Cell Tower Info Blog

Consumer Reports annual review of wireless carriers shows Verizon best of "bad bunch"

The news is out- Verizon is listed as the top carrier by Consumer Reports. I am sure that we will see a number of press releases from various carriers who were not number one claiming that the testing was flawed or exhorting virtues that Consumer Reports did not mention. (Like Sprint's Used To Be the Largest All Digital Network)

Consumer Reports did not like the mergers of Cingular/AT&T or Nextel/Sprint as they decrease competition and up the potential for confusion when customers are forced to switch new plans.

What is suprising is that T-Mobile is ranked second across the nation. My personal experience with T-Mobile has been that outside of major cities it's coverage was poor.

What is not suprising is that in light of those factors reviewed: area service coverage, dropped calls, static and busy circuits, that the carriers were only rated mediocre. As I have not read the whole Consumer Reports article, I don't know if they mention any of the reasons why these failures occur. Anyone who has performed site acquisition or led a zoning hearing knows that the preferred technical location for a tower is often not the actual location where it ends up. And the everpresent NIMBY's who certainly answered the survey in a negative fashion that Consumer Reports used to create its findings are the same people that bemoan any tower.

posted by Steel in the Air @ 1:36 PM