Forum Discussion
Alaska Coverage
I am going to Alaska and would like to know more about the coverage. I already checked the coverage map and it indicated that there is "partner coverage". I also read that the partner coverage is...
Hola @leahrenae76
Do you have a regular monthly account (postpaid) or are you prepaid?
Do you know where all you'll be yet?
Roaming in Alaska will be on either GCI or AT&T.
When you're on GCI, it's treated like you're on T-Mobile's network from a bucket. In the places where you might see AT&T, texting/calling is just like normal (included in your plan if you've got a normal postpaid account). For data roaming, you can check out Preguntas frecuentes sobre roaming nacional de datos to see how much data you might have available. We have a great roaming deal with GCI, AT&T isn't quite as generous.
As for coverage, I drove from Canada across through Fairbanks, down to Anchorage and the peninsula below, then back out to Canada. Coverage is generally pretty good. Obviously it's Alaska so there's a lot of nature but if you've looked at the places on the coverage map and it shows service then you should be at least able to call and text. I was chatting (both carrierS), texting (both carriers) and even streaming music/videos (on GCI) throughout my trip.
Partner coverage tends to be provided by GCI and more or less is indistinguishable from "normal" T-Mobile coverage. When I moved to Alaska last year I too had concerns about the carrier and was told about the partner program. It does work like that... BUT, GCI calls it domestic roaming, and after you use your data allotment (5GB), you are throttled back to "Courtesy 2G" which is essentially nothing. I'm not kidding, you can pretty much only make voice calls. No maps, no texts, definitely no browsing or streaming. even with very conservative data use I maybe get to 2/3 through each billing cycle. Im on T-Mobile One Unlimited and it makes zero difference, you might as well count on 5 GB
to circle back to the original question though, it will work, but there is a cap. Find and use WiFi as much as possible to save your data
