Jonathan Kramer on Wireless Tower Siting » Texting

T-Mobile Gunning for MetroPCS and Cricket?

Jonathan Kramer — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:51:33 +0000

In what seems like a frontal assult on MetroPCS and Cricket, T-Mobile has quietly rolled-out a customer loyalty program: If you’ve been with T-Mobile for at least 22 months, you can signup for a $50/month nationwide voice service.

This type of pricing would be an interesting run on MetroPCS and Cricket, which offer all-you-can-eat fixed pricing, but with limited service areas (go outside and you pay hefty roaming fees on those two networks).

No, the T-Mobile program doesn’t offer data (you can get that for another $35/month), but if you’re a traveler and do nt use da ph 4 txting then it’s a good deal.

Jonathan

No, I can’t hear you on Inauguration Day

Jonathan Kramer — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:19:37 +0000

Reporting on the massive cell phone congestion during today’s inauguration of President Obama, the Associated Press reported that call traffic was up 500% from normal for several carriers.

Big surprise.

The carriers are asking people wanting to transfer photos from their phone’s camera to wait to let the data traffic drop back to normal levels.

. . . → Read More: No, I can’t hear you on Inauguration Day

CTIA 2 DC vistrs..Pls txt..dont call.

Jonathan Kramer — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:02:58 +0000

In a copyrighted story appearing in the January 19, 2009 issue of WirelessWeek, Monica Alleven reports that that the wireless carriers in D.C. are expecting record-breaking crowds for the Obama inauguration, and with it big-time network congestion.

The CTIA suggests that visitors in D.C. text, rather than make voice calls, to help reduce network overloads. As Monica notes in her story, “One of the things SMS has going for it is it uses a small amount of bandwidth compared with voice.”

The story is well worth reading!

Jonathan