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Verizon's Wireless Road Warriors

Posted by michael on from the surprisingly-mediocre dept.

Joey Patterson writes "CNN has an article about how Verizon Wireless uses technicians who drive around the country in station wagons filled with wireless gear to look for holes in the company's cell phone network and analyze the service of its competitors. This program isn't cheap (the cars cost $270,000 and $15/mile to operate), but it definitely helps Verizon find out where they stand relative to their competitors."

4 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Commercials mislead the public about coverage by mountainhouse · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was backpacking a few years ago in the Sierra Nevada. I came upon a group of people, and one of them had suffered a back injury. They needed an emergency evacuation. The leader of the group had been trying to use her cell phone for an hour. Fortunately, as a ham radio operator, I was able to call in a sheriff's helicopter. Verizon may have good coverage compared to it's competitors, but I think it's misleading not to tell people there's LOTS of places your cell phone won't work.

  2. 3 Things. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    3 things:

    1. Every wireless company does this.
    2. In britain, wireless companies have been sued by employees when the employee contracted a tumour, which doctors believed was caused by the large amounts of electromagnetic radiation that he was exposed to day in day out by useing a cell phone almost constantly to check signal.
    3. This whole article is fairly redundant, and seems more like some kind of "yay for verizon, they do something everyone else does, but look, theres an article on slashdot about them, they must be something special. yay"

    thankyou.

  3. Re:Coverage is only one part by mindstrm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    True enough.

    Another reason why GSM phones work. Go to europe. Check it out.

    You buy an open GSM phone.

    You want a phone number, you go buy a new sim card.

    You want more time? Easy.. buy a card, recharge the phone. reasonable rates.

    Full services included. voicemail. data. etc. It's not crippled.

    It's anonymous.

    You want a new phone? Get a new phone, put your sim card in, away you go. All your stored numbers, your phone number, etcetera.

  4. Re:Doesn't have to by Vegeta99 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    PCS uses 1900MHz. Traditional cellular uses 800MHz, which penetrates buildings slightly better.