Post Tagged with: "Cellular communications"

Though Washington, DC is nation’s 4th lastest metropolitan, its transit system “sucks”- Metro rail’s cell phone service plan faces gaps

May 15, 2009 at 2:48 pm

(Source: Washington Examiner)

• Region encompasses Washington, DC; Northern Virginia; and Suburban Maryland — an area 6,000 square miles (15,500 square kilometres)

• The 4th largest population in the United States (6 million people); population expected to grow by 1/2 million by 2010

• Gross regional product (GRP) of $342 billion — 4th largest in the nation

• Led the United States in job growth over past 5 years — 270,000 jobs added from 2000 to 2005

• But still has a Metro system that does not allow for ubiquitous communications.

Metro riders will still hear silence on their phones even when Metro extends cell phone service in its underground rail system later this year.   

The transit agency plans to expand cell phone service to include more carriers in the 20 busiest rail stations by the fall — but it won’t extend into the adjacent subway tunnels yet. And it could remain a patchwork of service for up to three more years.

“We’re going to have a lot of very frustrated customers if they are going to be getting and losing signals going in and out of stations,” warned Peter Benjamin, a Metro board member who represents Maryland.

The problem stems partly from the requirement that forces the agency to add the service. In exchange for $1.5 billion in dedicated federal funding that Congress authorized last year, Metro is required to have cell phone service in the 20 busiest stations by October, then have it in all 47 underground stations by October 2010. Service throughout the entire system wouldn’t need to be finished until October 2012.

Metro’s board of directors agreed earlier in the spring to negotiate a $40 million contract with national carriers Sprint Nextel, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless to fulfill the requirement.

But Metro board members said Thursday they were worried that meeting the minimums of the federal timetable without going further would just anger and confuse riders.

“We don’t want to build in frustration,” said member Gordon Linton.

Note: TransportGooru wonders what would it take for the Metro management to fix this messy communication system.  This nation holds many brilliant minsd and the city iteself plays home to several technology giants (Lockheed,BAE,  etc).  We, as a nation, have launched manned missions to moon and now working on getting to mars for the past few years.  But we still can’t fix the communications system in an underground network of tunnels? 

We know very well that we have the technology, we have the interest and above all we have the “need”.   But still metro can’t find one person/company who can fix this system?  What we lack is the political will and the sincereity to serve the customers for what they pay. If it is not a technical problem and one that solely involves money, pay some Harvard MBA to workout a business model that benefits everyone, not just the customers who own a Verizon or an AT&T phone.  Bring people who can think outside the box and offer solutions that work.  

TransportGooru would like to challenge the Metro Management to get this done in 100 days.   If Guantanamo Prison(not fully done though) can be closed & $9.3 billions dollars can be spent creating thousands of jobs in 100 days of a President who had to contend with much larger problems, why can’t a damned communications systems in a metro rail system be fixed.  Why do we need to wait for 3 more years?  Doesn’t that tell you how inefficient you are, Mr. John Catoe & company.  Fast track the process and get it done, dammit.  Hire more workers to run the cables inside your tunnels & deploy required equipment.   For the $8 customers pay through their nose everyday to ride your system, they deserve better than “We don’t want to build in frustration.”   For one just do that very thing you don’t want to do.  Who knows you may very well do it right!  If your Board members don’t have the courage to act decisively and quickly, fire them all and appoint folks who know a thing or two about running a system and about relating to “customers’ needs”.   Why do you always come up with an excuse for not doing anything on time – be it running a train or building a communication system?  What more do you need, Metro? Customer service has never been an integral part of the DC Metro system.   It seems to remain only as a lip service even in the years to come.

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Hang Up And Fly – Oregon lawmaker hell bent on losing the little respect he ever earned as politician

April 21, 2009 at 12:36 pm

(Source: Wired; Photo: Flickr/ Wouter Sonneveldt via Wired)

Boneheaded politician pushes for legislation aimed at banning in-flight cellular communications.  

Cellphone_cockpit

An increasing number of airlines think the person next to you should be able to chatter away on a cell phone, something some consider the best thing to happen to air travel since in-flight cocktails and others warn will make flying even more hellish.

In-flight cell service has proven quite successful in Europe, where people have chatted the friendly skies on more than 10,000 flights. Although several U.S. carriers offer in-flight Wi-Fi, we’ve yet to see them roll out in-flight phone service, which is still prohibited by the FAA and the Federal Communications Commission.

Some aren’t waiting for the technology to arrive. A group of lawmakers led by Rep. Pete Fazio, D-Ore., have drafted legislation called the Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace (HANG-UP, get it?) Act to ban in-flight cell phone use. Proponents of the bill say the incessant chattering of passengers would make life unbearable for passengers already dealing with delayed flights, crowded planes and the hassle of flying.

