@jbtaylor on tech

Earlier today, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) was named chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications and the Internet. He tweeted the news using Morse code:

Saying this:

.-- .. .-.. .-.. / -.-. .... .- .. .-. / -.-. --- -- -- / .- -. -.. / - . -.-. .... / ... ..- -... / --... ...-- ... / .-- --... . --.- ..

The translation, according to http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html is:

"WILL CHAIR COMM AND TECH SUB 73S W7EQI"

What's the 73S W7EQI, you ask? That's Rep. Walden's ham radio operator signal. He's an enthusiast.

So in that spirit, here's my personal message to Chairman Walden and his team:

-.-. --- -. --. .-. .- - ..- .-.. .- - .. --- -. ... .-.-.- / ... --- -- . .... --- .-- --..-- / .. / - .... .. -. -.- / -.-- --- ..- .-. / .... . .- .-. .. -. --. ... / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / -... . / ..-. ..- -. .-.-.- / - .... .- -. -.- ... / ..-. --- .-. / - .... .- - 

All –

The Consumer Reports annual cell phone issue, “Best New Cell Phones & Plans” (January 2011) has hit newsstands and Consumer Reports readers rank Sprint as the best wireless carrier in Washington, D.C.

As the magazine does every year, this issue covers the best phones, services & plans, as well as network coverage in 23 cities. The ratings are based on responses from more than 58,000 Consumer Reports subscribers surveyed in September 2010. The survey did not take into account the formal launch of Sprint 4G, which debuted in Washington, D.C, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland on Nov. 29.

The key results are:

• Sprint’s overall reader score (which reflects readers’ overall satisfaction with their cell phone service including value, voice, data and customer support) improved six points from last year’s issue to 73. This score now puts Sprint in a statistical tie with Verizon (scored a 74) for second place (note that this year U.S. Cellular received the top spot with 82 points (although they were not rated in the majority of the markets.)
• Sprint is the only major carrier to have shown improvement in its reader scores last year and since 2008.
• The lowest ranked carrier is AT&T with a score of 60. AT&T also ranked in last place in every one of the 23 cities surveyed.
• Consumer Reports writes that Sprint and Verizon are the best choices overall for most people. “These are the highest-scoring nationally available carriers for contract service. Verizon has an edge in voice service overall. Sprint scored better in some aspects of customer service, which is a remarkable turnaround from past years when that was a weak point for the company.”
• In the smart phones ratings, Sprint was ranked second (behind Verizon) in terms of user satisfaction. The magazine’s readers ranked the Epic 4G as one of the best smart phones, with the EVO 4G and Intercept placing in 2nd and 3rd place.
• On wireless plans: the magazine considers Sprint’s Everything Data plans the “smart choice.”

Here’s a chart that shows Sprint’s progress in the Consumer Reports survey nationally since 2008.

While we still have more work to do, we see this news as further evidence that our work to improve the customer experience is starting to pay off.

If you use a wireless phone, it's likely you're using it for more than just a phone. If you're like most people I know, you're using a lot of data, too.

For some time now, the FCC has required wireless carriers to offer just and reasonable rates on voice roaming. It's now considering making the same requirement for data roaming.

Pretty much everyone in the wireless industry supports this move, except for... wait for it... that's right: AT&T and Verizon. They want to increase their 60% market share and one way to do it is to charge competitors excessive rates for data roaming. If smaller carriers can't offer a smart phone which can be used nationally, it will be increasingly hard to compete.

The wireless companies who support the FCC's data roaming proposal wrote a letter to every Member of Congress today which explains the issue better than I can.

The text is below:

The Wireless Industry Representatives are a united group representing the entire wireless industry, with the exception of only AT&T and Verizon Wireless, and collectively serve more than 100 million subscribers. We seek your support to extend the current automatic voice roaming requirement to data services so that consumers can access their home carrier’s data services wherever they travel.The 2010 National Broadband Plan recognized the importance of automatic data roaming to facilitate new carrier entry and to promote competition. The Wireless Industry Representatives have invested and continue to invest billions of dollars and employ tens of thousands of workers to build out and operate their wireless networks. This investment is threatened, however, if the right to data roaming is not assured:

• Consumers expect and deserve access to both voice and data services regardless of where they travel within the United States. Access to e-mail, text messaging and the web, regardless of location, has become just as critical to consumers as voice services.
• Without data roaming, smaller carriers will be unable to attract the customers necessary to maintain current networks or invest in expanded broadband coverage. It is the operation and construction of these competing networks that creates jobs and protects consumers.
• Consumers in small and rural communities whose home carriers are less likely to have a national footprint will feel the greatest impacts without data roaming.
• There will continue to be an incentive for smaller carriers to build-out their networks to reduce their roaming costs and gain the advantages of owner’s economics because carriers that provide roaming services will be paid just and reasonable rates for this service.
• The FCC has authority under existing laws and regulations to extend roaming obligations to data services.

