Regional carriers offer wireless alternatives

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Unicel, for instance, offers mobile Web surfing on some phones and a wireless broadband service for laptops, but the service is limited to peak data speeds of 120Kbps (kilobits per second). By contrast, Cingular, Sprint and Verizon Wireless all offer data services of between 400Kbps and 700Kbps over their 3G networks. But Tom McLaughlin, vice president of sales for Unicel, said the 3G speed claims from the big carriers are misleading, because they are still building out their networks and are not likely offering these high speeds in rural areas where Unicel competes against them.

"Cingular can give you higher-speed service in New York City," he said. "But in Portland, Maine, they offer the same speed as we do."

He went on to say that Unicel has built its network in rural areas that have traditionally been underserved by the large carriers.

"Our New York City is a Bend, Ore., or Burlington, Va.," he said. "We spend our money in rural markets, while the big national cell phone carriers spend their money upgrading the cities first. Then they look toward the rural communities."

While choice abounds for some Americans in certain parts of the country, some analysts say that some regional carriers may soon be gobbled up by larger players as the industry continues to consolidate.

"There's room for some niche players that service a particular segment of the market," Sur Terre/Soleil Securities' Rethemeier said. "But how many of these smaller regional players survive will depend on how much they are able to differentiate themselves from the bigger players."

[yellow--2008]

Article Correction

I don't know about the other big carriers, but Sprint DOES offer a "dropped call credit"...I know because I've been receiving it for a while now.

To receive the credit, just dial *2 on ur phone (customer service), when the automated system answers, say "dropped call credit" and if successful, the automated system should say "sorry for the inconvience, I will credit your account for one minute at the highest local rate". This credit will appear for .50 cents on your next bill.

U don't need to talk to a customer service rep to get this and if you get transferred from the automated system, just hang up and try again. Just keep in mind that U can only get this credit about 10 times per month...after that, it will give you some error message and try and transfer you to a rep.

[technojunkie]

Objective View

I have service from one of these companies. The data speeds are fast as I have EVDO in these rural areas. Also do not have the customer service issues I had when I was in a previous larger metro area. I believe that as an investor in Tech and Communications stocks, you should cover more of these players and what they are doing. Great job with the article. It is good finally seeing these other carriers make it to your Headlines. Would be nice to also feature comparisons and device reviews as well.

Thank You

[technojunkie]

Objective View - Rock On

I have service from one of these companies. The data speeds are fast as I have EVDO in these rural areas. Also do not have the customer service issues I had when I was in a previous larger metro area. I believe that as an investor in Tech and Communications stocks, you should cover more of these players and what they are doing. Great job with the article. It is good finally seeing these other carriers make it to your Headlines. Would be nice to also feature comparisons and device reviews as well.

Thank You

[Kevin Walker]

Health Issues

Have we all forgotten about the health issues of sustained
mobile usage over three minutes?

This was reported by the bbc in 2000....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1090343.stm

[jdehaven46970]

just speculation

there has not been enough evidence to support you claims. I am not saying there is not the possiblity that there are risks there is just not enough evidence at the moment. The phone that i just got from verizon specifically mentions the study in england and says that they are just being cautious and have absolutely no evidence that there is a risk.

[Maggie Reardon]

Alltel's dropped call credit

The difference between the dropped call credit from Sprint and the one from Alltel is that Alltel automatically credits the account when a call is dropped. The carrier is constantly monitoring the network to ensure quality, and when it detects that a call has been dropped it credits the account. The customer doesn't have to do anything. As you've explained, Sprint's call credit requires users to dial *2.