Re: cell phones

From: Ken Poulton (poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis)
Date: Thu Jun 08 1995 - 14:04:53 PDT


Received: from zonker-fddi.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA03260; Thu, 8 Jun 1995 14:04:58 -0700
Return-Path: <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>
Received: by zonker.hpl.hp.com (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA11137; Thu, 8 Jun 1995 14:04:53 -0700
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 14:04:53 -0700
From: Ken Poulton <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>
Message-Id: <9506082104.AA11137@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>
To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
Subject: Re: cell phones


> any suggestions on cell phones ? Issues
> include coverage areas, service plans (free minutes v. per minute
> charges), etc... I'm particularly concerned about these rural drop-out
> areas like Waddell, San Luis, etc..., since that's when it's hardest to
> find a pay phone. For those of you that can get service in these areas,
> are you on Cellular One or GTE? Digital or analog?

[ Since this is probably of some general interest... ]

My car phone (and I suspect most cell phones) can be programmed to
prefer one service, but use the other if necessary. So for occasional
use, it's not critical which carrier you have.

Car phones generally have higher transmit power, so they should work
better in marginal areas.

Digital cell service is apparently *worse* quality than analog.
There is a small price break in service charges.

There are several cellular service resellers around; I use ComTech.
They charge me the same rates as the real carriers, but would allow me
to switch between them w/o a charge.

Ken Poulton
poulton@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis

"Eighty percent of air pollution comes from plants and trees."
                                        -- Ronald Reagan, famous movie star



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Dec 10 2001 - 02:29:23 PST