The TeleInterActive Lifestyle

From the San Francisco Chronicle on sfgate.com "Verizon CEO sounds off on Wi-Fi, customer gripes Seidenberg also explains phone company's reasons for wanting to buy MCI"

Seidenberg, for instance, said people often complain about mobile phone service because they have unrealistic expectations about a wireless service working everywhere. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, is the state's largest mobile phone provider.

"Why in the world would you think your (cell) phone would work in your house?" he said. "The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator; they want it to work in the basement."

Seidenberg said it's not Verizon's responsibility to correct the misconception by giving out statistics on how often Verizon's service works inside homes or by distributing more detailed coverage maps, showing all the possible dead zones. He pointed out that there are five major wireless networks, none of which works perfectly everywhere.

Wow. There is so much material in this great article by Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writer, Saturday, April 16, 2005, from municiple WiFi to political machinations. I want to focus on those unreasonable expectations that I've quoted above.

Hmm. One of our board members took on the role of CEO with a company that has offices here in the Silicon Valley and in India. His most memorable experience from his first trip to India was the consistent and ubiquitous cell phone coverage.

My neighbor, who uses Sprint, must leave his house, and go outside to one and only one, street corner to get a signal. I use Cingular [actually CellularOne that was eaten by ATT Wireless now Cingular] and my signal in my house ranges from "No Network" to three bars. My partner, also now on Cingular, has no signal when she visits here. My parents, on Verizon, live downstairs and they range from one to three bars. Isn't it enjoyable to sit in a chair and watch the signal meter on your phone bounce around from naught to full WHILE YOU ARE PERFECTLY STILL?

There really needs to be a better way to determine, other than the two week trial period, if the phone you want from the provider you want will work where you want consistently. Actually, we're working on a way, but we can't talk about it yet. After all, how can you live the TeleInterActive Lifestyle without a signal? This article was just too good to pass up though.