CA Highway 74 T-Mobile Cell Phone Coverage

Despite what the map says there is no T-Mobile cell phone coverage in this area of Highway 74.

New Antenna: A Solution For Short Battery Life & Poor Signal

A new piece of research could offer welcome news for smartphone users struggling with poor signals, slow downloads, and short battery life.

Researchers at the Radio Science and Engineering Department at Finland's Aalto University have developed a digital antenna design that is expected to improve reception, data-transfer speed, and power consumption.
Currently, smartphones have multiple antennas that each work with one or several frequencies dedicated to specific smartphone applications, such as cellular reception, GPS, and Bluetooth.

The new method is set to change this approach by combining several small antenna elements together as a single aerial, which can be controlled digitally to operate at any frequency.

Viikari compares this approach to a guitar where a single open string could digitally be made to produce a different note. When one compact antenna can be used for multiple frequencies, it frees up space for the likes of larger touchscreens, thanks to smaller bezels, without sacrificing the phone's performance.

But the new digital method promises to give the antenna greater bandwidth, which results in better radiation efficiency and the 100 to 1,000 times faster data transfer speeds set as an objective for the next-generation of 5G smartphones.  Read more. 

Trump: Do We Need 1,700 FCC Employees?

Agency overview
Employees	1,720
Annual budget	US $388 million (FY 2016, requested)
Agency executive	Thomas Wheeler, Chairman
Website	www.fcc.gov

In staffing his FCC transition team, President-elect Donald Trump has tapped a pair of American Enterprise Institute (AEI) vets and free market de-regulators in Jeffrey Eisenach and Mark Jamison.  Do these guys actually understand what is going on with spectrum hoarding?

It is very important to keep radio spectrum allocation independent of day-to-day political pressures.  Traditionally even deregulatory Republicans conceded there needs to be some spectrum cop on the beat.  But who is actually doing the policing?   Shouldn't we have a free market for spectrum licensing in smaller markets where customers are getting screwed with no coverage?

FCC regulation is about disappointing people at a rate that they can endure. 

The Amazing Google Voice now on iPhone

The "holy grail" of mobile unified communications has finally arrived on the iPhone. It's a solution that ties my email (Gmail), instant messenger (Google Talk), Video Chat, Free SMS, Voicemail (Google Voice), Google Calendar, Google Docs all together into one organized and simple hosted solution. Google Voice VoIP can also fix your coverage by making phone calls on WiFi. 

Highest rated VOIP solution

N.D. Access Pipeline Protesters Claim "Cell Networks Are Jammed"

Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Claim Poor Cell Phone Coverage Here

North Dakota Access Pipeline protesters believe local and State authorities have jammed cellphone coverage during an operation to force activists from a camp they had set up on private land.  However, authorities dispute that, saying the spotty nature of cellphone coverage in the remote area is to blame. More Info.

According to the Deadcellzones.com map of North Dakota there have not been many cell phone coverage complaints in the area submitted to the map.  However, this could be due to the fact that not a lot of people live or commute in this area.  We anticipate after writing this article that coverage complaints will likely be submitted.  Check back soon for an update.

More than 140 people were arrested Thursday during a standoff over a camp set up at the site of a planned pipeline in North Dakota. About 200 activists supporting the Standing Sioux Tribe moved onto the site last weekend, setting up teepees and tents and saying the land is rightfully theirs under a more than century-old treaty, according to CBS affiliate KXMB.  More Info

There are also reports that the State cut off water access to Native Americans protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.  The state supplied two supplemental water tanks as part of ongoing support for tribal protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, but those tanks were removed after they were determined to be at a secondary site outside the state's jurisdiction. More Info

Where is the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest?  Here is a map.

Top 25 Cable Provider Coverage Map

 Some of the prominent cable operators in the U.S. include: