AT&T Confirms Cellular One as a Roaming Partner in NE, but not in Ski Country/Grafton Country

I’ve been having quite the discussion with the AT&T folks on their Facebook Northeast Discussion board. I did (finally) get them to confirm that (at least in Northern New England) they’ve lit up 100 new towers with roaming coverage by establishing a partner roaming agreement with US Cellular. But not in Northern New England.

The update received today (Monday) demonstrates that AT&T isn’t being entirely transparent as they certainly have NO coverage at all above Lincoln NH anywhere in Grafton County.

I can’t help but speculate that this sudden new partnership deal could be part of a defense against a Verizon iPhone. In my mind, this move, coupled with the early deals on new 2 year contracts for iPhones that AT&T announced, lends more credence to the growing speculation about a January-February Verizon iPhone launch. (Hey, there’s no reason not to speculate). And this blogger will be first in line when that day comes.