In the end, automatic data roaming is pro-consumer, pro-competition, and pro-investment policy. It will encourage the construction of competing mobile broadband networks, spurring jobs, competition and economic growth. If the FCC does not act promptly to implement a data roaming requirement, consumers will suffer, investment will wane and jobs will be lost, slowing down economic recovery. We strongly urge the immediate extension of roaming obligations to data services.

The letter was signed by officials from the following companies and associations:

• Cellular South
• Cincinnati Bell
• Clearwire
• Cricket Communications
• Metro PCS
• National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NCTA)
• Ntelos
• Organization from the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO)
• Rural Cellular Association
• Rural Telecommunications Group
• SouthernLinc Wireless
• Sprint
• T-Mobile USA

When Verizon issued their list of markets where they plan to roll out 4G, they also included a list of airports which will have the coverage. I just completed a review of that list and realized that there are several markets where Sprint 4G covers the entire city, but Verizon 4G will only cover the airport.

Austin, Texas is an Verizon "Airport Only" city. But Sprint covers the whole city. (Take note if you're heading to SXSW this March -- the crowd in Austin's airport, pictured above, will be huge.)

There are several other cities in this category. Here's a list, in addition to Austin they include:

• Honolulu, HI 
• Newark, NJ 
• Portland, OR 
• Providence, RI 
• Raleigh, NC
• Sacramento, CA 
• Salt Lake City, UT 
• St. Louis, MO 
• Trenton, NJ 
• Wilmington, DE

I may be updating this list after Verizon publishes their coverage maps this Sunday. There are some airports in their press release, such as John Wayne / Orange County, in Santa Ana, Calif., that they may consider part of the Los Angeles market. (Incidentally, Sprint 4G covers all of Santa Ana.) Verizon may also consider Newark part of the New York market. (Sprint doesn't, but some marketers might.)

At any rate, it's smart marketing on Verizon's part to wire up an airport. That's where business customers are, and that's the customer they will target initially. (Remember, Verizon is only offering 4G modems at first -- no phones.)

A little over a year ago, in November 2009, Sprint launched Sprint 4G in North Carolina. We're got 4G in metro Charlotte, including Huntersville, Monroe, Indian Trail, Mint Hill, Matthews, Gastonia, Mt. Holly, Harrisburg, Davidson and Cornelius.

In the Triad, we're in my hometown of Winston-Salem. We're also in Greensboro, High Point, Lexington, Clemmons, Thomasville, Trinity, Asheboro, Archdale, Jamestown, Kernersville, Reidsville, Burlington and Mebane.

In the Triangle, of course, we're in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary. But we're also in Carrboro, Hillsborough, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina (which is my favorite hyphenated place name in N.C. next to my hometown), Wake Forest, Garner, Knightdale and Morrisville.

Yesterday, our friends at Verizon announced plans to begin offering 4G in North Carolina, but their coverage will be limited at first. They will cover metro Charlotte, plus RDU -- the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

We offer the country's largest selection of 4G capable devices -- we have 11 currently for sale -- including two phones: the HTC EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G. Verizon, for its part, is following the same path we did in 2008 when we began our formal 4G rollout. (They will only sell modems at first, not phones. The phones will come "later in 2011" we're told.)

So if you live Charlotte, or you work at RDU, Verizon is now giving you a new 4G choice in North Carolina. But if you want a 4G phone and access to 4G coverage in the places where most North Carolinians live and work, Sprint remains a better choice.

I also think the pricing decision Verizon made is worth noting. They will sell you a 5MB a month plan for $50, which sounds great, except most 4G users consume more data than that. Our partners at Clearwire point out that their average customer uses 7MB a month. 7MB a month from Verizon will cost you $70 a month.

Verizon is offering a 10MB a month plan for $80.

At Sprint, we offer a 3G/4G Mobile Broadband Plan for $60 per month. The key difference -- it's UNLIMITED 4G use and 5 GB of 3G use each month.

We also offer a 4G Mobile Broadband Plan for $50 per month which includes unlimited 4G use.

While it's clear Verizon has a huge marketing budget to throw at their 4G offering, they will have to expand their network and device portfolio, and match our pricing offer to compete with us in North Carolina.

Meanwhile, people of the Triad and Triangle, if you're a Verizon customer, head to Charlotte for a Panthers game or drive to RDU for a flight if you want to use 4G. Or switch to Sprint.