Verizon - Washington DC
How is Verizon the ONLY carrier to have service in the subway in Washington DC?
...
They paid royally for the privilege to be exclusive. It costs the company beaucoup bucks to keep all the other services out of Metro. Verizon installed a very intricate system of repeater cells throughout the subway system when the local carrier was Bell Atlantic Mobile, and it works exceptionally well. In DC, this is one of the biggest reasons why Verizon continues to lead all the other carriers.
...
It is the only reason why I have Verizon, and I feel trapped because all of the other carriers have better plans/phones. It is really ingenuis of Verizon. Do you have any details on the agreement? Is there a deadline as to when other carriers might be able to get access to their towers?
...
Here's a better question - do you really need coverage while on the subway?
...
Most definately.
1. safety. (not just against terrorism, etc. but there are times when you are the only person on a subway car, and can easily be held up, having a phone that works makes you feel a lot safer)
2. Sometimes you are down there for as much as an hour, it's very helpful to be in contact with business/friends.
3. there are more, but yes, you really need converage in the subway.
1. safety. (not just against terrorism, etc. but there are times when you are the only person on a subway car, and can easily be held up, having a phone that works makes you feel a lot safer)
2. Sometimes you are down there for as much as an hour, it's very helpful to be in contact with business/friends.
3. there are more, but yes, you really need converage in the subway.
...
Spartanbug, I used to live in the DC metropolitan area for many years. I used the subway frequently. I NEVER had to wait for a train for more than a few minutes, let alone an hour. I see your point about safety, and I agree with you, and from a safety point of view, I think all the providers should have access, money notwithstanding. I am rather curious about why you would have to be in the subway station for an hour. When you're on the train, you're moving towards your destination, and hopefully, unless it's exceedingly late, there are other people around. What are YOU doing down there for an hour???
...
Note, 911 will still work on the carrier, so for safety reasons, all phones are technically covered, but you couldn't call your momma and tell her you're scared if ya got T-Mobile.
...
Pete, you are wrong, you just don't get service down there with other carriers. I have verizon and I have nextel, my nextel phone doesn't get a signal at all.
As for your question about why you would be down there for an hour. Sure, the shorter trips are only a few minutes, but sometimes if you are travellign across the city your train can be as much as an hour if not longer.
As for your question about why you would be down there for an hour. Sure, the shorter trips are only a few minutes, but sometimes if you are travellign across the city your train can be as much as an hour if not longer.
...
I keep hearing that NYC will eventually have cell service in their subways. I also hear that this is going to be bid to all the carriers. Of course "all the carriers" these days I guess means Sprint/Nextel, Verizon, Cingular and tMobile. Hopefully VZW wins.
...
Why wouldn't you want all carriers to have access to the subways? From a consumer perspective it makes the most sense. It's like a city saying that block a-e will only have sprint service and blocks and blocks f-k will have VZW. How is that fair practice?
...
It's more about money than anything else. I'm sure the city gets a ton of money from the company that wins the bid. Not exactly fair practices but then again, I haven't seen anything fair for awhile now, so I'm not even sure if I'd recognize it or not.
...
I thought about this myself as I made my post last night. On one hand its a business decision (raising revenue for the MTA) and on the other hand there is a capacity issue. If EVERY carrier had access, how many people would actually have cell service?
As for the 1st point, maybe a solution would be a roaming fee charged to the other carriers.
As for the 1st point, maybe a solution would be a roaming fee charged to the other carriers.
...
