Verizon tower upgrade policy

[mhubbell42]

My phone broke and I bought a replacement. Verizon will not let me connect to the only tower in my area with the new phone now. I have no service because the tower is not 4g. All of the other phones on my family's plan can still make calls on that tower. The policy should have an exception for an area that is only served by one tower.

[mhubbell42]

My phone broke and I bought a replacement. Verizon will not let me connect to the only tower in my area with the new phone now. I have no service because the tower is not 4g. All of the other phones on my family's plan can still make calls on that tower. The policy should have an exception for an area that is only served by one tower.

[vzw_customer_support]

We definitely want to help, mhubbel42. So we can gain a better understanding of the issue you're experiencing, we just need to gather some details. What is the make and model phone that you just purchased? What city is this happening in, and an intersection that's close by?

LynnE_VZW

[mhubbell42]

Thanks Lynn,

I have already been through the escalation route to engineering ticket # [Edited for privacy].

The replacement phone is a moto E 2020.

The area of service is near Pahoa, 96778.

The nearest crossroad is Highway 130 and Upper Puna Road.

Engineering concluded it was weak signal strength. Not true. I was on the phone (a different phone) to Verizon for 1-1/2 hours at the same spot.

[vzw_customer_support]

Thank you for that additional clarification, mhubbel42. The Moto E 2020 is a 4G device, and from what we see, the nearest 4G tower to that location is 4.1 miles away, which is still within range to get signal, but we want to look more into this. What device were you using previously? Does the issue happen indoors only, or are you impacted when outside as well?

LynnE_VZW

[mhubbell42]

Aloha Lynn,

The moto E 2020 was confirmed by Motorola and Verizon to be able to operate on all CDMA channels. There is no 4g signal at that site. My old phone, a moto e4 is still able to call from there. It connects to a 1x cdma signal. The replacement doesn't get any signal at all.

Thanks for the concern. What I really need is a truthful answer to my question about Verizon policy.

[mhubbell42]

Update 8/8/2020

Verizon has now shut down the only tower in the area of my home. It was just me with my new replacement phone but now my neighbor cannot use Verizon to make phone calls either. This 4g upgrade policy that eliminates cdma service needs to have an exception for customers who have no access to another tower. We now have no option for phone service, Verizon or otherwise.

[vzw_customer_support]

We definitely want to ensure you can get the best service possible, mhubbel42. Is this issue only affecting your calls, or have texts and your data been affected too?

ZakC_VZW

[mhubbell42]

Aloha Zak,

Thank you for your concern. Since the 3g portion of the tower was turned off a few years ago we have only been able to make calls and simple texting on the 1x signal. There has been no data signal for a while now. I was able to make calls till my phone broke and replaced it.

My old phones network preference was LTE/CDMA. As far as I can tell my new phone network preference is set for LTE and LTE. I see no way for me to change that.

Thanks again,

Mike

[mhubbell42]

Quick update.

Less than 48 hours after I mentioned the 3g part of our tower being shut off a couple years ago, it magically started up again. Now my neighbors and the rest of my family can make calls and text and get a bit of data while I still don't see any signal at all.

Funny thing, my new Moto E 2020 got a software update from Motorola and while it was still updating it actually gave me the option to choose LTE/CDMA, Global or something else, I didn't catch it before my choices disappeared. Now again my only choice is "Verizon" for network type. I'm sure Verizon could fix this with an exception for those of us with no alternative for towers. Only one tower at my new home and Verizon won't let me connect anymore. Frustrating.

[vzw_customer_support]

Have we had the opportunity to troubleshoot this issue yet?