A note for all Verizon users, especially RV'ers

Then Verizon has some work to do. Besides those two examples, I've seen other times where there's no LTE, typically rural areas. While like I said, I don't have Verizon, just about everyone I know does. They have a huge market share in the Northeast, and I've seen many instances with various traveling companions on Verizon where there is 1x or EVDO coverage but no LTE. This is in recent times with mainstream phones.

I haven’t been to the NE in many years, and I’ve only had Verizon since February of last year, but I can say I have never encountered an area with a 1x only tower. My travels since then include much of Kansas, Oklahoma, most of Missouri, central Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.
 
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Interesting. The island I'm currently on has an older Verizon tower that covers the majority of area. AT&T is 4G or LTE where I'm at, but it's a 50-50 chance that data / voice / texting works. My wife's T-Mobile phone is useless even with the AT&T roaming. If many older Verizon phones goes dark, that will affect plenty of the locals.
 
T-Mobile is ending much or all ATT roaming. The settlement that led to the roaming agreement is nearing an end.


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Interesting twist in this story for me. Even though VZW got my old CDMA phone activated, they offered (I did not ask) to send me a new Samsung Galaxy J3V phone to use after the shutdown. It arrived today. Guess what? It doesn’t do VoLTE either and makes all calls on CDMA :oldlaugh

I called in and they said “yeah, Advanced Tech sent you a non-VoLTE capable phone.” Idiots.

Now they’re sending a Galaxy J7.

Will see if it does any better.

CSR told me no employees knew of the CDMA shutdown until the morning of June 30.
 
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Just a follow up. Before sending it back we tried calling Verizon and activating the LG Revere 3 for my mother. We were astonished, as was the Verizon representative, that it activated right away. This is 15 days after the cut off. My theory is they have gotten some pressure for doing this and have relented. Anyone else try?

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Yes. Was able to activate a non-VoLTE phone yesterday without issue.
Something is going on then. I have the transcript of the chat where they specifically would NOT activate it. Perhaps too many lawyers called or perhaps the FCC or FTC? Pure speculation.

Now I'm wondering about the 2019 date when they claim they'll stop service on such phones.

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Something is going on then. I have the transcript of the chat where they specifically would NOT activate it. Perhaps too many lawyers called or perhaps the FCC or FTC? Pure speculation.

Now I'm wondering about the 2019 date when they claim they'll stop service on such phones.

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They are about to disable the 3g network...

Verizon has stopped activating phones that don’t support LTE on its network

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While determining what to do with this whole situation, I stumbled upon a new service yesterday called Visible. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Verizon and not an MVNO. It's $40 per month, taxes and fees included, with unlimited talk, text, data and hotspot. Speed cap is 5 mbps, which is very usuable. Right now you need an invite code to sign up (it is still in beta testing), but my SIM should arrive tomorrow and I'm excited to try it out. If all goes well, I'll be able to trim my 2-line cellular bill from $140/month to $80/month.

Visible | It's Phone Service. In An App.
 
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I wonder what the incentive is for Verizon to offer that.


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According to the reports I've seen, they're going after their competitor's wholly owned subsidiaries, such as Boost (Sprint), MetroPCS (Tmo) and Cricket (ATT). Additionally, they can bankroll the startup costs and eat the early losses it takes independents to start up an MVNO.

The operators of Visible are all former Verizon execs, too.
 
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Since voLTE requires both phones (and networks) involved in a call to be 4G capable I can see a lot of upset people if and when the switch finally hits. Below are the 4G coverage figures. Verizon is the closest to 100% but they all have a ways to go before this proposed switchover to voLTE can functionally work. To me this looks more like a ploy to make other carriers essentially incompatible and therefore unavailable when attempting to call. Anybody on here really believe Sprint, for instance, is capable of expanding their 4G coverage quickly enough to stay competitive? How would you feel as a Verizon customer when the switch is thrown and suddenly you can no longer call people you were able to call just hours earlier? Verizon's problem is it has never wanted to be part of the world standard (GSM) and has stuck with CDMA well past it's efficient usefullness. I'm not sure how smart a decision that was or this is.

Guide to Finding the Best Cell Phone Coverage

Verizon - 81%
AT&T - 66%
T-Mobile - 58%
Sprint - 29%
 
Since voLTE requires both phones (and networks) involved in a call to be 4G capable

That's actually incorrect. I can call land lines using VoLTE on my iPhone. A VoLTE call simply places the call using the data network instead of the CDMA network. It doesn't matter what the call recipient is using. A remote switch handles that. I believe you're confusing VoLTE with HD Voice, which DOES require both users to have that feature enabled.
 
I'm a Cricket user here; their pricing schedule means my son and I have unlimited talk and text with data capped at 3 Gigabytes (or 5, doesn't matter as I never hit it) for $70/mo. Part of the compromise is AT&T customers get priority over Cricket customers when the network gets congested. I wonder if the new Verizon offering will adopt the same strategy?
 
I'm a Cricket user here; their pricing schedule means my son and I have unlimited talk and text with data capped at 3 Gigabytes (or 5, doesn't matter as I never hit it) for $70/mo. Part of the compromise is AT&T customers get priority over Cricket customers when the network gets congested. I wonder if the new Verizon offering will adopt the same strategy?

Yes; Visible Wireless customers are deprioritized before Verizon postpaid. However, there is no data cap. The download/upload speeds are capped at 5 mbps. The unlimited hotspot feature is a plus. Not sure if that will last, though.
 
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That's actually incorrect. I can call land lines using VoLTE on my iPhone. A VoLTE call simply places the call using the data network instead of the CDMA network. It doesn't matter what the call recipient is using. A remote switch handles that. I believe you're confusing VoLTE with HD Voice, which DOES require both users to have that feature enabled.
CDMA actually connects to the old landline network to make a call..VoLTE connects to a router somewhere and then connects to the landline network if necessary

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CDMA actually connects to the old landline network to make a call..VoLTE connects to a router somewhere and then connects to the landline network if necessary

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Regardless, the call recipient doesn’t need to have VoLTE in order for the caller to initiate a VoLTE call
 
That's actually incorrect. I can call land lines using VoLTE on my iPhone. A VoLTE call simply places the call using the data network instead of the CDMA network. It doesn't matter what the call recipient is using. A remote switch handles that. I believe you're confusing VoLTE with HD Voice, which DOES require both users to have that feature enabled.
Landlines and wireless are two different things. voLTE can't communicate directly with landlines, it goes thru a router/switch/converter. An interoperability system is not completely in place for wireless to wireless using voLTE. Verizon and AT&T have a working interoperability in place and T-Mobile says they're working on it but it's not in place yet. Sprint, however, is way behind the 8-ball. Their latest release promises full voLTE sometime this Fall but doesn't mention any interoperability agreement.

At least my LG G3 with Android 6 is voLTE enabled. :)