Registered: Nov 2003
Location: DC Metro Area/Northern Virginia
Posts: 15

Report: Low Grades For Cell Phone Service

From techweb.com

Report: Low Grades For Cell Phone Service
January 7, 2004 (11:29 a.m. EST)
TechWeb News

In releasing its latest ranking of cell phone service providers, Consumer Reports found out what most users of mobile phones already know: service is not very good and it should be better.
Topping the 12-city poll in service quality and customer satisfaction is Verizon Wireless. �Although Verizon topped the rankings of providers in the 12 metro areas, it still wasn't free of trouble,� Consumer Reports said in a statement. �It simply had fewer problems than its competitors. In fact, overall satisfaction with cell phone service is generally below average, compared with many other services that CR rates. This year's survey results showed that significant numbers of respondents experienced problems with their cell phone service, but only 40 percent of those who called said the companies' response was very helpful.�

AT&T Wireless--ranked last in six of the markets studied and second to last in four others--has been struggling with customer-service problems. In the ongoing phone number switch by users, the FCC reported that it had received more complaints about AT&T Wireless than from all of the country's other mobile-phone providers combined. AT&T Wireless has reported that it has fixed the problems and it has unveiled a new national high-speed data service that it is betting on for much of its future.

The CR report also noted that many mobile-phone users find it difficult for callers to get through to 911 emergency numbers and, when they do, it may be difficult for operators to locate callers. �Most of the nation's estimated 6,000 emergency call centers still aren't equipped with the latest wireless Enhanced 911 system, which means they can't locate people who make a call from a cell phone,� the magazine sad in a statement. �Getting through to a 911 operator can be a challenge because of a lack of nearby cell towers and incompatibility with the service in the area you're passing.�

The nation's other major cell phone service providers--including Nextel Communications Inc., Sprint Corp., T-Mobile, and Cingular-were all rated somewhere in the middle of the pack by CR. The industry's trade association, the Cellular Communication & Internet Association, has noted that the industry has been gradually improving in recent years.

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Registered: Nov 2003
Location: Maryland
Posts: 7

Couldn't dial 911

I was driving a few nights ago on the DC beltway near the I-95 interchange and there was an accident a few cars ahead of me.

I saw that one car was seriously messed up and dialed 911 on the T600. It said dialing, but didn't ever going through. While slowing down I had to reset the T600. By the time I got through the second time the police were on the way.

I just thought it was a freeze, didn't know it's a common cell phone occurance across the board.

-- Vikram

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