Page 2 of 6 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 79
  1. #16
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Thu, 18 May 2006
    11:29:10 -0500, "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >In alt.cellular.t-mobile John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>
    >> Take Verizon Wireless. Since early 2005, the company has run ads
    >> promoting its network reliability. Some of the ads highlight the fact
    >> that about 100 of the company's engineers drive around the country
    >> making calls to compare Verizon phones with those of other carriers.
    >> Not surprisingly, Verizon has found that it has the best service.
    >>
    >> Funny how you criticize only Cingular when Verizon didn't even use a third
    >> party for its claims.

    >
    >Verizon takes pride in how it gathers this information. I once saw on
    >television what they do with those trucks. They have several phones hooked up
    >in vans which are automated. The driver drives from place to place and they
    >check coverage. Simple.


    All major carriers do this.

    >If Verizon's reputation were such that it was in contrast to what they claim,
    >then I would consider their results to be problematic, but that is not the
    >case. Their claims are backed up by the fact that customers simply like them
    >the best [at the expense of cash in their wallets].


    I respectfully disagree.

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



    See More: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates ConsumerSatisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingularand Sprint tied at the bottom.




  2. #17
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    In alt.cellular.sprintpcs John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >>If Verizon's reputation were such that it was in contrast to what they claim,
    >>then I would consider their results to be problematic, but that is not the
    >>case. Their claims are backed up by the fact that customers simply like them
    >>the best [at the expense of cash in their wallets].

    >
    > I respectfully disagree.
    >


    I am sure you do. So, you discredit most surveys and polls? From a personal
    perspective, I know more people happy with Verizon than the rest. Sprint PCS
    has a few more holes in the system, probably to be expected on PCS (requires a
    denser tower distribution). The GSM carriers tend to have more trouble with
    cutting out and dropped calls, again, this is my experience from people I have
    personally dealt with. Verizon offers CDMA, which makes better use of
    available bandwidth, they cover both 800MHz and some 1900MHz as well as own a
    huge base of licensed spectrum (or they have agreements in place), and couple
    that with proper tower saturation and excellent customer support and I have a
    hard time believing that anybody will beat them on quality and satisfaction
    alone. The big disclaimer I see with Verizon is cost ... they are notoriously
    expensive, but now I see Cingular has headed in that direction as well.

    --
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1




  3. #18
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    In alt.cellular.sprintpcs John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > True. In addition, given the low response rate, it's subject to non-response
    > bias.
    >


    That is an inaccurate statement! Per your own posting of cited information,
    it MAY be subject to non-response bias. Further, it should be fairly easy,
    with other data, to confirm non-response bias, but I have not seen this done.
    A large random sample could very well still be only a couple of percent of
    customers, remain statistically valid and not suffer non-response bias.

    --
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1




  4. #19
    Steven M. O'Neill
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    Thomas T. Veldhouse <[email protected]> wrote:
    >The big disclaimer I see with Verizon is cost ... they are notoriously
    >expensive, but now I see Cingular has headed in that direction as well.


    Verizon lost me as a customer when they immediately stopped my
    service when my auto-pay credit card got a new expiration date
    and I didn't tell them quickly enough.

    You'd think they'd call or email first to see what was going on.
    Nope.

    But what really got me steamed is that they had no problem
    shutting it off instantly, but to get it turned back on required
    5 days or some garbage like that.

    (Plus, I love my Sidekick now.)

    --
    Steven O'Neill [email protected]
    Brooklyn, NY



  5. #20
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    In alt.cellular.t-mobile Steven M. O'Neill <[email protected]> wrote:
    > Thomas T. Veldhouse <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>The big disclaimer I see with Verizon is cost ... they are notoriously
    >>expensive, but now I see Cingular has headed in that direction as well.

    >
    > Verizon lost me as a customer when they immediately stopped my
    > service when my auto-pay credit card got a new expiration date
    > and I didn't tell them quickly enough.


