Can someone please explain to me...

[Nom de code]

Why didn't TMobile include the greater Washington, DC/Metro, Maryland and Northern Virginia in its 3G coverage plans? I'm still puzzled as to why the nation's capital and surrounding areas weren't included :confused::cool::eek:

[nscrew]

good question, idk how long till nation wide 3g coverage lol?

[thelazzyone]

I don't understand it either. Baltimore has 3G but it is barely covering the city proper. The Baltimore/Washington area is the 4th largest metro area and DC Area alone is 8th largest. This makes no sense at all.

[thundermax]

because politicians do not deserve cool gadgets ;)

[thelazzyone]

because politicians do not deserve cool gadgets ;)

I agree that they don't but we do! :D

[VikingDave]

because politicians do not deserve cool gadgets ;)

But then how do they store all the interns' phone numbers.

[thelazzyone]

But then how do they store all the interns' phone numbers.

They can still use their Blackberries like there are doing now. LOL! :D

[Nom de code]

Seriously folks. I'm amazed at how places such as Birgmingham Alabama, Kansas City and Memphis Tennessee get their 3G coverage before DC and surrounding areas. Shouldn't they have tried covering the entire north east first? Does the FCC have anything to do with this? Granted we've got some "mavericks" who can't even boot up their PCs, let alone compose an email...I still feel we should've gotten included lmao

[mixpix405]

Birmingham, AL does not have 3g yet. Is there a list somewhere of where T-Mobile plans to expand coverage too in the correct order or something?

[Don Won]

they're giving 3G coverage to the places where T-Mobile feels they have the most customers.

[thelazzyone]

they're giving 3G coverage to the places where T-Mobile feels they have the most customers.

So you are telling us that T-mobile has more customers in some of these other smaller regions than in the DC Area...Now that might be true but I would like to see some figures.

[hoobashoot]

I would say that they are putting g1 where there biggest markets are for t-mobile and maybe washington is not, iphone state lol.however it should be one of the next states hit with 3g.

[thelazzyone]

I would say that they are putting g1 where there biggest markets are for t-mobile and maybe washington is not, iphone state lol.however it should be one of the next states hit with 3g.

Are we talking about the same place? DC is not a state? Do you think we are taking about Washington State?

[Nom de code]

Birmingham, AL does not have 3g yet. Is there a list somewhere of where T-Mobile plans to expand coverage too in the correct order or something?

The following cities have or are set to have 3G coverage:

Atlanta
Austin
Birmingham - Coming Soon
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver - Coming Soon
Detroit - Coming Soon
Houston
Kansas City - Coming Soon
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis - Coming Soon
Miami
Minneapolis
New York
Orlando
PhiladelphiaPhoenix
Portland
Sacramento - Coming Soon
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tampa - Coming Soon

source: http://www.t-mobile.com/templates/faq.aspx?PAsset=Cov_Pop_FAQ (http://www.t-mobile.com/templates/faq.aspx?PAsset=Cov_Pop_FAQ)

[tjferris]

I imagine it has to do with several factors, users in the region, growth rate of city, amout of data power users..........yada yada yada. I'm in the STL area, 4 hrs away from KC. Now while I feel saint louis is the better choice for the first city in MO to get TMO 3g they picked KC. KC is a large city that is growing by leaps and bounds. My guess is they are trying to grow their network along with the cities that are most rapidly expanding...........all the while sprinkleing a little 3g love all over the us rather than a certian region. Also i'm sure it has to do with where they have the free mhz bands open up. I know that has been the slowdown in the whole roll out of the network to begin with. If the gov't won't get off the band that TMO bought up in the auction, TMO can't go in and use the same MHZ that the gov't is currently on.

[RDILLZ]

Yes! we're good in Chicago.....or at least thats what the coverage map says! No coverage in Washington makes no sense to me! even if the smaller places have more customers right now, there are alot more people meaning potential customers, in huge markets like D.C. & Baltimore! All major markets should be 1st.

[kaysesoze]

the bad part for me is that in my area we probably wont get 3g till late 2009, so when i get my G1 im gonna be real critical with putting it thru the usability test.

[punkzanyj]

they're giving 3G coverage to the places where T-Mobile feels they have the most customers.

That's probably it. There's T-Mo stores all over the place in Chicago.

[punkzanyj]

couple things:

Perhaps, due to it being the nation's capital, there's harsher/stricter regulation of the cell towers and such. Red tape always slows things down.

There's really only two ways companies create large cellphone networks... build it yourself, or buy out smaller carriers. It takes awhile to build it yourself. All the major carriers have created their networks, in part, buy buying out smaller networks and carriers. Remember when there was like 50 cell phone companies? Now there's really just 4? Since there aren't many left to buy out, T-Mobile has to build their own, or wait until they have the leverage to buy out one of the other big guys.

Who knows what factors have determined what cities are first. Probably population growth, their current share of the local market, their forecasted share, amount of subscribers using smartphones, amount of subscribers interested in smartphones but held back by lack of 3G. There's probably some politics in there and space limitations. Kansas City is pretty spread out (it's in two states after all) and may not have the regulatory red tape that DC does. Or it could just be cheaper/easier to build there.

