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kerton
join:2003-05-15
Pleasanton, CA | In Defense of US Wireless Service Just for those of you who will jump on me as a shill, yes I have consulted for many wireless companies (yet none of the US-based yet). On the other hand, I have been very critical of them on my posts as wireless editor at techdirt.com.
So here's couple of very important bottom liners:
1) Say what you will, when all the costs paid by consumers are divided by all the minutes of cell phone gabbing they do, the USA is -- by far -- the cheapest per minute, at around 7 cents. Europe and the RoW is about 3x our cost/minute. Canada is little higher. Don't forget that that's our cost/minute in our service plans. We also pay less (much more highly subsidized) for phones than Europeans, Asians, and people in developing economies. Cheaper up front & cheaper in ongoing use!
I'd be hard pressed to tell you why, but I think it has to do with our "all you can eat" culture, and our "mobile party pays" model. Either way, inject that knowledge into any whining to add a tint of reality.
2) We don't get 4-5 bars of coverage everywhere in the country, but...um, ever look at a map? Compare the USA to, say, the Netherlands or Japan. See any size differential? Do you think there are different population densities at play? Yes, they have better coverage even in cities, malls, and subways, but do you think our carriers might be distracted by trying to cover the slightly wider service area?
I think the big complaints should be that our service variety and choice of handsets is lame. That carriers often cripple features which don't support their business models or future plans, and that they have closed their content services, thus blocking out scads of creative "two guys in a garage" types of mobile applications. Sure, there's plenty room to complain, but don't take it too far. | |
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA | said by kerton:2) We don't get 4-5 bars of coverage everywhere in the country, but...um, ever look at a map? Compare the USA to, say, the Netherlands or Japan. See any size differential? Do you think there are different population densities at play? Yes, they have better coverage even in cities, malls, and subways, but do you think our carriers might be distracted by trying to cover the slightly wider service area? Good point and the low cost per minute doesn't leave much to expand coverage.
However members of Congress tend to travel extensively throughout the district or state they represent and carry cell phones. All you or I can do when we don't get coverage is vent, they have real power. | |
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