    I am not defending Verizon at all here, but, lesson learned about Autopay.
    The only autopay I have ever used is BlockBuster Online. I recently had my
    credit card information stolen and fraudulently used (apparently by some
    asshole in rec.photo.digital ... investigators are digging) and I promptly had
    that card killed, but you have to be aware of autopays to get them fixed ASAP
    (and I did). I don't trust auto-pay and never have, because the
    responsibility of paying the proper amount is on the biller and not the payer,
    and that to me is a signficant vulnerbility to a system failure or criminal
    activity ... or just plain mistakes.

    >
    > You'd think they'd call or email first to see what was going on.


    I don't think so, although I would think they would give you grace if your
    credit rating is high enough (if your rating is low, I would cut your off
    immediately too).

    > Nope.
    >
    > But what really got me steamed is that they had no problem
    > shutting it off instantly, but to get it turned back on required
    > 5 days or some garbage like that.
    >


    Yes, that is insane, as you can walk into any store and have it activated
    immediately. So, how did you pay when you reactivated? 5 days sounds like
    the time it takes a check to clear.

    --
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1




  6. #21
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report EvaluatesConsumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings,Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:

    > Verizon takes pride in how it gathers this information. I once saw on
    > television what they do with those trucks. They have several phones hooked up
    > in vans which are automated. The driver drives from place to place and they
    > check coverage. Simple.


    Yeah, I saw that same show. However I recall that someone complained
    that they used external antennas on the van, which was unrealistic,
    though it would have the same advantage for any carrier's phone that
    they were testing.

    The Cingular test was so bogus that even the company that they paid to
    do the test had to issue a statement that disputed Cingular's claims. I
    don't ever recall something like that happening before. Of course,
    technically Cingular never claimed to have the best coverage, they just
    claimed to have the fewest dropped calls, and those are unrelated
    metrics. Remember Sprint's ads claiming the largest all-digital network
    (well yeah, the only all-digital competitor is T-Mobile).

    > If Verizon's reputation were such that it was in contrast to what they claim,
    > then I would consider their results to be problematic, but that is not the
    > case. Their claims are backed up by the fact that customers simply like them
    > the best [at the expense of cash in their wallets].


    Everyone agrees that Verizon has already won the debate over who has the
    best network service. Analysts say that Sprint and Cingular should find
    "other, more distinct messages to send to consumers," noting the JD
    Power and Consumer Reports surveys that clearly show Verizon to have the
    best coverage.



  7. #22
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report EvaluatesConsumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings,Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:

    > If Verizon's reputation were such that it was in contrast to what they claim,
    > then I would consider their results to be problematic, but that is not the
    > case. Their claims are backed up by the fact that customers simply like them
    > the best [at the expense of cash in their wallets].


    I think that the portrayal of Verizon as the most expensive network is
    not accurate. First, they have the second lowest ARPU (they had the
    lowest until recently, but Cingular's ARPU is falling faster than
    Verizon's). Second, they have a lot more discount programs. I'm getting
    20% off my bill, my wife gets 18% off (all the discounts may be one
    reason that their ARPU is so low). Third, if you want prepaid, Verizon's
    MVNO, PagePlus has the best rates and coverage of any prepaid provider.

    If you want gobs or peak minutes, on a poor network, you can use
    T-Mobile, but the pricing for Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint is pretty
    close.



  8. #23
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report EvaluatesConsumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings,Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    Steven M. O'Neill wrote:
    > Thomas T. Veldhouse <[email protected]> wrote:
    >> The big disclaimer I see with Verizon is cost ... they are notoriously
    >> expensive, but now I see Cingular has headed in that direction as well.

    >
    > Verizon lost me as a customer when they immediately stopped my
    > service when my auto-pay credit card got a new expiration date
    > and I didn't tell them quickly enough.
    >
    > You'd think they'd call or email first to see what was going on.


    I had my credit card expire on Verizon, and I noticed it when the bill
    came with a past due balance. Yeah, it would be nice for them to call,
    SMS, or e-mail. I'm really surprised that they'd cut off service for that.



  9. #24
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report EvaluatesConsumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings,Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:

    > I don't trust auto-pay and never have, because the
    > responsibility of paying the proper amount is on the biller and not the payer,
    > and that to me is a signficant vulnerbility to a system failure or criminal
    > activity ... or just plain mistakes.


