Steve Forrette <forrette@cory.berkeley.edu> (04/30/91)
I have to take exception to John Higdon's comments about the cellular situation in the San Francisco Bay Area. I too have been a customer of both systems, and find Cellular One to be much superior. This opinion is based mostly on my personal experiences, rather than quantitative data such as the number of cell sites, etc. In October 1987, I purchased my cellphone, an in-car NovaTel 385. I'm really pleased with the way it's worked for me over the years. (I'm told that they are a lot like credit reports - "either 1's or 10's, mostly 1's", but I got a 10, I guess.) I don't have much experience with 600 mW handhelds. I initially signed up with Cellular One, and had it for a couple of years. I then lived in Seattle for 18 months, and when I came back, I decided to give GTE a try, largely based on John's reports. It lasted for less than two months before I was so fed up that I switched back to Cellular One. There were several smaller reasons for switching, such as the inability of customer (dis)service to deal with technical problems (they said "call the people at the switch directly, using this number", which was never answered). But my main problem was with roaming. As we know, the "B" carriers have this wonderful thing called Follow Me Roaming. I often have the occasion to travel into the Sacramento market, and sometimes to LA, so roaming is very important to me. After hitting *18 in Sac, it would take around 15 minutes before calls would "roam", and of course it would reset sometime in the evening and be unusable and unactivatable for a few hours. And when it was on, it sometimes just wouldn't forward. I had instructed someone to call me if there were changes in a meeting schedule, and hit the roof when I found out that I wasted an hour of my time going to meet him when he tried in vain to reach me. The "A" carriers in California and Nevada had a really slick system called Super Cellular. Your calls forward to you whereever you are. All you do is hit SEND when you enter a new market, and forwarding is activated *instantly*. Not in 15 minutes, not in 15 seconds, but right away, reliably, every time. Plus, you get all your custom calling features as well, something Follow Me Raoming didn't offer. I heard talk that the B systems in California were working on something like this, and maybe it's working now, but that's a couple of years later. As far as coverage, I found that Cellular One was superior. Perhaps GTE was better at the far edge "fringe" areas, but I was having problems in the middle of town! For one thing, Cellular One had coverage through the Caldecot Tunnel, since 1987 (GTE got it in 1990). When I first saw this advertised, I thought it was pretty much a gimmick, but I've been surprised just how many times it's come in handy. John's San Jose home is about an hour away from the tunnel, so his priorities are probably different. Just after getting my Cellular One account reactivated, I made my last "B" call to cancel my GTE account. When asked why I was switching to CellOne, I mentined the signal quality issue. Maybe someone was interfering for dramatic effect (:-)), but the static was incredible on the line. We could barely hear each other. And I was on I-880 in Oakland, hardly an out-of-the-way place. And the worst part was that my left arm would get this voilent twitch every time I wrote GTE right after "Pay to the Order of" on my checks. I'm sure John has similar stories with the carriers reversed. Maybe we're both right, and it's just that each carrier has concentrated on a different end of the bay. I'm looking forward to hearing of his CellOne horror stories! Steve Forrette, forrette@cory.berkeley.edu
John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> (04/30/91)
On Apr 30 at 5:23, Steve Forrette writes: > There were several smaller reasons for switching, [from GTE to > Cellular One] such as the inability > of customer (dis)service to deal with technical problems (they said "call > the people at the switch directly, using this number", which was never > answered). But now it is the other way around. I recently had an unusual problem at an area known to be good for reception. I got right through to GTE repair service, they took the report and called me back at home twice in the coming days to follow up. I also got an internal number for reporting any other reception problems. At the time I turned off my last Cellular One account, people who took reception reports always told me to have my radio checked because "since Cellular One's system is so superior," the problem had to be with my equipment. > But my main problem was with roaming. The only trouble I have ever had with roaming (the *18 "follow me roaming" seems to work just fine) was when I was on Cellular One. About half the carriers in California refused to give me roaming privleges unless I coughed up with a credit card. I understand that that has changed, but an associate with CellOne still complains that he has trouble roaming on "A" carriers in other states. I have never had problems with the "B" carriers. > Plus, you get all your custom calling features as well, something Follow Me > Raoming didn't offer. I heard talk that the B systems in California were > working on something like this, and maybe it's working now, but that's a > couple of years later. It is. And it does not matter who is first, it is the present that counts. > For one thing, Cellular One had coverage through the > Caldecot Tunnel, since 1987 (GTE got it in 1990). When I first saw this > advertised, I thought it was pretty much a gimmick, but I've been surprised > just how many times it's come in handy. John's San Jose home is about an > hour away from the tunnel, so his priorities are probably different. And did they advertise it. Every single commercial trumpeted coverage through the Caldecot Tunnel, as if nothing else mattered. Of course, this major technological feat is accomplished by locating a cell site at one end. Of course, Steve is correct: my home is an hour away from this magic spot, and besides when I travel up there I can go directly to the destination at either end without going through the tunnel (just like I can go to either Oakland or San Francisco without using a bridge). The problem at the time was that Cellular One did not have acceptable coverage in my driveway! I was very happy that Cellular One had conquered the Caldecot Tunnel, but it was most disconcerting to lose calls as I was reaching my home. I live in the Willow Glen district of San Jose -- hardly a fringe or out of the way place! > I'm sure John has similar stories with the carriers reversed. Maybe we're > both right, and it's just that each carrier has concentrated on a different > end of the bay. I'm looking forward to hearing of his CellOne horror > stories! No real horror stories; I just did not feel that Cellular One (despite the aggressive advertising) was really providing me with the service I was paying for. I had bad luck with roaming, coverage, and customer service. But the voice mail is a little cheaper! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !