The way I explain it to others when they ask,, think of the coverage map like a big McDonalds shake,, Verizon hands you a
shake straw and 2nd tier folks like Cricket, Consumer Cellular (and anyone else who is not Verizon/AT&T/T-Moble) are handing you a
normal straw.
Can you drink a shake with a normal straw? Yes, but I hope you're not sucking hard.