We are scheduling meetings for the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas on April 1-3, 2009. We are not planning on having a booth but and will reserving meeting rooms as needed. Please contact us if you are interested in meeting with us about the following:

1) Map licensing
2) Cell tower management companies
3) Carrier partnerships
4) Femtocell marketing and advertising

If you are in the business of improving cell phone coverage for carriers, consumers or business I would like to suggest licensing our maps to better target your customers. Carriers have done a fairly good job at mapping coverage based on drive data. All of the major carriers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars driving around the U.S. measuring coverage. That is great if you are always in your car and talk on your phone outdoors but a growing number of consumers (now >20%) are dropping their land lines and need coverage in their homes and offices.

Today's coverage maps provided by the big carriers provide approximate coverage if you are outdoors but no value if you are indoors. Depending on the construction material and windows in your house your coverage may vary greatly from that of your neighbor. Our coverage complaint maps are designed to be very detailed and users can submit coverage problems in their home or at their office. This data can be very valuable if you are in the cell phone tower management business like American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications. Another similar business like Femtocell providers will eventually be demanding this information as well but this market is still in its infancy.

Our data is also of interest to real estate professionals. Before you buy or lease a house you might want to check for coverage complaints submitted in the neighborhood. Real estate web sites like Zillow and Trulia might soon be licensing our data to help provide more information to shoppers.

The traditional workplace environment is rapidly changing as today’s business professionals become more mobile. Tied to a desk, working the nine to five is no longer the norm as more professionals are on the go, in the field or at customer sites, if not working from home offices.

Among the factors changing the traditional workplace environment:
• Economic and environmental concerns are encouraging companies and business professionals to tele-work. In a recent report, Forrester Research states 21 percent of U.S. adults currently work from their home
• The booming opportunity for global business is here. Over 80 percent of business travel organizers polled at the 2008 Business Travel Show in Dubai believe business travel is set to increase exponentially over the next 12 months.

In these non-traditional work environments, communication tools are also changing. An example of this change is the replacement of landline telephones with cell phones. Research firm Harris Interactive found that one in five U.S. adults do not have landline phone service in their home, with most relying instead on cell phones for communication. In addition, for data communication, the mobility of data card-equipped laptops offers business professionals the flexibility that a cable-tethered computer does not.

Greater mobility is an asset for business professionals; however, current technology is frequently unreliable, and spotty cellular reception often interferes with smooth business communication, leaving professionals without access to e-mail, the Internet or the ability to place important calls. Dropped calls or limited access to a strong cellular signal can potentially ruin a sale, limit productivity and reduce efficiency.

With these challenges, it is important that business professionals adopt the right tools to help maintain seamless professional cellular signal communication in non-traditional work environments.

There are several tools for business professionals to consider, including cellular signal amplifiers and femtocells. Femtocell users, however, should assess the significant technology limitations including user subscription fees, single-carrier access, the necessity for a high-speed Internet connection and the fact that use of femtocells is restricted to homes, offices and other in-building environments. See our blog post on femtocells.

Cellular signal amplifiers (such as those manufactured by Wilson Electronics) do not require a subscriber fee or an Internet connection, fully support multiple carriers on multi-frequency bands, and are available in both mobile and in-building configurations.

As today’s work environments continue to evolve, business professionals require the ability to have flexibility and innovation to keep pace. This includes selecting the right tools enabling them to get the job done. Cellular signal amplifiers are one such tool that can help today’s mobile professionals stay connected and maintain the poise and professionalism the business world demands.

Contributed Blog – Enabling business communication
Contributor: Walt Brooks, Wilson Electronics

The femtocell market has seen a few large investments in recent months, showing that the industry has strong market potential and there are lots of home and commercial dead zones to fix. Prominent players (e.g. Airvana, Ticker: AIRV IPO in July of 2007 for $60M, picoChip $27M, Ubiquisys ($25M) were funded in 2007, the emerging industry appears to be reasonably well capitalized for the turbulent times ahead and growth. Investors are hoping for more commercial deployments of femtocells during the next 12 months, setting the stage for mass market deployments during 2010. Here are a few companies that were successful at raising money in 2008.

October 2008 - Kineto Wireless $15.5M, which includes substantial amounts from NEC and Motorola.

September 2008 - Percello raised $12M to fund development of their femtocell chipset, bringing to $18M the total investment raised.

August 2008 - RadioFrame raised $26M to expand their picocell and femtocell range, bringing investment up to $100M since 2001.

May 2008 - Qualcomm and other venture capitalists invested an undisclosed amount in ip.access

January 2008 - Airwalk received $10M

Updated list from 3G in Home Blog

• Airvana: IPO
• AirWalk: $10 m
• ip.access: strategic investment from ADC, Cisco, Qualcomm
• Kineto: $15.5 million round including Motorola & strategic investment from NEC
• Percello: $12 million
• picoChip: strategic investment from Samsung
• RadioFrame: $28 million
• Tatara: $6.5 million
• Vanu: $32 million
• Ubiquisys: $25 million round including VC money and Google as a strategic investor; further strategic investment from T-Ventures.

DeadCellZones.com sits in a unique position based on our brand recognition and utility to educate the market about femtocell technology as control of in-building-coverage is suddenly in the hands of consumers and not carriers any longer. The masses are still not very familiar with the technology but its starting to trickle down to early adopters and we hope to provide a source of information for these companies where the coverage pain exists.

I apologize in advance for being a bit little off topic but I just had to rant to demonstrate the arrogance of the telecommunications giant Verizon to push consumers around and lie. Apparently business practices in Verizon's land line business is quite similar to their Verizon Wireless practices. Bait and switch coverage!

Hundreds if not thousands of Verizon Fios customers have been scammed by a bait and switch promotional scam. When I signed up in the Spring of 2008 for Verizon FIOS Internet, TV, and Phone service together (Triple Play Bundle) I was offered a Free HDTV, $200 American Express or Best Buy gift card as a promotion if I committed to a 2 year package. 9 months later no gift certificate after 2 follow-up phone calls to Fios Rewards 866-500-2595.

THE GIFT CARD IS IN THE MAIL . . . HA!!! I was told on the phone by a Verizon representative that the $200 American Express Card was in the mail and I should receive it soon. 2 months later and 3 phone calls nothing. Its a blatant lie and SCAM!

Today I was told that I would be credited $35 for the next 6 billing cycles. They say “it might take 1 or 2 billing cycles to be reflected in my bill and I should look for it in January." I made sure to get a confirmation number so this was not turned into a scam as well.

Here is the new scam to look out for at the end of the year as I start noticing my HD channels dissapear. Two FoxHD channels are now gone from my TV because I am not subscribbed. Their new pitch is the "HD Extreme Package" to get this for an extra $10 per month.

It is too bad becuase I really like the Verizon Fios service, channels and DVR. Its too bad that bad business practices can screw up a good product. I would bet that if Carl Icahn or a private equity group took over Verizon company operations they would clean up the "fat" of this industry. I don't think executives at Verizon realize the power of the consumer to come together on the internet and fight for transparency and integrity. I wouldn't be surprised to see a class action law suit and some executives fired over this issue which is starting to bubble up to governmental consumer affairs.

See this web site for more details and other frustrated Verizon Fios customers who have been scamed. www.giftcardblogger.com