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T-Mobile's Good, Bad On Its MapMay 20, 2005 T-Mobile USA is letting its customers -- as well as rivals -- know just how good its mobile phone coverage really is. While all wireless carriers give consumers online and printed coverage maps that illustrate service areas, T-Mobile takes this a step further. It provides street-level, color-coded maps that show where its signal strength is strongest, just so-so or not good. This T-Mobile service lets prospective customers know where service is likely to fade and where dropped calls are most likely. Anyone can look up this data by typing in a ZIP code or address. At first blush, this might not seem like particularly cutting-edge technology. But it is perhaps cutting-edge marketing. No other wireless firm has offered such detailed data, analysts say. Why? Wireless firms haven't been crazy about the idea of letting rivals easily know where their mobile network performs best and worst. Customer FocusT-Mobile, though, has more to gain in winning over new customers than it stands to lose, says Andrew Sherrard, its director of marketing. "We're more focused on the benefit it gives consumers -- setting expectations where they live, work, play -- and less worried about what our competitors do with it," he said. Besides, coverage data aren't all that secret, Sherrard points out. Much of the mobile phone industry relies on the same research firm, Telephia, to provide data on each other's network performance. San Francisco-based Telephia conducts drives all over most big markets in vans and SUVs equipped with mobile phones from all the service providers to test service in many locations. Wireless firms use Telephia's data to confirm internal data on their own networks as well as get the lowdown on rivals, says Telephia spokeswoman Annie Kulleseid. Prospective customers can use T-Mobile's "personal coverage map" online or at its retail stores. The map is designed to be pretty accurate for outdoor cell phone use, but isn't intended to be a bulletproof guide for service inside homes and other buildings. Where signal strength is strongest, voice quality is probably better than average in buildings, T-Mobile says. The map isn't needed, say rivals. They say wireless firms typically give new customers a short grace period. They argue that's the best way to learn about dead spots in neighborhoods or where signals fade. If customers are unhappy after two weeks or so, usually they can cancel. Verizon Wireless gives a 15-day grace period, says company spokesman Tom Pica. Experience Best Teacher"The best way to check out coverage is to try out the service," he said. "Word of mouth -- talking with neighbors and friends" is another good way to learn about network performance. Not so, says T-Mobile's Sherrard. People would rather not be bothered with having to go back to stores to cancel service. The process of signing up for services takes "a lot of time and energy to begin with," he said. "It's disappointing to take something back." Verizon's Pica questions the accuracy of T-Mobile's coverage map and how often it's updated. Verizon Wireless, he says, plans to offer a similar coverage map. Its more general coverage map shows where it has deployed a faster wireless data network, he says. "We're comfortable with the level of detail we provide," he said. Sherrard says T-Mobile, a unit of Germany's Deutsche Telekom, updates its coverage data monthly, sometimes more often. It takes into account network upgrades, such as where T-Mobile installs new radio antennas. This reporter, in the spirit of full disclosure, has been a T-Mobile customer for more than a year. The coverage map did a good job of predicting where signals fade in my neighborhood. I'm not sure the signal strength always is "great" where T-Mobile's coverage map indicates this is so. |
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