    You should never do autopay from a checking account of course, but from
    a credit card you do have enough protection, and it's very convenient.



  10. #25
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Thu, 18 May 2006 12:40:30 -0500,
    "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >In alt.cellular.sprintpcs John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>
    >>>If Verizon's reputation were such that it was in contrast to what they claim,
    >>>then I would consider their results to be problematic, but that is not the
    >>>case. Their claims are backed up by the fact that customers simply like them
    >>>the best [at the expense of cash in their wallets].

    >>
    >> I respectfully disagree.

    >
    >I am sure you do. So, you discredit most surveys and polls?


    Did I say that? No. But to be (even more) clear:

    * I don't put any stock in surveys and polls conducted by the entity
    benefitting from the results.

    * I don't put much stock in surveys and polls paid for by the entity
    benefitting from the results.

    * I take with a grain of salt surveys and polls with poor methodology; e.g.,
    small sample size; self-selected (non-random) sample; non-uniform universe;
    low response rate; no assessment of non-response bias.

    * I take note of the margin of error.

    >From a personal
    >perspective, I know more people happy with Verizon than the rest.


    My own experience is that all major carriers are roughly comparable in terms
    of customer satisfaction, that differences are relatively small.

    >Sprint PCS
    >has a few more holes in the system, probably to be expected on PCS (requires a
    >denser tower distribution).


    In metro areas there is no significant technology difference (due to less than
    maximum range spacing), and even in non-metro areas the difference, due to
    shorter range from lower permitted maximum power for 1900 MHz, tends to be
    relatively small:

    * Maximum power in the 800 band is 3 watts.
    * Maximum power in the 1900 band is 2 watts.

    It's not intuitively obvious, but that's only about 18% less range for 1900,
    and then only when range is limited only by power (not by terrain).

    >The GSM carriers tend to have more trouble with
    >cutting out and dropped calls, again, this is my experience from people I have
    >personally dealt with.


    My own experience, and that of many others, is different.

    Both GSM and CDMA have pros and cons; e.g.,

    * CDMA cell "breathing" can result in degraded quality and dropped calls.

    * TDMA (GSM) can drop calls when moving to a cell running at full capacity.

    This of course varies from location to location, but carriers work hard to
    minimize such problems, and both technologies work well in general.

    >Verizon offers CDMA, which makes better use of
    >available bandwidth,


    The difference is small, and irrelevant from a subscriber standpoint.

    >they cover both 800MHz and some 1900MHz as well as own a
    >huge base of licensed spectrum (or they have agreements in place), and couple
    >that with proper tower saturation and excellent customer support and I have a
    >hard time believing that anybody will beat them on quality and satisfaction
    >alone.


    As of a couple of years ago, Verizon actually had the least spectrum per
    subscriber of the major carriers, and Cingular gained considerable spectrum
    and favorable tower locations as a result of the merger with ATTWS, but much
    has changed since then, and I know of no reliable public data on the current
    situation.

    >The big disclaimer I see with Verizon is cost ...


    Another is the lack of mobile device flexibility as compared to the open
    SIM-based GSM standard, as well as more limited device configuration.

    >they are notoriously
    >expensive, but now I see Cingular has headed in that direction as well.


    That's likely because Cingular has become more competitive with Verizon
    (amount of corporate resources, economy of scale, number of subscribers,
    spectrum, towers, etc.) as a result of the merger with ATTWS. (As the
    smallest of the major carriers, T-Mobile is still buying market share.)

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



  11. #26
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Thu, 18 May 2006 12:43:12 -0500,
    "Thomas T. Veldhouse" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >In alt.cellular.sprintpcs John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>
    >> True. In addition, given the low response rate, it's subject to non-response
    >> bias.

    >
    >That is an inaccurate statement! Per your own posting of cited information,
    >it MAY be subject to non-response bias.


    It definitely is "subject" to non-response bias given the small sample size.
    What's unknown is the *amount* of non-response bias.

