Dear Editor,
I’m disappointed you believe that our recent package of reports about the state of wireless phone service was not balanced, and that you believe we were quick to complain but not so quick to address the issue of tower siting. We disagree with your assertion that the best solution to quality-of-service problems “is to build a tower or otherwise enhance the network.” Based on our own field experience, tower-siting issues constitute only one of the problems related to Quality of Service. The assertion by carriers that they need new towers to improve coverage deflects attention away from the real `tower’ problem in the industry-the Tower of Babel network system the carriers have set up that do not allow their networks to effectively communicate with one another.
Your editorial talks about the cooperation needed from state, federal and local government and consumers but fails to consider the role of cell-phone companies. By refusing to cooperate in areas of poor coverage, even when carriers share a common air interface standard, (such as T-Mobile, Cingular and AT&T using GSM or Verizon and Sprint using CDMA) the carriers effectively create the problems themselves in many instances. Until the carriers take steps to proactively change this problem of interoperability, cell-phone customers like the more than 31,000 who responded to our survey, will continue to experience the chronic problems of dead zones, busy signals and dropped calls.
We also disagree that coverage maps are, as you said, a waste of energy. Existing maps cheat the customers by implying, for example, that a home calling area provides uniform, total coverage. Better maps would, we believe, go a long way toward giving the carriers a reputation for openness and honesty-something they urgently need-and would allow customers to make a reasoned, informed choice of carrier. As it is now, customers can only rely on the befuddling fog of advertising.
Bottom line: Improving quality of service is not just about building towers-it’s about tearing down barriers. David Heim Deputy Editor, Consumer Reports
Yonkers, N.Y.
