Is Partner Coverage considered "Roaming"

A

azulazul

New member
Some of the areas that are labeled "Partner Coverage" on the coverage map on Cricket's website are areas that I will be in periodically. Do I have to worry about roaming charges or is this strictly for locations labeled "roaming?"
 
Partner coverage just means that your using Sprint's tower's instead of Cricket's towers. It's included for free on any Cricket plan. Something good to point out, is that if your phone is used on Sprint for more than 50% of your total monthly usage, Cricket has the right to suspend your service until you get back to a Cricket coverage area. That would probably be really hard to do though. :lol:
 
Hmmm... I've never seen that before. Are you sure your not looking at the "Roaming" areas of Cricket's coverage map?
 
I live in Lexington, Kentucky and do a fair amount of business in Eastern Kentucky (Harlan, Hindman, Pikeville, Prestonsburg). When looking at Cricket's coverage map, most of these areas appear as "bubbles" within the Partner coverage (roaming is the lightest green, correct?).

But if you compare it to Sprint's native coverage, they have virtually no service in Eastern Kentucky.

So what is going on?
 
That's interesting, I've never seen that before. Cricket is also known to not only use Sprint for "Partner Coverage." Sometimes they use other provider's, I think they sometimes use local providers too. (Bluegrass Cellular would be an example for Kentucky.) Well, if it's shown on the map, I'd expect you'd get service. Just make sure to do a *228 before you leave Lexington. (Dial *228>Send) This will update your phone's PRL. (Database of local towers.)
 
I know it isn't Bluegrass Cellular because their coverage does not extend East of Lexington.

My only concern is that the "partner coverage" on the map reaRAB something to the effect of "may only get signal standing in open area, may not have coverage inside vehicle or building." I would like to have coverage inside of a car. Like I said, I travel to these areas 4-5 times per month for work so I'm really not looking for a TON of extended coverage. It would just be nice to have some service when I am out and about for work.

Also, how aggressive has Cricket been recently in extending their coverage? I noticed in the past year (in my area) they have expanded their home coverage to 4-5 surrounding cities. Are they looking to expand rapidly and take a larger share of the wireless market?
 
Crickets partner coverage in eastern Kentucky is Appalachain wireless. In central and western Kentucky it is Bluegrass Cellular. This is for only talk though. They are now using Sprint coverage for partner data coverage in Kentucky.
 
Oh, ok. Couldn't find a coverage map for Appalachian wireless anywhere, but got some good reassurance when I went into my local Cricket store this afternoon.
 
I purchased a Cricket phone with one month of "unlimited" coverage in Baltimore, MD. The Cricket coverage map:

http://www.mycricket.com/coverage/maps/wireless

indicated that I could access Cricket Partner coverage up in New York State in Painted Post, NY zip code 14870.

The phone worked OK in Baltimore, but when I tried to use it in the NY "Partner" areas, the phone always displayed "Roaming". I drove East along the I-86 corridor between Painted Post and Elmiria, NY and never once detected any other coverage than "Roaming".

Driving to Baltimore on weekenRAB the only places that I could get non-roaming coverage was in Baltimore, dispite the fact that most cities and towns along the way are marked as "Partner" areas.

I could not "localized" my phone in NY - you can only perform the *228 activation from within a Cricket OTA zone like Baltimore.

What is suppose to appear on the phone when you are in a Partner area?

Cricket phone support stinks - ignorant Indians who know nothing and can do nothing.
 
Does anyone know if nationwide data roaming on Sprint is still limited to BlackBerry and Android hanRABets? I was looking at the broadband coverage map and it says "Extended coverage for data features for all phones" under Partner Data Coverage
 
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