How does cell phone coverage work? I don’t think any carrier is close to 100% coverage in the US. Are the parts of the US where my cell phone won’t work at all depending on my carrier? Are cell phones able to connect to other carriers towers?
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Coverage does depend on your carrier. In the US the FCC requires carriers with a greater coverage to provide roaming to smaller carriers but it allows to charge very high prices. T-Mobile for example includes only 5-200 MB of domestic roaming data with its plans https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/domestic-roaming-data The areas where roaming is available are marked on the map as “Partner” coverage. You can see them for example in Western Kansas.
Regional carriers such as US Cellular may have been able to negotiate better deals. In any case that’s reflected on the carrier coverage map. If the map says no coverage that means no data and call coverage. The FCC requires all carriers to provide 911 call service to all phones of competitors, tourists, and even to phones without a sim card.
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