EarthVision Newsletter Archive
Back to Archive Home PageSent: Wednesday, July 5, 2000
Subject: EarthVision Cellular Consumer News! Issue #13 Vol. 2Another issue of the EarthVision Cellular Consumer Newsletter. This newsletter is for the soon to be educated cellular phone user community. If you know of anyone else that may have an interest in our newsletter, make sure to forward them a copy. Now we move forward at Mach II speed!
[Note: This newsletter is delivered Bi Weekly on Wednesday.]
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EDITORIAL COMMENTS FROM EARTHVISION CELLULAR
WIRELESS PHONE & DRIVING BAN CONVICTION IS CHALLENGED
USED CELLULAR PHONES NOT RECOMMENDED FOR 911 SERVICE
A NEW PLAYER FOR INTERNET WIRELESS SERVICE - PAGERS!
CELLULAR PHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2000
ATTEMPTS TO BAN BICYCLING AND CELLULAR PHONE USE
WIRELESS DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE MAY NOT BE YOUR CARRIER
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EarthVision Cellular Consumer News Issue # 13 Volume 2
EDITORIAL COMMENTS FROM EARTHVISION CELLULARYou may have noticed that we changed the name of the newsletter to EarthVision Cellular News Digest. It was suggested by another of our readers to change the name to make it more appropriate for the information we are providing. Besides, we really liked the name change.
For those of you who are to be awarded our surprise gift. We will make it happen. It is just a question of when and we need to seek some advice prior to proceeding. Hopefully, we will know before the publishing of the next newsletter so that we can announce it to everyone what has happened. Those of you who are selected for our surprise will be notified in advance of the publishing.
WIRELESS PHONE & DRIVING BAN CONVICTION IS CHALLENGED
In a previous issue of the newsletter, we mentioned Hilltop Township passing a ban on wireless phone use and driving. The law was passed after a young child was killed when a driver ran a stop sign because he was distracted. One unlucky driver was convicted under this new law and decided he was going to challenge the $75 fine for using a cellular phone while driving.
It turns out the driver was not a resident and was unaware of the ordinance. (We also predicted this would happen.) The attorney defending the driver stated that there were no signs similar to a yield sign or speed limit sign that would make an out of town driver aware of the ordinance. Interestingly enough, he was convicted of speeding and didn't challenge that charge and conviction.
This specific challenge is making history because it is the first challenge to a law of this kind. Various states and local ordinances are now pending review as a part of legislation. Two other towns in Pennsylvania has passed similar ordinances including the one in Ohio.
Part of the argument to be used by the defense is that the banning of cellular phone use has not gained enough uniform popularity that a driver would even think to ask about it. In this case, we believe the defense attorney has a good point. Our impression is that challenges will continue to these types of laws simply because they are not uniform and out of town drivers are not readily made aware of the ordinances. Legislators will have to think long and hard about how to implement laws that will not be as easily challenged.
The problem that most legislators face in trying to pass laws to restrict cellular phone use while driving is the enforceability of the laws on a statewide basis.
We can only assume that at some point the supreme court will be dragged into these legislative disputes as being unconstitutional depending on how they are written and implemented. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg.
USED CELLULAR PHONES NOT RECOMMENDED FOR 911 SERVICE
We have touched upon this in our last issue in our efforts to educate you on the Magnavox Mobile 911 phone. We had something else brought to our attention that you as cellular phone users should be made aware of before you purchase any non subscription wireless phone for emergency reasons.
This is something that the manufacturers of the Mobile 911 phone say is not as important as having access to 911 services. Non subscription phones are untraceable when calling into 911. All cellular phones and landline phones that have service can provide the 911 operator with your telephone number. With a non-activated wireless phone, the 911 operator couldn't call you back even if they wanted to because they don't have your phone number with an unsubscribed payphone, telephone, or cellular phone.
So? How is that going to change anything when you are only going to use it for emergency purposes anyhow.
If you have been injured and are unable to speak with the operator, they have no way of knowing your location nor can they trace your location to within a specified area. Many in the 911 business state that using non subscription phones does not advance public safety. The opponents to offering unsubscribed phones as an emergency device include four major 911 associations.
A wireless company told the FCC that not only do they give callers a false security in thinking that 911 service is available when it may not be, these users are not contributing to the costs associated with accessing a network that subscribed customers have been paying.
An example of how this can backfire on a user is like we mentioned about the car jacking. When you are stuffed into the trunk of a car, you can give your vehicle description but the operator cannot track your location and movements to pass the information to available police units.
A very sobering thought when you take into consideration the above two scenarios. What happens if you are caught in a severe snow storm and you have to shut off the phone to conserve power. The cold weather can affect your judgment if you are out there long enough. How long will it take before you get so cold, you forget to dial 911 back?
A NEW PLAYER FOR INTERNET WIRELESS SERVICE - PAGERS!
Time for the WAP phone as the only provider of internet service to move over. Pagers are about to enter the market for competition. Oraclemobile.com is coming out with a new service with two way pagers that allow for much of the same service of a WAP phone.
The service will offer stock quotes, flight information, driving directions, traffic status, lottery, horoscopes, dictionary, translation, USPS tracking, and weather reports. These are the services that will be initially offered and more are to come.
