Metro PCS uses Verizon's network?

[Rominucka]

Where does Metro end and Verizon begin and vise versa?
A Verizon sales rep told me that Metro uses Verizon's towers but when the network becomes congested Metro customers are the first to get booted to make room for Verizon customers. So I googled it and everyone said that Metro doesn't use Verizon, so I figured the kid was full of shiz.

Then last week, while in Los Angeles, I was getting bad service for the first time. I started roaming and while attempting to make a call I got a "your verizon wireless number is not available, please try again" message (or something like, i can't exactally remember word for word)

And now, while flipping through some of the scripts and txt files in the root dir I came accross a file that had a user name: "...@vzwtest.com and password: vzwtest.
vzwtest.com lead me to a Verizon online text messaging webpage. Sorry I dont remember what file it was.

But what's the deal? What part of Metro's service is Verizon? Is it the LTE or is it everything?

 

[Questkev]

Metro has thier own network. They only time you will be on verizons network, is when you are in the travel talk areas. MetroPCS' main raoming partner is Sprint.

 

[AndroidxGuy]

Metro has thier own network. They only time you will be on verizons network, is when you are in the travel talk areas. MetroPCS' main raoming partner is Sprint.

Cant be Sprint cause I was out on extended home area a while ago and I had good signal while my 2 buddies who both have Sprint and own different phones had absoluty no bars and couldn't find roaming service.

 

[allmanallpimp]

there's more than sprint available... cricket, us cellular, etc... verizon is the only one you might actually pay on. verizon you can text for free, but talk is .19/minute or a bundle of minutes for 5/month for 30 minutes. check coverage at metropcs.com/coverage

 

[insertusername]

Metro PCS does connect on VZW towers.
My school doesn't have coverage for Metro so whenever my friend places his calls, it says "Welcome to Verizon"

 

[chknhwk]

So what does that mean when you get the message "Welcome to Verizon, we are unable to complete your call at this time"? My wife is out traveling right now and can't make a phone call, what should I tell her??

 

[samthegam]

So what does that mean when you get the message "Welcome to Verizon, we are unable to complete your call at this time"? My wife is out traveling right now and can't make a phone call, what should I tell her??

You need to make sure that your Metro Connect account has money in it to be able to place & receive calls while in TravelTalk.

 

[phonedamsel]

So what does that mean when you get the message "Welcome to Verizon, we are unable to complete your call at this time"? My wife is out traveling right now and can't make a phone call, what should I tell her??

Her phone network setting may be on Automatic instead of MetroPCS.

 

[ChazzMatt]

Metro has it's own towers in 14 "home" markets.

Metro has a "nationwide" roaming agreement with Sprint, which is "free" as part of your monthly fee. This is the "extended home areas" on the map coverage. But Sprint doesn't actually cover the entire nation and has bare spots even this areas it does cover.

To fill the gaps, Metro has a secondary roaming agreement with Verizon, but it costs extra money to roam on Verizon. This roaming is called "Travel Talk" and costs 19 cents per minute. If you wish to use it you need extra money in your side account, called "MetroConnect" account. (This is not your main bill. This is a separate account for ring tones or TravelTalk.) But since Metro is PRE-PAID, you have to put money in the account ahead of time. Therefore, no "roaming" charges surprises! You can only use what you've already paid for.

I keep about $10 in my MetroConnect piggybank so if I need Verizon roaming (TravelTalk), I will have the money for it. If I receive a call in one of those areas, when I answer I get an automated verbal notification that I am using TravelTalk.

 

[SeansBabyGirl16]

So I know this forum is almost 7 years old but I wanted to post this anyways just in case someone else stubbles upon this and doesn't know the right answer which is- Metro is on the T-Mobile network and when the network becomes congested T-Mobile customers take precedence over Metro customers and therefore Metro customers with experience slower data whereas T-Mobile customer's won't have any changes in their data speeds. Hope that helps!

 

[Fox Mulder]

Well when this was originally posted 6+ years ago, Metro had not yet been purchased by T-Mobile and was still CDMA. So back then they may have in fact used Verizon towers when their own network wasn't available. T-Mobile's towers were not in play at that time being GSM and not compatible with CDMA.
Fast forward to today, Metro has been owned by T-Mobile for several years now and is no longer CDMA like Verizon. As such Metro does now use T-Mobile towers exclusively.
As for the de-prioritization, I've seen this discussed but I can't say I've ever experienced it and I've been with Metro since before the switch.