Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Survey finds cell phone service lacking, especially for 911 calls

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 07 Jan 2003 13:44:12 -0500

Posted on Mon, Jan. 06, 2003

  Survey finds cell phone service lacking, especially for 911 calls

  By Beatrice E. Garcia
  Miami Herald

  Consumers Union is confirming what frustrated cell phone users have long experienced --
service is lousy.

  And the nonprofit consumer advocacy group is taking the cellular phone industry to task,
calling for improved service
  and coverage, especially for 911 calls, and for standardized pricing information so
consumers can make better-informed
  choices on carriers' plans and phone equipment.

  Based on a survey released Monday that is being published in the February issue of
Consumer Reports, the six major
  cellular carriers had severe problems with dropped calls, static and areas of no
service.

  Consumers Union was particularly concerned about the inability to use a cell phone to
place 911 calls.

  It ran tests in two areas, Steuben County, Ind., and Sullivan County, N.Y., and found
that 4 percent of 911 calls never
  connected. About 9 percent of the cell phone users had difficulties getting through to
the emergency services.

  Yet, safety is a major reason for getting a cell phone.

  The survey found that one in three persons said they bought a cell phone primarily for
emergency situations. In 2001,
  about one-third of all 911 calls -- nearly 57 million -- were placed from wireless
phones.

  Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, said the survey results were very disturbing.
``The industry is great on
  creating gee whiz gadgets and gizmos, but it's failing in providing the basic services
that consumers depend on.''

  Right now, the Federal Communications Commissions requires that carriers set analog
phones to automatically search
  out the strongest signal when a subscriber is placing a 911 call. That should happen
even if that strong signal is on a
  competitor's network.

  But there's no such requirement for today's next-generation digital, or multi-network,
phones, which work on both
  digital and analog signals. And the FCC hasn't dealt at all with carriers such as
T-Mobile and Nextel, which use
  digital-signal only phones.

  Chris Murray, Consumers Union's Internet & Telecom counsel in Washington, D.C., said the
group will lobby Congress to
  work with the FCC to update these requirements.

  Verizon Wireless ranked consistently among the top ratings for customer support and
didn't seem to have major service
  problems. Sprint PCS, on the other hand, was lacking. Overloaded circuits was a problem
for most of the carriers.

  The survey, which was based on the responses of nearly 22,000 subscribers to Consumer
Reports, looked at the
  performance of Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Nextel, T-Mobile, which was formerly
known as VoiceStream, Cingular
  and Sprint PCS. It focused on six metro areas: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Dallas and Washington,
  D.C.

  This sharp criticism is coming at a time when the cellular industry is dealing with a
major problem: subscriber growth has
  slowed in the past year, making it the worst in the industry's history. Many people
decided against buying phones amid
  a sluggish economic recovery and as unemployment remains at an eight-year high, analysts
said. Prices are already
  discounted, leaving little room for holiday specials.

  The six biggest national wireless companies probably added 3.2 million customers in the
latest quarter, about 25
  percent fewer than the year-ago period, said Legg Mason analyst Craig Mallitz. For 2003,
new subscribers are likely to
  drop to 11.2 million from 13.2 million in 2002, he said.

  Some industry players didn't take the Consumer Reports survey too kindly.

  AT&T Wireless said the survey was ``needlessly harsh criticism'' for an industry that
has greatly improved its customer
  service and coverage in the past decade, said Mark Seigal, a spokesman for the company.

  The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association noted that the FCC and the
federal government are placing
  an increasing number of mandates on the industry, which are sapping funds that could be
used to improve service and
  customer satisfaction.

  For instance, said Travis Larson, a spokesman for the CTIA, it will cost the wireless
carriers about $1 billion to implement
  number portability, which would allow consumers to use the same cellular phone number if
they switch carriers. That's
  money that could be used to improve the quality of service such as building out
carriers' networks so that there will be
  fewer dropped calls.

  Dan Wilinsky, a spokesman for Sprint PCS, said no carrier could be proud of the survey
scores.

  He noted that late last year, after the survey was taken in the fall, Sprint moved to
radically simplify its calling plans,
  improve coverage and customer support. For instance, its goal now is to make sure
subscribers can resolve problems
  mostly with just one call to a customer service rep.

  The folks at Consumers Union are also calling on the wireless industry to simplify and
standardize the information they
  present to consumers so they can more easily compare different plans.

  Guest said that the organization is proposing guidelines similar to how credit card
companies now display information
  on interest rates and fees.

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