Do you know a lot of other t-mobile customers? Do you see a lot of T-Mobile advertising and products? If not, chances are that's why DC isn't part of the current expansion. I'm sure it's on the list, though.

[A F 1 G 3]

I imagine it has to do with several factors, users in the region, growth rate of city, amout of data power users..........yada yada yada. I'm in the STL area, 4 hrs away from KC. Now while I feel saint louis is the better choice for the first city in MO to get TMO 3g they picked KC. KC is a large city that is growing by leaps and bounds. My guess is they are trying to grow their network along with the cities that are most rapidly expanding...........all the while sprinkleing a little 3g love all over the us rather than a certian region. Also i'm sure it has to do with where they have the free mhz bands open up. I know that has been the slowdown in the whole roll out of the network to begin with. If the gov't won't get off the band that TMO bought up in the auction, TMO can't go in and use the same MHZ that the gov't is currently on.

I live in northern Virginia, Loudoun County to be exact. We are the richest county in all of U.S.A. and have been #1 or #2 for the past couple years. D.C. and northern Virginia are VERY business oriented. T-mobile as a company, shouldn't look at who has T-mobile here, rather who would WANT T-mobile. Put a 3G market up and I'm sure the MILLIONS of technology based job workers here would love utilizing it.

There is a project for the new branch of the World Trade Center to be built here among other huge office buildings to make hundreds of thousands of jobs. We already have HQ's of huge IT companies here and serve to at least 5,000 (Northern Virginia that is)

As far as rate of city growth, for like 10 years Loudoun County has been on the fastest growing county list in the U.S.A being #1 and has been fluctuating each year within the top 10. Fairfax County is bordering us and they have been an established county well before the 1960's and is just like Loudoun. They are currently #2 on the richest county list in the U.S.A.

I'll cut it off there but I just want to let everyone know where I'm from, and make it known that NoVA is called NoVA for a reason, not to be confused with them southern folk in Virginia ;)

/end soap box

And oh yeah, THAT is why we should have 3G ALL over this place!!! (Edge network is covered very well around here though so at least thats good)

[G1DC]

I live in Washington, DC. Before I placed my order, I called T-Mo customer service and had an extensive conversation with a rep who certainly gave the impression (I know, I know, that is not necessarily the same as reality) of being knowledgeable.

Anyway, he said that Washington, DC, is definitely part of the 3G rollout by the end of calendar year 2008. I explicitly said to him, I can live with no 3G for just November and December if I know that it will be in place by the start of 2009 - and he said, then you don't have to worry, it's all set.

FWIW, my impression is that T-Mobile has issued lists of cities where 3G will be implemented by a given date. For other cities, they have just said "by the end of the year." You can actually see an example of this on Android Community here:

http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f21/t-mobile-3g-rumored-roll-out-schedule-283/

So, I'm not 100% convinced - but I was convinced enough to take the plunge and order a phone. Come on, October 22nd!

[thelazzyone]

I hope you are right but that rumored list that you are pointing to with that link is not the same as the official release that T-mobile put out. DC was not on that list. The funny thing is that if you go to the T-Mobile website, it mentions nothing about Baltimore having 3G but they do mostly in the downtown area.

What cities are available with 3G service? Metropolitan areas with T-Mobile’s 3G coverage:

Atlanta
Austin
Birmingham - Coming Soon
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver - Coming Soon
Detroit - Coming Soon
Houston
Kansas City - Coming Soon
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis - Coming Soon
Miami
Minneapolis
New York
Orlando
Philadelphia Phoenix
Portland
Sacramento - Coming Soon
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tampa - Coming Soon

[jayclip]

I dont know why either....im in miami so we straight.

[New World]

I dont know why either....im in miami so we straight.

Yeah, your covered :)

[Technickal]

gotta love new york :)

[EclipsedExistence]

Yay, Dallas!! =)

I think the biggest thing that is slowing them is money and bureaucracy. It does take money to roll out 3G, and they are probably doing it in the most cost-efficient manner. And then cities will regulate how the networks are built within the city, and some cities in a metropolitan area will shoot down attempts to do something, where others wouldn't.

Another thing to consider is that they may not be listing areas covered until the vast majority of an area is covered. This is just an example, but the cities of Dallas and Ft. Worth may be covered, but other cities in the outlying areas, such as Arlington and Southlake may not be. So T-Mobile may just be withholding listing the DFW area as covered until everything is...

[RussianSolja]

god bless New York City... The 1st city in the US to get 3G thru T-Mobile. :) but the only thing that sucked is the only phone they offered with 3G was the black berry perl *BARF* lol :p

[NetCom]

I checked my area a while ago and found my coverage bit interesting. I kind of got lucky :)

Please see attached pic.

PS Of course this is not my personal address :) but I do live close this non-covered circle - luckily I got 3G home :)

[thelazzyone]

It looks like they must have been reading this thread.. Washington DC will probably go live with 3G in Nov.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10068965-1.html


T-Mobile 3G launches in Sacramento; Memphis, Tampa, and Washington D.C. next