TechSmurf

Uhm... this is how my service has been for years. BTW, Sponsors, don't forget to head over to the sponsor forum and take a peek at the new Tucson/Yuma Permit thread. I've stuffed a bunch of info in there so far and I'm frequently digging up new sources of information to add. It's still not 100% complete, but it's getting there!

I believe said agreements have already been reached. The problem is getting everyone to actually vacate the required spectrum. If you've ever had business dealings in Mexico you would know not to hold your breath on getting things done. There is no realistic timeline and it is still "if" not "when".

Just noticed in my permit research that a southern Tucson site isn't even getting 800MHz equipment installed. I'll start looking into this more closely to see if IBEZ sites are generally being built light.

Yuma is entirely within the International Boundary Exclusion Zone. Deployment of 800 SMR within 100km of the border is governed by international agreements and coordination with licensees in Mexico. My old man worked public safety communications in Tucson for decades and says based on his experience I shouldn't get my hopes up on that coordination anytime soon.

Perhaps the national Clearwire outage today affected data for some towers? Tucson folks, I know your pain, but trust me, NV is coming. I'm working on a permit map for the Tucson/Yuma market to help illustrate that your/my agonizing wait is not in vain and will post it in the sponsor forum when it's a little closer to complete (and after Robert's approval). It will double as a progress map solely for our perpetually ignored market (since we don't give a hoot about Phoenix, much less the rest of the country)

Can anyone comment on what's happening for Sierra Vista and the rest of Cochise County?

Yes, it's really that bad. Sprint's voice coverage has done well for me, but it seems any time I want to utilize data in Tucson or Phoenix I'm *lucky* to see 100kbps. More often than not I can't even do light web browsing on "3g" without a fight. Example: I forgot to turn wifi on at work and started an update of a 20MB app. An hour later it was at 90% and the phone was quite warm. This kind of event is common enough that it's no longer surprising. I'm trialing a T-mo phone now. Voice coverage is a bit worse, edge data in the boonies sucks vs sprint's 3g (which is usually decent where backhaul saturation isn't a problem), but 10Mbit downstream in town via hspa+... I'm very torn as to who my GS4 is coming from next week.