Subject: [NEXTEL-1] In search of a signal

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 12:58:54 -0400

In search of a signal

 By PHOEBE MITCHELL, Staff Writer

 Saturday, September 27, 2003 -- "Negative 102 - and in the
 trees," says Alex Restrepo, wheelng his station wagon into
 the driveway of my wooded home in Westhampton. "They
 definitely eat away at the signal."

 Parking the car next to the house, Restrepo scans the
 screen of one of two computers mounted beside the driver's
 seat. Covered with colorful graphs and charts, the computer
 screen shows how likely it is for a cellular phone signal from
 any of six wireless phone carriers - Verizon, Sprint, Cingular,
 T-Mobile, Nextel and AT&T - to reach my house.

 "Nothing," he says.

 He confirms what my Verizon cell phone has already made
 clear in repeated tries to "reach out and call someone" from
 the comfort of my living room.

 I live in a dead zone.

 For those familiar with the Verizon Wireless advertisement
 that touts the company's efforts to improve its reception in
 metropolitan as well as ever-remoter areas, Restrepo is a
 "Can-you-hear-me-now?" man.

 The television ad pictures a nerdy-looking technician talking
 on a cell phone at various locations - the beach, the woods,
 a sporting event, an elevator - and asking in each place
 "Can you hear me now?" In reality, Restrepo drives a special
 vehicle equipped with $250,000 worth of cellular system
 tracking equipment.

 Known as a baseline engineer in the industry, he tracks the
 range and clarity of Verizon's cell phone coverage - and its
 dead zones - across western New England. The bane of cell
 phone users, dead zones are areas where signals
 transmitted from cellular towers don't reach or are weak, so
 that phone conversations are impossible or, at best,
 garbled.

 Last week, Restrepo drove me in his signal-tracking car from
 the Gazette office on Conz Street in Northampton to my
 home in the northwest corner of Westhampton to
 demonstrate what he does. Marcia Simon, a Verizon
 spokeswoman, and Richard Enright, director of engineering
 for Verizon Wireless New England, accompanied us,
 providing an overview of how Verizon's cellular system
 operates.

 Verizon, which has its headquarters in Bedminster, N.J.,
 currently has about 41/2 million customers nationwide.

 The set up

 The roof of Restrepo's white station wagon is studded with short, black antennae,
each of
 them linked to one of eight cellular phones in a metal box in the back of the
car. Six phones
 are digital and two are a combination of digital and analog.

 (Digital phones break signals into a binary format where the audio or video data
is
 translated into ones and zeros. Analog phones convert those signals into
electronic pulses.
 Digital phones offer clearer and more reliable phone conversations and data
transmission;
 analog phones work better in rural areas.)

 A tangle of red, black and gray wires connects the phones to computers mounted on
the
 floor at the front of the car, in the place of a passenger seat. The computers
are
 programmed to dial each phone repeatedly and monitor the ensuing calls for sound
quality,
 clarity, tone and other attributes. The calls, which are a series of
computer-generated
 sentences, are made to Verizon's regional headquarters in East Hartford, Conn.

 All told, Verizon's 50-vehicle quality-control fleet makes more than 300,000
calls each
 month on its network and on the network of other carriers, while logging some
100,000
 miles on the roads deemed the most heavily traveled by each state's Department of

 Transportation, as well as on some rural roads.

 Restrepo estimates he drives about 1,300 miles during the seven to eight days he
spends
 on the road each month checking out cell phone signals along roads and highways
in
 Vermont and western Connecticut and Massachusetts.

 As we head north on Elm Street at the start of our journey, a jumble of voices,
male and
 female, chimes in from the back of the car as the phones dial up a similar
computer system
 at Verizon headquarters in East Hartford.

 "She has a smart way of wearing clothes," says one phone.

 "These days a chicken leg is a rare dish," says another.

 "He ran halfway to the hardware store," says a third.

 Enright explains that the sentences, which are repeated over and over, are
carefully
 constructed to include a range of vowels, consonants and voice qualities
(including a
 Southern accent) to ensure a broad spectrum of quality control.

 Tabulated on the vehicle's computer, the tests determine where, on Restrepo's
route, calls
 are likely to be completed, where they fail to go through at all and where they
get
 disconnected in mid-conversation.

 An onboard global positioning system, or GPS, tracks the vehicle's location,
which is
 correlated with the other data to produce a map of reception areas, good, bad and
ugly.
 Enright said the system also monitors competitors' cellular service quality to
see how
 Verizon stacks up against them.

 Restrepo takes the data he collects on the road back to Verizon headquarters in
East
 Hartford, where the information is analyzed to determine the strengths,
weaknesses and
 scope of Verizon's service, with an eye toward improving and expanding it, said
Enright.

 Certainly, as the number of cell phone users rises, Verizon, as well as other
mobile-phone
 companies, must address an ever-growing need for more service. Last fall, Verizon
was
 caught off guard, said Enright, when students returning to the University of
Massachusetts
 at Amherst brought so many cell phones with them that their calls overloaded the
two cell
 sites in the area.

 "It seemed like every kid who went back to school had a phone," he said. To
handle the
 calls this school year, the company added a third site along Route 9 last month.

 Data provided by one of Restrepo's counterparts also led Verizon to add a cell
site in
 Belchertown last year, said Enright.

 "It's a booming business. Very competitive," he said.

 As the wireless phone industry grows, he said, the traditional "landline" phone
business has
 shrunk.

