Hello, you're in the dead zone / Region's cellphone users still have problems making, keeping connections

["David Farber" <dave () farber net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Monty Solomon [mailto:monty () roscom com] 
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 1:53 AM
To: undisclosed-recipient:
Subject: Hello, you're in the dead zone / Region's cellphone users still
have problems making, keeping connections


Hello, you're in the dead zone
Region's cellphone users still have problems making, keeping connections

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff  |  January 29, 2006

You're driving along, talking on your phone. It could be something as 
mundane as trying to determine which cereal to pick up at the grocery 
store or as crucial as trying to seal a business deal.

Then come the unexplained silences, the fragments of talk, and the 
sudden realization that the other person's just not there.

You've been trapped. In a cellphone dead zone.

Even as cellular phones have become necessities of modern life and 
companies have tried to improve service, it's still possible to find 
yourself in a dead zone in Boston's western suburbs, according to 
residents and a survey by Globe West.

''Our area is full of cellphone dead spots," said Stephanie Price, a 
33-year-old Cingular Wireless subscriber who lives in the Waban 
section of Newton. ''There is literally no way to drive to my house 
and not drop a call."

To examine how reliably the phones work these days, a Globe West 
reporter took comparable phones from the four companies serving 
Massachusetts -- Cingular Wireless, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, and 
Verizon Wireless -- on a 150-mile tour of the area.

Calls were made on each phone from the same location within a 
one-minute period, and a record was kept of whether calls went 
through clearly on the first try, had an obviously weak connection, 
or failed to connect after three attempts.

A total of 480 phone calls were made from 120 locations ranging from 
Newton to Boylston and from Norfolk to Lincoln.

Sixty-two of the calls, or about 13 percent, didn't connect on the first
try.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/01/29/hello_youre_in_the_dead
_zone/



-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
  http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/