I kind of have to laugh because the last time I was in Lewiston (July of 06), the hotel room I stayed in was right on the fringe. If I was in the room, forget it. If I was next to the outside door with it open I could barely make a call. I have worked on the network of a major cell phone provider for the last 13 and a half years. And am by no way an expert. As has already been said there are many things that affect coverage. One thing that happened early this year is the FCC alowed providers to turn off the analog coverage. Most if not all providers were anxious to do this because the cost per channel was very high. Even though analog was not great quality, it covered much greater distances. So any fringe areas just got worse. Some of the good areas went to fringe. The technology of a particular network makes a big difference as well. All in all though in most areas of the country coverage has gotten pretty good.