But a growing number of passenger rights groups and small business organizations argue the government is grossly overstepping its authority and hasn’t done its homework.

“Given the increased difficulties we face in getting to our destinations these days Americans are spending more and more time at airports and on board commercial aircraft,” says Kate Hanni, executive director of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights. “We believe it is essential that the federal government perform a full inquiry before deciding whether to ban the use of wireless communications on commercial flights and that all the relevant benefits and information be considered before a decision is made before Congress.”

Mary Kirby over at Runway Girl agrees. She’s a vocal opponent of the Hang-Up Act and questions the government’s attempt to outlaw technological advancement. “If in-flight mobile usage hasn’t been a problem in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, why on earth do you think it would be a problem here,” shewrites in a recent post.

It wouldn’t be, according to Emirates executive Patrick Brannelly, who told Kirby the legislation may mark the first time Congress has tried to legislate good manners.

“At the end of the day, people can be rude and disrespectful on aircraft without a phone,” he said. “And it sometimes happens, but if they are being charged a few dollars a minute to make a phone call, it gives [people] pause.”

But lawmakers pushing for the ban believe they speak for the majority of passengers when they say commercial airlines should be cell-free zones.

“I think many Americans understand the potential for problems on aircraft if 100 or more people start talking on cell phones,” DeFazio said. “People are in very, very close quarters and this is a circumstance where you would have a cacophony of people on cell phones that would amount to a great potential for trouble.”

DeFazio introduced the bill in April, but so far nothing’s happened with it. Let’s hope it stays that way. Although we can think of nothing worse than being stuck next to some pinhead yammering away incessantly during a transcontinental flight, this isn’t an area the government needs to get involved in.

Click here to read the entire article.  On a related note, Runway Girl has an update on this issue: Two consumer groups try to put brakes on “Hang-Up Act”.

TG Musings # 1: This is very illogical and idiotic – TransportGooru wonders aloud if Rep. DeFazio has ever traveled across the country in GreyHound or Amtrak? If he did, probably he failed to recognize that there are no such rules about attending to a cellphone call while you are cruising on the highway or riding the rails at 60 mph.  What difference does it make if the mode of transportation? A phone call is a phone call and if it can be attended to during a train/bus travel why not it be made during the flight?  Interference with flight to ground communications can be somewhat acceptable (which in itself is a very questionable argument anyway due to the various studies conducted that totally disproved this theory) as a reason for prohibiting these phone calls.  But that’s not even in this picture painted by Rep. DeFazio.  Americans are decent people and they are much more courteous and well-behaved than you can think.If Rep. DeFazio’s logic is squarely based on his experience dealing with the people’s representatives around him in the Congress, no wonder he thinks there is a potential for problems if 100 or more people start talking at the same time – which is what politicans are prone to do, right?   With a country full of smart people,  it makes one wonder how come such people elect illogical politicians to be their intelligent voice on such societal issues? I hate to use the word Bonehead, but I think it is the only suitable word that can be applied to someone with this sorta logic (or lack thereof), Rep. DeFazio. 

TG Musings # 2:  Social Equity – This is a big issue, Rep. Defazio.  A big business owner flying First Class  can afford a $2/min phone call. He would go ahead and do it with the carrier operated, over-priced inflight phone system.  The average Joe Smith/Jane Doe on the street who is flying across the country (often on discounted fares) in the coach class does not have that kind of money.  Especially, in this poor economic climate!!! If anything he or she is already paying through his/her nose for a cellphone (that handles both personal and his small business needs) but still can’t use it, thanks to the existing FAA rule.  He/she would still hold a peice of technology in his pocket that is all well capable of making that phone call from 30K feet, but because of a logically-deficient politican he/she will never be able to make that call.  Let’s say for argument sake, if 10 businessmen in first class decide to make a phonecall at a given moment (hypothetically speaking), doesn’t that account to cacophony? You are not going to convince those business men – “People are in very, very close quarters and this is a circumstance where you would have a cacophony of people on cell phones that would amount to a great potential for trouble.” – Are you Rep. DeFazio?  If you can work  so hard on helping people not just in Oregon but across the country, please refrain from pushing this bill forward. You should spend a couple of minutes to rethin/revise your flawed logic and help all American’s in winning that  the rest of the world rightfully enjoys (i.e.,  in-flight cellular voice calls).  I am sure you want us Americans to be globally competitive in this economy and be ready to serve the needs of our business customers anytime anywhere!

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