Skiing this weekend I experienced some spotty coverage in Colorado at a few ski resorts. On a positive note, I skied Keystone Mountain and had perfect cell phone coverage throughout the mountain even on North Peak and the Outback. The next day I went to Vail and experienced virtually no cell service throughout the mountain. I was even amazed I even had zero reception for about 5 miles going over Vail pass on I70 a Federal highway. I would estimate 15,000 people are skiing on a daily basis in Vail. Is this a safety hazard not providing cell coverage throughout the mountain? I think so. Happy skiing.

Which Network Are You Really On?

Unlike the major carriers (ie. Verizon Wireless, Sprint / Nextel, T-Mobile, AT&T), Amp'd, Boost Mobile, TracFone, MetroPCS & Virgin Mobile do not own its own network of cell towers. These prepaid cellular phone companies are all MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). MVNOs buy large batches of minutes from the traditional wireless carriers, piggybacking on their national networks. Amp'd leases Verizon's network, Boost Mobile uses Nextel's network, TracFone uses AT&T's network and Virgin uses Sprint's network. Hence, the reason we do not list these carriers in our list of coverage complaints. If you experience dead zone while using any prepaid phones please submit their respective network operator.

99% of consumers do not understand te CDMA TDMA GSM Analog giberish. Keep it simple stupid is my solution. If you can't make a call it is considered a "dead zone" and should be submitted to our database. Gaps in the national cellular coverage exist because the CDMA/TDMA/GSM providers to not cover the whole nation. The only thing still in common with the various cellular carriers is the original analog system. As you move around the country you should get service on your digital service or switch to analog service, if your digital service is not available. Sometimes you may pay extra to make an analog call (aka roaming), BUT at least you can make a call in an emergency situation. Most newer cellular phones support both digital and analog frequencies, so if your digital services is not available the phone should switch to analog services.

Using Cell Phones on Airplane Myth

Why do airplane crews still tell passengers that cell phones will disrupt navigation? It is a lie!

The FCC's concern (not the FAA) was that it will make it more difficult for people on the ground to get and hold a cellphone connection. The potential for airplanes collectively carrying tens of thousands of cell-phoner users at any one time to disrupt cellphone calls on the ground is the reason for the regulation.  Why don't airlines just say that? Because an early clever bureaucrat concluded that passengers would rigidly obey a rule that otherwise might cause their plane to crash, but would be much less motivated if the potential risk is to some unknown person on the ground who might have to redial a few more times.  Read more at eWeek.

Thank you to some smart executives at Cingular we have started receiving some new network upgrade information. These sharp individuals at Cingular finally recognized it is important to report back to their consumers on where they are improving coverage. Network operations managers in Dallas, St. Louis and Kansas City have taken an initiative with us and have sent us comments on over 90 cell sites complaints in our database that have now been upgraded. These sites were previously dead zone complaints in our database and now have carrier comments attached to them in our database. You can search for this information in our database by clicking on network upgrades.

Sending emails to any cell phone is very easy, the only catch is you must know the wireless carrier or the recipient. It will be received on a cell phone in the form of a SMS message to the recipient. If you know someone who is not in the office or infront of a computer and you want to deliver a quick message it works great. It is also great if the person does not have the luxury of a Blackberry or Email on their phone. Its also great when coverage sucks while you are in a meeting and just want to reply to some quick messages. Here are the email addresses for the most popular cellular phone carriers:

Alltel
[10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com
Example: 2125551212@message.alltel.com

AT&T 
[10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
Example: 2125551212@txt.att.net
For multimedia messages, use [10-digit-number]@mms.att.net
Example: 2125551212@mms.att.net

Boost Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com
Example: 2125551212@myboostmobile.com

Cricket Wireless
[10-digit phone number]@sms.mycricket.com
Example: 1234567890@sms.mycricket.com
For multimedia messages: [10-digit phone number]@mms.mycricket.com
Example: 1234567890@mms.mycricket.com

Nextel (now part of Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com
Example: 7035551234@messaging.nextel.com

Sprint
[10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Example: 2125551234@messaging.sprintpcs.com

T-Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 4251234567@tmomail.net

Verizon
[10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
Example: 5552223333@vtext.com

Virgin Mobile USA
[10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com
Example: 5551234567@vmobl.com

Other U.S. and Canadian carriers:

Centennial Wireless:
[10-digit-phone-number]@cwemail.com

Cellular South:
[10-digit-phone-number]@csouth1.com

Cincinnati Bell: 
[10-digit-phone-number]@gocbw.com

Qwest:
[10-digit-phone-number]@qwestmp.com

Bell Canada: 
[10-digit-phone-number]@txt.bellmobility.ca

Telus:
[10-digit-phone-number]@msg.telus.com

Rogers:
[10-digit-phone-number]@pcs.rogers.com

I am absolutely amazed that that a carrier has the ability to raise text messaging per minute rates by 100% from 5 cents to 10 cents overnight. It might not seem like a big deal but if you use a lot of text messages and didn't want to purchase the "all you can eat" plan its a big jump. I can understand a 20% rate hike to from 5 cents to 6 cents but 10 cents? I bet we see some news on this in the coming months when heavy text messaging customers start to look at their bill and they are not on a text messaging plan. I smell some law suits coming and probably even a class action suit. Without any prior knowledge I just received a 100 minute phone card from a previous class action law suit consumer settlement. Worth a whopping $6. Yippee!