yea, cingular at ucla from 2000-2002 was horrific. once it hit 9pm, forget it. those were the days when everybody and their mom (literally) had MTM. it's gotten a little better i think (i moved off campus in 2003, left LA in 2004) and it was generally usable throughout the places i frequented (west LA, westwood away from the dorms, monterey park, although there is usually no reception in the old medical center or biomed library). realize however that cingular is now using ATT's old gsm network, whereas t-mobile is using cingular's old towers. i think things have changed, but ATT's old gsm network was a joke.
i will say that cingular support and their business practices are still absolutely detestable. i went to t-mobile last year and will never go back..unless i can rape them for a free high-end phone, but my friend who's an indirect agent told me cingular has cut way back on commissions for them. but that's a whole different story.