Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : NEXTEL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: W.F.Rakecky who wrote (6456)	5/30/1998 10:38:00 AM
From: Rob Prickett	Respond to of 10227

Washington, D.C. - "The Competition" An insert in the May 29 (Friday) Washington Post discussed wireless service in the area, and compared the service providers. After some generic discussion about how cheap cellular has become, etc. the seven (listed below) services were compared for price, coverage, options, and quality in table format. Note that the testing was performed by several individuals, losing some even basis for comparison. Nextel was only mentioned paranthetically "(an eighth option, Nextel, is a digital service marketed toward businessfolk, with monthly prices that start at $40, higher than the other seven profiled here)" I will summarize only the quality and coverage aspects of the other seven, since there has been considerable discussion about Nextel's problems in this area: 1) AT&T PCS "Calls had a slightly murky feel as if incoming and outgoing were being heard underwater...especially during travel, gurgling and crackling noises.. more than acceptable.. switch to analog mode causing things to sound significantly fuzzier...The phone locked onto signal and never lost it" 2) Bell Atlantic Digitial "Pretty good (incoming)... sounded tinny and metallic (to the other user)... all calls went through without a problem... never disconnected... no trouble switching from digital to analog" 3) Bell Atlantic Analog "Perfectly acceptable... clear, little distortion... background static never went away... in fringe areas it was overpowering.. lost one call downtown in a hail of static ... phone was useless in cubicle... could barely get a call to go through on Dulles Toll Road (just outside town)" 4) Cellular One Digital "Sound quality all over the map. Digital mode fine, but somewhat hollow, tinniness, echo chamber effect. In analog mode, quality dropped significantly, annoying static, (heard) other people's conversations.. no dropped calls, but had trouble getting calls started" 5) Cellular One Analog "little different from an adequate cordless phone of several years ago, but clearly overheard another call while using the phone in my living room... usually picked up calls with little trouble... a few holes in coverage" 6) Sprint PCS "Overall, quality was excellent, as long as I was standing still.. noticed a wispy sound to calls. If I used the phone while driving, call quality dropped quite a bit. Half the calls were fine.. other times, static, sound drop-outs and outright disconnections. Most calls went out without a problem... some holes" 7) Sprint Spectrum "All digital falls short of the crystal clear quality claims that Srint and other companies like to make, but it's perfectly acceptable for users willing to trade quality for convenience... incoming acceptable... outgoing was whispery, sometimes garbled... customers out of luck if they wander far of D.C.... in Baltimore-Washington corridor, dropped calls were infrequent" Interesting how the break-out of analog and digital accounts for the "seven" service providers. I'd like to see a similar write-up comparing Nextel. Rob