March 2014

Largest Arena Naming Rights Deals

Top 20 Arena Naming Rights Deals

Verizon & AT&T Have Spent Millions on Naming Rights Deals. I can't tell you how many times I have heard reporters say the stadium has no reception or connectivity. Last night Patrick O'Neal from Fox Sports West was covering the Los Angeles Kings playing the Washington Capitals at the "Verizon Center" in Washington DC. @Patrick_Oneal was frustrated on the broadcast he was not able to get updates on scores and probably connect to social media while at the game.

Common sense would tell you that if you are a carrier owning naming rights to a stadium you would go out of your way to provide the best coverage. However, reception and network data congestion at stadiums is still a huge problem despite efforts install more antennas, WiFI and DAS. Here is list of naming rights sponsor ships that shows you its all about marketing and not about providing quality service. Here is another example of AT&T Cowboy Stadium cell reception problems. I am curious how the reception is at the AT&T Center in San Antonio?

Here is a map of Stadiums and Arenas around the world.

J.D. Power Call Quality Performance Study

I question the size, qualification and transparency of survey participants in this latest J.D. Power Call Quality study. I have many questions with regards to the relevance of the latest wireless study from a survey that only reaches 27,754 customers. The headline of the study says, "The Gap in Call Quality Performance among Carriers Narrows" when they have only surveyed .011% of the 260,000,000 million U.S. mobile phone users (Wikipedia).

The 2009 JD Power Wireless Call Quality Performance Study—Volume 1 is based on responses from 27,754 wireless customers. The study was fielded between July and December 2008. The semi-annual study measures wireless call quality based on seven problem areas that impact overall carrier performance: dropped calls; static/interference; failed connection on the first try; voice distortion; echoes; no immediate voicemail notification; and no immediate text message notification.

I would bet a large portion of the 27,754 survey participants are college students or people out of work looking to make an extra buck. Does that qualify them to take such as survey just because they have the extra time on their hands? I think this study could provide more value to consumers and carriers if they were to actually survey those customers who were actually having coverage problems in the past and could reference specific improvements in their local network. It's actually quite easy to find disgruntaled wireless customers if you simply do a Twitter search on "AT&T Coverage", "Verizon Coverage", "Sprint Coverage", "T-Mobile Coverage" or go to Deadcellzones.com. I think the big carriers need to start doing a better job of sourcing customer service information from customers and companies like DeadCellZones.com can help.

In general call quality has likely improved but where, when, on what devices and for whom? What value does that provide to consumers who are still having 3G data issues with their iPhone's etc. If you missed that latest call qualify woes for AT&T at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin see this article in CNET, Geeks depart, but AT&T's SXSW coverage sucks.

The study also reveals interesting trends on calling activity: 52% of all wireless calls are made indoors today, while only 40% of calls in 2003 were made indoors. 30% of wireless calls take place at home, 12% at work, and 10% inside other structures, such as shopping malls. In 2009, the average number of text message notifications per month is nearly 100—more than double the amount reported just 1 year ago of 47.

Don't Give Up Your Unlimited Mobile Data Plan

Consumers and service providers alike, are thrilled about the future, most notably in the exciting implications of a ‘connected world’. Consequently, reasoning between the two groups will most certainly vary. Mobile users, listen to my words - DO NOT GIVE UP YOUR UNLIMITED DATA PLAN. Sure T-Mobile and others still offer it, but the cellular savvy knows that other companies like Verizon and AT&T are essential ‘where it’s at. For starters, carefully scrutinize all ‘new offers’, weighing your decision before taking an attractive subsidy on a free phone, rendering your hard-earned unlimited data plan moot by being forced into a tiered/family plan. There are a number of paths to go here, and in this case, I’d recommend the one less traveled for the purposes of saving money and long-term entrapment.

By all means, continue to enjoy HD video, rich media, and robust offerings – with discretion and planning of course. Naturally, all of these great things consume exorbitant amounts of data, and it's especially difficult to keep track of such usage since these numbers are not as cut and dry as minutes. Though companies like AT&T and Verizon offer online data calculators to give ballpark figures for data use, it is hardly an exact science. Alas, you may quickly find yourself speeding towards or exceeding your cap, racking up an exorbitant bill in the process (Note: AT&T and Verizon charge $10 per GB in overages) All things considered, it’s simply impossible to keep track of usage progressively, with apps running in the background and data spikes incurred from streaming high definition video or audio – so what’s the problem if I’m holding onto my unlimited data plan, you ask?

Well, big providers have mulled this over for a long time, and are truly never losing on the infinite media playground. In fact, both AT&T and Verizon were found to have throttled the top 5 percent of data users. Once you’ve been marked as a heavy data user, your access will be slowed during congested network times to free up bandwidth. What does this mean? It means you should definitely use Wi-Fi hotspots wherever possible to bypass the provider network. In the event you need to upgrade in the future, make sure your phone supports 4G LTE (with more becoming available as the technology matures). The reasoning for this? In short, unlimited users will not have to deal with that limit as both Verizon and AT&T have noted handling of less than half their mobile data traffic on the 4G LTE network last year – this equates to less network strain, higher efficiency in data streaming, and zero governance over the enjoyment of a right you’ve earned - unlimited data.

Still, the number of unlimited data customers is beginning to dwindle – while usage is predicted to grow 13-fold over the next half-decade, according to Cisco. In the report, the networking giant predicted that mobile data traffic will expand to about 46 times the total amount of mobile IP traffic since 2010, with more than 10 billion connected devices by 2017. In the meantime, service providers will continue to throw out lines with attractive offers attached to lure consumers into abandoning their boundless access which will cost them and not you in due time [better yet, cost them less while costing you the same].

For now, companies are trapped into continuing to offer unlimited data to existing customers by abiding to the original terms of the contract or face legal backlash. The catch-22 is that this long-time, loyal subscribers won’t be able to fully enjoy new rollouts with an outdated phone that struggles to run them. I offer this advice: for the avid user of advanced features (who still has an unlimited data plan), it simply makes sense to hold on tight to that infinite data allowance by purchasing new devices on eBay (or comparable online marketplace) for a one-time fee and selling old ones to mitigate the total cost. For the rest of us, high expectations are going to naturally come with likewise prices. Without vigilance, the term pays now or pay later comes to mind in more than a literal sense. Whatever your circumstances, I wish you the best.

This article was written by Michael Roden, a VoIP Enthusiast & writer at GetVoIP.com, a VoIP Provider directory and service comparison guide.

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