    >Further, it should be fairly easy,
    >with other data, to confirm non-response bias, but I have not seen this done.


    The only sure way to measure and/or eliminate non-response bias is to compare
    characteristics of response and non-response groups; e.g., by high-response
    interviewing of both groups, a time-consuming and expensive process.

    >A large random sample could very well still be only a couple of percent of
    >customers, remain statistically valid and not suffer non-response bias.


    The issue is the response rate, not the size of the sample. The problem of
    non-response bias is associated with low response rates, and can't be
    eliminated just by taking a larger sample.

    NON-RESPONSE BIAS
    If you try to survey 100 people, and 40 of them don't respond, those 40
    could be different in some important way from the 60 who did respond.
    That's non-response bias - a problem often ignored in survey research.
    Non-response bias can be estimated by comparing data on the current sample
    with other data (e.g. from a Census) on the same population.
    <http://www.audiencedialogue.org/gloss-data.html>

    NONRESPONSE BIAS ANALYSES AT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
    In surveys with low response rates, non-response bias can be a major
    concern. While it is not always possible to measure the actual bias
    due to non-response, there are different approaches that help
    identify potential sources of non-response bias. In the National
    Center for Education Statistics (NCES), SURVEYS WITH A RESPONSE RATE
    LOWER THAN 70% MUST CONDUCT A NON-RESPONSE BIAS ANALYSIS. This paper
    discusses the different approaches to non-response bias analyses
    using examples from NCES. [emphasis added]
    <http://www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=11-522-X20010016269>

    See also:

    * Berg, N. Non-response bias, In Kempf-Leonard, K. (ed.), Encyclopedia
    of Social Measurement vol. 2, pp. 865-873, London, Academic Press.

    <http://www.utdallas.edu/~nberg/Berg_ARTICLES/BergNon-ResponseBiasMay2002.pdf>

    * Investigating non-response bias in a survey of disablement in the
    community: implications for survey methodology, A Tennant and EM Badley
    ARC Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
    <http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/3/247>

    * A confidence interval approach to investigating non-response bias and
    monitoring response to postal questionnaires, A Tennant and EM Badley
    ARC Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
    <http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/1/81>

    * National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey III,
    Accounting For Item Nonresponse Bias, Westat, Inc.

    <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes3/cdrom/NCHS/MANUALS/NR_BIAS.PDF>

    * Research Paper: Low Response Rates and Their Effects on Survey Results

    <http://www.sch.abs.gov.au/SCH%5CA1610103.NSF/0/3CE43BABF8BBF59DCA256B7C0001AEA4?OpenDocument=>

    * "A White Paper on Research Sampling" by Insight MAS
    <http://www.insightmas.com/documents/WhitePaper-Sampling.pdf>

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



  12. #27
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Thu, 18 May 2006 11:01:04
    -0700, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:
    >
    >> Verizon takes pride in how it gathers this information. I once saw on
    >> television what they do with those trucks. They have several phones hooked up
    >> in vans which are automated. The driver drives from place to place and they
    >> check coverage. Simple.

    >
    >Yeah, I saw that same show. However I recall that someone complained
    >that they used external antennas on the van, which was unrealistic,
    >though it would have the same advantage for any carrier's phone that
    >they were testing.


    Funny how you criticize only Cingular when Verizon didn't even use a third
    party for its claims.

    >The Cingular test was so bogus that even the company that they paid to
    >do the test had to issue a statement that disputed Cingular's claims.
    >[SNIP]


    Yet another fabrication. What it actually said:

    In a letter sent on Monday to the four largest wireless companies,
    Telephia confirmed that Cingular had a "statistically significant
    lower dropped-call rate than the competition across some market/time
    period groupings." But Telephia also said it had "no knowledge of the
    specific methodology (markets, time periods or statistical
    thresholds) Cingular used to reach the nationwide 'lowest dropped
    call' conclusion."

    >> If Verizon's reputation were such that it was in contrast to what they claim,
    >> then I would consider their results to be problematic, but that is not the
    >> case. Their claims are backed up by the fact that customers simply like them
    >> the best [at the expense of cash in their wallets].