We checked it out but we were unable to obtain pricing for the service. The paging device offered is kind of cool. It has a wheel to the right that allows you to highlight your choices. It also comes with a miniature keyboard with the complete alphabet. Simple to use, you need only type in a few letters to obtain the information you are looking to retrieve.
You only have to type in the email address once for it to be saved. After that you can pull up the address by using the spin wheel. Sending an email on the pager looks almost like composing and sending one from your PC.
The only way to contact them is via the internet and they do not supply an email address otherwise we would have listed it here. You have to go to the website and fill out a form to ask questions that are not supplied in the FAQ and the FAQ is fairly Spartan in nature. No mention of the price for the service is mentioned anywhere on the service.
As with any service, we would recommend that you read the terms of use and the privacy policy of the service provider. We thought we would make you aware of this service as an alternative to purchasing a WAP phone. Again, we cannot claim to know if it is cost effective. If any of you find out about the pricing, we would be interested in finding out what you may learn.
CELLULAR PHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2000
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and now this one for Cellular Phone Users in 2000. It hasn't been passed yet and a major wireless association (obviously) opposes the legislation that has been introduced.
This bill is fairly aggressive in its requirements of the FCC. It calls for the FCC to set minimum standards on such issues as problems with dead spots, dropped calls, busy signals, and improper billing. It also requires that a toll free number be set up for users to call when lodging a complaint and must be printed on every wireless customer's bill.
Here is why the association probably opposes the legislation. It mandates that the FCC publicly report cellular phone complaints every six months and place it on the internet. This information is to be specific in detailing the number of complaints received and the types of complaints against the specific wireless carrier.
Right now, you can only obtain this information on a state by state basis and it can require a multitude of phone calls to find out which state agency handles that information. We know this to be a fact because we have tried it.
Both Verizon and AT&T Wireless have spoken up against the legislation. ATTWS has claimed that they have spent millions in upgrading their systems for cellular phone users. Some fear that the legislation combined with other pending bills on Capitol Hill will impede on the progress of the wireless industry to expand in other service oriented markets.
The ultimate goal of the bill is to give cellular phone consumers a better idea as to which carrier they would choose based on the information provided. If you think the legislation is something that should be enacted, you had better get busy with contacting your congressperson or senator and ask them to support the legislation.
Most of you have probably not heard of the pending bill and neither have many other people in the United States either. This is one issue of the newsletter you should be spreading around. The passage of this bill will be a contest with the will of the people vs. wireless carrier lobbyist's working on behalf of their clients. Remember that knowledge is power. This is your chance to force disclosure of consumer information from the carriers.
ATTEMPTS TO BAN BICYCLING AND CELLULAR PHONE USE
City Councils all across America can be a bit annoying when they find it necessary to clash with the mayor about policies and wanting to authorize themselves more power to govern the city. I have personally found our local city councils in Omaha and surrounding communities to be a very serious joke. Way too much bickering among them.
Looks like it doesn't stop here in Omaha. We bring you to the City Council of Berkeley, California. A council member decided to have banning the use of a cellular phone while bicycling on the agenda. A very poor decision when you find that this city is close to being the Bicycle Capital of the US.
Another council member claimed it had been put on the agenda as a personal attack against him and his differing views with the sponsoring member of the ordinance. He is also an avid bicycling fan.
It appears as if this council member may have made a fatal error in politics. Nearly 100 people showed up to protest the legislation and plenty of emails too. The council member immediately withdrew the item on the agenda in the face of an outraged public. That was only a small portion of the estimated 15,000 bicyclists in the city.
One sarcastic comment made about the legislation was if the next ban would be on shopping carts, wheelchairs, and pedestrians. You will have to see if you can get access to this city council's agenda items online or something. Our understanding is that there have been some very unique issues that have been passed by this council.
Banning cellular phone use while driving may be popular with legislators but it hasn't been a warm reception by the public. The comments are already being raised on if the government both local and federal are becoming much too regulatory.
WIRELESS DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE MAY NOT BE YOUR CARRIERWhen you call directory assistance, do you think you have reached someone from your carrier? Think again. Metro One has been making a name for itself by picking up the directory assistance service for various wireless carriers. Who are those carriers? Here is a short list.
Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Nextel Communications, Pacific Bell Wireless, and Nevada Bell Wireless. Metro One actually handles the directory assistance for about 99% of the wireless carriers.
This service has allowed Metro One to staff over 28 call centers in different locations. This service is actually better than the landline directory assistance in a number of areas. They can connect your call at no charge, supply information such as addresses, offer movie listings, special events, directions, and even tell you of businesses in your locality of a specific kind.
This is also the company who is actually providing the star back option with your service. This is when you press the asterisk or star key on your cellular phone when you get a no answer or busy signal. The function allows you to be reconnected with the directory assistance operator.
So how much does it cost. Well the carrier pays about 53 cents per call. The subscriber in turn pays about 75 cents to $1.10 per directory assistance call. [Notice to our subscribers. Once the major carriers find out we are leaking this information, we will probably be bought out and dismantled.]
The service will be further expanded to accommodate WAP phone users. What services will be added for the purpose of a WAP phone has yet to be disclosed. As always, we will let you know as soon as we find out.
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