on right now since there is nothing live to Sprint, yet.

[thensley1983]

Just spent a day down in BG territory and 3g only and my s6 edge was saying roaming when my account updates I'll let you all know if it is truly roaming as I had to use GPS alot while there

[longbottom]

I don't understand why on the coverage map for Brandenburg KY, under voice there is "roaming +" but when you switch to data there is just "off network roaming".  Why not "LTE Roaming +" for data?

[AppleFanBoy]

I don't understand why on the coverage map for Brandenburg KY, under voice there is "roaming +" but when you switch to data there is just "off network roaming". Why not "LTE Roaming +" for data?

There is no LTE roaming in the Western Kentucky market yet.

 

As far as roaming and off network roaming issue, that sounds like a glitch. That area is Bluegrass Cellular with a little Sprint sprinkled in. BG is 3G roaming + and won't count off your roaming allotment.

 

 

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[adamjamessimon]

I just spent two days in middle of nowhere western Kentucky fully roaming on bluegrass cellular with my Nexus 6. I did not see any increase in my roaming usage despite my Nexus 6 indicating it was roaming on bluegrass cellular. I was limited to 3G speed at the time and I was in a location indicated as off network/sprint nationwide (roaming) on the Sprint coverage map. So... Not sure how helpful this is for everyone here but my experience would seem to indicate an agreement where data on bluegrass cellular is treated as native for the purposes of data accounting.

 

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[adamjamessimon]

^the tower was hooked up via microwave backhaul (I could see it from my field work location) so perhaps this microwave infrastructure explains delays in bluegrass cellular allowing LTE roaming... Kentucky is one of the least connected states in terms of fiber and high speed availability so it would not surprise me if bluegrass cellular has a vast number of towers connected via microwave as opposed to hard-line.

 

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[AppleFanBoy]

^the tower was hooked up via microwave backhaul (I could see it from my field work location) so perhaps this microwave infrastructure explains delays in bluegrass cellular allowing LTE roaming... Kentucky is one of the least connected states in terms of fiber and high speed availability so it would not surprise me if bluegrass cellular has a vast number of towers connected via microwave as opposed to hard-line.

 

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I don't think the issue is with the backhaul. Most likely they are still working out the agreements. BG has already had a LTE roaming agreement with Verizon for a while. That may be playing a big part.

 

 

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[adamjamessimon]

I don't think the issue is with the backhaul. Most likely they are still working out the agreements. BG has already had a LTE roaming agreement with Verizon for a while. That may be playing a big part.

 

 

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Fair enough

 

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