    >
    >Everyone agrees that Verizon has already won the debate over who has the
    >best network service. Analysts say that Sprint and Cingular should find
    >"other, more distinct messages to send to consumers," noting the JD
    >Power and Consumer Reports surveys that clearly show Verizon to have the
    >best coverage.


    All they actually show, given their limitations, is that differences between
    major carriers are small.

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



  13. #28
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Thu, 18 May 2006 11:11:57
    -0700, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:
    >
    >> If Verizon's reputation were such that it was in contrast to what they claim,
    >> then I would consider their results to be problematic, but that is not the
    >> case. Their claims are backed up by the fact that customers simply like them
    >> the best [at the expense of cash in their wallets].

    >
    >I think that the portrayal of Verizon as the most expensive network is
    >not accurate. First, they have the second lowest ARPU (they had the
    >lowest until recently,


    Has nothing to do with price. Might well be the result in population
    differences.

    >but Cingular's ARPU is falling faster than
    >Verizon's).


    Thanks to increased use of resellers, particularly the switch of Radio Shack
    from Verizon to Cingular.

    >If you want gobs or peak minutes, on a poor network, you can use
    >T-Mobile, ...


    The difference is relatively small and T-Mobile is actually pretty good,
    particularly in major metro areas. Even your favorite surveys show that.

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



  14. #29
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    In alt.cellular.sprintpcs SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    > Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:
    >
    >> I don't trust auto-pay and never have, because the
    >> responsibility of paying the proper amount is on the biller and not the payer,
    >> and that to me is a signficant vulnerbility to a system failure or criminal
    >> activity ... or just plain mistakes.

    >
    > You should never do autopay from a checking account of course, but from
    > a credit card you do have enough protection, and it's very convenient.


    You *usually* have enough protection. It depends completely on the company.
    Often you are responsible for the first x number of dollars ... or you are not
    responsible for anything after the reported date ... yada yada.

    My point though is that they can have a glitch, or a billing error and bill
    you for FAR more than you owe. If you are on auto-pay, that money is taken
    from you and you fight to get it back, usually with a significant wait that
    amounts to a credit on your next bill. If they make such an error and you get
    a paper bill, then you are not out anything and you can call and get the bill
    fixed BEFORE you pay it.

    --
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1




  15. #30
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Guest

    Re: American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Report Evaluates Consumer Satisfaction with Wireless Carriers. T-Mobile and Verizon top ratings, Cingular and Sprint tied at the bottom.

    In alt.cellular.sprintpcs John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > Did I say that? No. But to be (even more) clear:
    >
    > * I don't put any stock in surveys and polls conducted by the entity
    > benefitting from the results.
    >


    You are a naturally distrustful person apparently. It is entirely within the
    realm of reason that a company will conduct such "polling" or review so that
    they can maintain the quality of their product. It is a truly self-serving
    interest as to why they do it. In that case, the information is as accurate
    as they need it to be and would serve no purpose to have it skewed. I am not
    saying that is the case in general, but I do believe that is the reasoning
    behind Verizon's field trucks checking coverage and call quality.

    > * I don't put much stock in surveys and polls paid for by the entity
    > benefitting from the results.
    >


    My comments above apply here as well.

    > * I take with a grain of salt surveys and polls with poor methodology; e.g.,
    > small sample size; self-selected (non-random) sample; non-uniform universe;
    > low response rate; no assessment of non-response bias.
    >


    Your assumption is that a given test did not have such assessments, when in
    fact, all you really know is that you don't have that information.

    > * I take note of the margin of error.
    >


    As should everybody.

    >>From a personal
    >>perspective, I know more people happy with Verizon than the rest.

    >
    > My own experience is that all major carriers are roughly comparable in terms
    > of customer satisfaction, that differences are relatively small.
    >


    I would disagree there. I have some friends who swear Cingular is "alright"
    if you don't have to call them ... but watch out if you do. I have heard this
    about Verizon as well when it comes to billing.

    >>Sprint PCS
    >>has a few more holes in the system, probably to be expected on PCS (requires a
    >>denser tower distribution).

