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US Cellular has great coverage back home (Maine) but shoddy coverage where I live now (New York) and T-Mobile vice versa. I've been on Google Fi for the past te

US Cellular has great coverage back home (Maine) but shoddy coverage where I live now (New York) and T-Mobile vice versa. I've been on Google Fi for the past ten years because it is the only option (at least when I last looked) that jumps seamlessly between the two, and at a reasonable enough price (for a guy who doesn't use much data). If this merger makes another carrier that has good service throughout the northeast, that could change the game for a lot of customers. I'm not optimistic, though; the T-Mobile - Sprint merger was supposed to improve their service but ended up [0] jacking their prices. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40379028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40379028

cognaitiv 2y ago
At least as of 10-15 years ago US Cellular owned their rural markets and leased their urban markets. In NYC they are likely reselling Verizon’s network.
synergy20 2y ago
isn't google fi using t-mobile network as the backbone?
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  Yes, Google Fi is an MVNO of T-mobile's network.
- timw4mail 2y ago
  Basically exclusively at this point.
- flyingfences 2y ago
  Google Fi used T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular behind the scenes. At least, they did at the time I signed up, which was why I signed up. Sprint merged into T-Mobile a few years ago; Fi dropped US Cellular last spring. Since then, I've stayed on from inertia. I'll probably switch to T-Mobile's $15 / 5 GB plan soon, since it's half the price I'm paying for now-no-better service from Fi and I rarely use more than 1 GB per month.
lxgr 2y ago
> shoddy coverage where I live now (New York) Do they have any coverage in New York? I thought they were using national roaming on AT&T there?
TMWNN 2y ago
> US Cellular has great coverage back home (Maine) but shoddy coverage where I live now (New York) and T-Mobile vice versa. US Cellular as of 2012 no longer operates in its headquarters city of Chicago. <https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-cellular-to-sell-select-midwest-markets-to-sprint-177625271.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-cellular-to-sell...>

cognaitiv 2y ago

At least as of 10-15 years ago US Cellular owned their rural markets and leased their urban markets. In NYC they are likely reselling Verizon’s network.

synergy20 2y ago

isn't google fi using t-mobile network as the backbone?

toomuchtodo 2y ago
Yes, Google Fi is an MVNO of T-mobile's network.
timw4mail 2y ago
Basically exclusively at this point.
flyingfences 2y ago
Google Fi used T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular behind the scenes. At least, they did at the time I signed up, which was why I signed up. Sprint merged into T-Mobile a few years ago; Fi dropped US Cellular last spring. Since then, I've stayed on from inertia. I'll probably switch to T-Mobile's $15 / 5 GB plan soon, since it's half the price I'm paying for now-no-better service from Fi and I rarely use more than 1 GB per month.

lxgr 2y ago

> shoddy coverage where I live now (New York) Do they have any coverage in New York? I thought they were using national roaming on AT&T there?

TMWNN 2y ago

> US Cellular has great coverage back home (Maine) but shoddy coverage where I live now (New York) and T-Mobile vice versa. US Cellular as of 2012 no longer operates in its headquarters city of Chicago. <https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-cellular-to-sell-select-midwest-markets-to-sprint-177625271.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-cellular-to-sell...>