Don't Get Caught Roaming During Downtown Hoedown
By Edward Cardenas
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - The WYCD Downtown Hoedown has moved to an idyllic new location along the Detroit River, just a short distance from Canada.
While the river serves as a natural border between the United States and Canada, there is no barrier for wireless carriers.
Country music fans who head downtown to take in the two days of music and festivities can follow these steps to stay on their domestic carrier and not get charged roaming fees when making calls, sending texts or posting photos on social media:
- Cell phone users have the option to turn international roaming off. For devices such as the iPhone, users can go into Settings, select Cellular, select Roaming, and turn off Voice Roaming and Data Roaming.
- Cellular users can also contact their carriers, such as AT&T or Verizon, and have international roaming blocked.
"By turning these roaming features off, your cellular coverage will be limited to your home network, and will thus avoid accruing roaming charges when traveling internationally or near an international border," said ," said Trevor Thomas, Verizon Wireless public relations manager for Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky.
To better serve their customers, cellular companies have made investments to improve service downtown. AT&T has made improvements in the riverfront area.
Verizon also has made "major investments in small cell technology in the area surrounding Joe Louis Arena nearby to ensure the greatest network capacity and user bandwidth possible," Thomas added.
Downtown Hoedown officials added that Verizon has brought in mobile towers to help concertgoers connect during the weekend.