    >
    > In metro areas there is no significant technology difference (due to less than
    > maximum range spacing), and even in non-metro areas the difference, due to
    > shorter range from lower permitted maximum power for 1900 MHz, tends to be
    > relatively small:
    >
    > * Maximum power in the 800 band is 3 watts.
    > * Maximum power in the 1900 band is 2 watts.
    >


    All cells that overlap cause increases in noise, and thus generally reduce the
    number of concurrent calls and total bandwidth available. However CDMA has
    the ability to communicate with multiple towers simultaneously during a call,
    where GSM must hand-off between individual towers. CDMA is simply more
    efficient with bandwidth, and has greater error correction, both of which
    means more calls in similar RF conditions.

    > It's not intuitively obvious, but that's only about 18% less range for 1900,
    > and then only when range is limited only by power (not by terrain).
    >
    >>The GSM carriers tend to have more trouble with
    >>cutting out and dropped calls, again, this is my experience from people I have
    >>personally dealt with.

    >
    > My own experience, and that of many others, is different.
    >
    > Both GSM and CDMA have pros and cons; e.g.,
    >
    > * CDMA cell "breathing" can result in degraded quality and dropped calls.
    >


    cell breathing is the result of decreased SNR. With GSM, you get whole
    channels. With CDMA it works more like IP packets. Essentially, what this
    means is that with an decreased SNR amounts to a reduced radius of coverage
    with CDMA. THe SNR is caused by call volume. With GSM, you simply run out of
    channels and callers get "no service". The overall number of users possible
    on a CDMA system is larger than is possible on GSM due to the finer
    resolutions of data transfer capable with CDMA.


    > * TDMA (GSM) can drop calls when moving to a cell running at full capacity.
    >
    > This of course varies from location to location, but carriers work hard to
    > minimize such problems, and both technologies work well in general.
    >


    I indicate this above .. GSM and TDMA are simply out of channels. With CDMA,
    it is just a matter of noise (SNR). If there is a high enough SNR to send
    data at a fast enough rate to make a call, then you can connect.

    >>Verizon offers CDMA, which makes better use of
    >>available bandwidth,

    >
    > The difference is small, and irrelevant from a subscriber standpoint.


    Care to back that up? Remember to use a recent number, as CDMA 1x Voice is
    the current deployement and all but the oldest of CDMA phones use it. GSM is
    ancient technology that didn't anticipate the data resolutions possible in
    later technology that CDMA utilizes.

    >
    > As of a couple of years ago, Verizon actually had the least spectrum per
    > subscriber of the major carriers, and Cingular gained considerable spectrum
    > and favorable tower locations as a result of the merger with ATTWS, but much
    > has changed since then, and I know of no reliable public data on the current
    > situation.


    Indeed ... but Verizon has agreements with many others, thus increasing the
    effective capacity, which is all that matters to the user. Do you really care
    if you are on Verizon's or Alltel's network as long as all the features exist
    for you (that is a big if)?

    >
    >>The big disclaimer I see with Verizon is cost ...

    >
    > Another is the lack of mobile device flexibility as compared to the open
    > SIM-based GSM standard, as well as more limited device configuration.
    >


    I think that really has less to do with CDMA and more to do with hardware
    implementation choices.

    >>they are notoriously
    >>expensive, but now I see Cingular has headed in that direction as well.

    >
    > That's likely because Cingular has become more competitive with Verizon
    > (amount of corporate resources, economy of scale, number of subscribers,
    > spectrum, towers, etc.) as a result of the merger with ATTWS. (As the
    > smallest of the major carriers, T-Mobile is still buying market share.)
    >


    Yes, they are the top dog by sheer numbers of customers. However, take a look
    at other things, like attrition of the market. Mergers have immediate effects
    on numbers, but equilibrium is where the numbers have true meaning.

    BTW ... you are clearly a Cingular supporter, absolutely no doubt judging by
    your comments here. I don't advise denying that in the future.

    --
    Thomas T. Veldhouse
    Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1




  • Similar Threads




  • Page 2 of 6 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast