Cell phone users dial up dead zones

[bijay]

When Angela Pennington moved into her new home off Christenbury Road in northern Charlotte, she was surprised to find neighbors standing on their porches, talking on their cell phones.

"I thought it was strange," she said. "But it didn't take me long to figure it out. That's the only place where they can get a signal."

We have all seen the commercials; the ones showing cell phone users in the farthest reaches of the Earth. Knee-deep in a river. No problem. Lost in a forest. Loud and clear.

So why, many Charlotteans ask, in the country's 20th largest city, do they keep losing calls on Providence Road? And why do they have to stand in their backyard to get a signal around Mallard Creek?

The short answer is that the city -- and the wireless market itself -- are both growing so fast that providers are struggling to patch holes in neighborhoods. Heavy tree canopies, restrictive zoning and an aesthetic distaste for cell towers have resulted in gaps of coverage.

And these gaps are leading to a sense of frustration from customers who want to connect whenever, and wherever, they wish.

The Observer asked readers to tell us whether they struggled with cell phone reception in the Queen City, and more than 140 responded. They represented every major carrier in the area.

Does Sharon Road give you a headache? Plaza-Midwood drive you crazy? You're in good company.

Wireless providers say customers expect near constant coverage. It's a problem companies wrestle with in every major city in the country.

"It is no longer a phone, it's a lifestyle device," said Joe Farren, spokesman for CTIA-The Wireless Association, a Washington, D.C., wireless advocacy group. "And people get upset when their lifestyle is interrupted."

[ronit3746]

There's no point in putting all the numbers in again with the 1899 pre-fix as my evening & weekend calls are free with BT anyway. 1899 charge 4p connection which is fine during the day but at other times my calls are totally free anyway so I'd want to carry on using BT at those times.
I don't have a follow-on on my phone...at least not that I can find. I've read the manual cover to cover...many times...and ther's no mention of it.