 According to the Federal Communications Commission, the number of regular
business and
 residential telephone lines declined last year for the first time since the
Depression,
 dropping by 300,000, from 192.6 million in 2000 to 192.3 million.

 In the meantime, a recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll shows that one in five
Americans
 considers the cell phone his or her primary phone. Popular with teenagers and
young
 professionals especially, wireless phones have attracted users with their wide
array of
 technology - many now come equipped with cameras, Internet access and games -
 appealing long-distance plans and their suitability to mobile lifestyles.

 But still too many soft spots

 With the increased number of users, the demand for high-quality service has
grown.
 Although Verizon maintains it is constantly trying to improve reception in
metropolitan and
 rural areas by adding new cell sites each year - it plans to invest $4 billion
this year on
 network development - it concedes coverage and service remain spotty in many
locations.

 That's what I found out after I purchased my phone two years ago. Novice that I
was, I
 assumed that the coverage area described by Verizon, which extended from New
England to
 the mid-Atlantic states, included our home.

 Ha.

 Under my current plan, which allows me to talk anywhere in the country for 400
minutes
 each month and an unlimited amount of time nights and weekends, I am unable to
contact
 anyone on my cell phone from my home. Long distance calls to my daughter and
friends are
 generally made from a parking lot in Northampton.

 Ken Stomski, an office manager at The Electronic Center, 28 Pleasant St.,
Northampton,
 which sells T-Mobile wireless phone plans, describes cellular service in
Westhampton as
 "iffy."

 Stomski said wireless service companies "can never guarantee anything" about what
kind of
 reception people will get in their homes, because they can't be certain whether a
cell
 phone's signal will be blocked. Hills, buildings and even foliage can obstruct
the
 electromagnetic waves that travel between a carrier's antenna and a cell phone.

 Cellular service also depends on how far an antenna is from your house. For best
reception,
 homes should be located within a mile of an antenna, said Enright, although
signals can
 travel much farther if they don't encounter obstructions.

 According to Verizon data, the closest antenna to my house appeared to be on the
northern
 edge of Florence, some 6 miles away as the crow flies.

 When Michael Kusek, of South Street in Northampton, called Verizon to find out
why his cell
 phone had good reception in the winter, but not in the summer, he said a customer

 representative told him he wouldn't like the answer.

 "He said 'leaves,' " said Kusek, who is a public-relations and development
consultant who
 uses his cell phone for business. He said during the summer months, he puts the
phone on
 the window sill to ensure that a signal reaches it and it rings when someone
calls.
 Otherwise, he said, the call goes directly to the voice message system.

 Still, Kusek said cell phone reception has improved dramatically in recent years.

 "I remember when Northampton had a lot more dead spots," he said. The city now
has two
 cell sites, including the one in Florence and a second located near the
intersection of Route
 5 and Interstate 91.

 Keeping one eye on the road and another on the computer beside him, Restrepo
points to
 its screen, which has a graph covered with jagged green, blue and yellow lines
that looks
 like a heart monitor tracking several patients. In fact, the lines indicate the
strength of
 incoming and outgoing signals from nearby towers, he says.

 When we travel through Leeds the lines trace a jagged patch across the middle of
the
 graph, marking strong signals with peaks and poor ones with dips. Restrepo points
to
 another box on the screen and says "Negative 90," which means calls can still be
made from
 this location, at the corner of Mulberry Street and Reservoir Road, but not
always.

 "We're on the edge," says Restrepo. The graph, he says, shows that Verizon and
the other
 five carriers are all indicating calls are now being "dropped" in midstream.

 By the time we climb the big hill on Chesterfield Road, about 2 miles from my
house, the
 graph looks like all the patients have died. The lines have sunk to the bottom of
the graph
 or disappeared altogether.

 "Negative 105," says Restrepo, a reading that means that cell phone conversations
sound
 like fragments of sentences or cut out entirely.

 Simon and Enright pull out their own Verizon cell phones to see if they can make
calls.

 "No service," says Enright, looking at his phone's digital screen.

 While it will take time, Enright predicted cell phone reception in Pioneer
Valley's more rural
 areas will improve.

 "Every year we add sites. Every year the coverage will get better," he said.
Verizon's plan
 for improving the reception of its network is based on two priorities, he said,
the coverage
 area and the amount of cell phone users it serves.

 In general, the company targets urban centers and major highways for cell sites,
although it
 does locate sites in less-populated areas, but at a slower pace, he said.

 Verizon now has a dozen antennae in the Springfield area, three in Amherst and
two in
 Northampton. The company plans to install two more sites soon, in Hatfield and
Hadley.

 A third cell site is in the works for Northampton next year, said Enright,
although its
 installation will depend on whether there is enough money in his budget.

 Although the company does have a priority list of cell sites for other area
communities,
 Enright said it was too soon to speculate which might become a reality in the
next few
 years.

 As I sit in the Verizon car in my driveway, staring at the disheartening graph on
the
 computer, I'm not surprised. I had already tried other phone services, including
Cingular and
 Sprint, at my house with no luck. I know I will have to wait until some cellular
company
 puts up an antenna nearer my neighborhood.

 As we head out the driveway on our return trip to Northampton, I tell the Verizon
folks I've
 resigned myself to living without cell phone service at home for the foreseeable
future.
 After all, I say, that's not such a bad trade-off for country living and lots of
trees.

 Phoebe Mitchell can be reached at [email-masked].

http://www.gazettenet.com/09272003/valley_l/9356.htm

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