December 2005 Archives

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The Beginning of the End

THE ERA OF THE PAY PHONE is coming to an end for most Americans. What was once a valuable tool and an equally common fixture on the streets of America is now vanishing from the urban landscape. Cellular telephone coverage, however, has still eluded some of our country's more rural areas and there are people fighting to keep pay phones operational in their communities.

A recent article in the New York Times reveals that some small towns, such as South Ackworth, NH, have no other choice but to rely on their clumsy, dirty pay phone.

The phone (in South Ackworth) was the first in New Hampshire to be protected under a state law passed in July. The law sprang from the 1996 federal telecommunications act, which deregulated pay phones but allowed states to enact "public interest" laws to save endangered phones. At least eight states have similar laws, including New York, California and Maine, which also enacted its law this year.

New York Times | New York, NY | 10/11/2005

The article is an excellent reminder that while wireless telephone coverage is as pervasive as shopping malls and fast food joints, the cellular telephone industry still has a ways to go before it can boast truly seamless, nationwide coverage. ■

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Tools of the Trade

I RECENTLY STUMBLED ONTO two very interesting online tools offered by Sprint PCS and T-Mobile. Both provide some great insight into their coverage and where their antenna sites may be found. While useful for their customers, I can see how these tools may be helpful for site acquisition professionals, too.

The Sprint PCS tool, dubbed Tower Maps, shows its tower locations across the United States and those belonging to its largest affiliates (i.e. Alamosa PCS, iPCS Wireless, Ubiquitel, and US Unwired). The user-friendly database seems very accurate, but the web site does offer the following obligatory disclaimer: “Tower Maps sets forth the approximate location of some, but not all of our towers. These maps are NOT coverage maps and are not in any way intended as a guarantee of coverage or service availability.”

The T-Mobile tool is a bit different than the Sprint PCS tool, but it is nonetheless interesting. Called Personal Coverage Check, this tool does not show the exact location of T-Mobile’s antenna sites, but it does offer a much more detailed look at T-Mobile’s coverage areas. Verizon Wireless has a similar coverage tool, but it is not nearly as robust as T-Mobile’svery own Personal Coverage Check.

Looking a lot like a propagation study provided by an RF engineer, the Personal Coverage Check tool allows the user to enter an exact address or intersection to find out where T-Mobile offers service and how good it is likely to be. It is clearly (no pun intended) the most honest and detailed coverage tool available to consumers on the Internet today. ■

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Spaghetti Free

JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, when are all the brilliant minds in America and Japan going to come out with wireless stereo equipment? I know Radio Shack sells wireless speakers, but their quality is definitely not up to par with those that the average American guy has hooked up to his 300+ watt receiver with Monster Cable.

But imagine (if you will) a DVD player, TiVo and/or video game console without external cables or wires. With a push of a button it would locate the receiver and configure itself. The mess of spaghetti of cables peeking out from behind the television and stereo equipment would vanish, the time consuming pain of hooking-up stereo components and configuring them would be gone, and those of us who are called upon every time a friend or relative needs their stereo hooked-up would be much happier.

Ah yes, spaghetti free! ■

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Calling All Phonies

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT cell phone users couldn't annoy technophobes any more than they have already; along comes a study by Rutgers University and the Washington D.C. based Ethics and Public Policy Center, which claims many cell phone users aren't actually having a conversation with a real person on the other end at all.

According to the study a significant number of cell phone users fake calls just for the benefit of those of us within earshot. That's right; people are using the cell phones to impress or deceive others. For example, a man might fake a conversation on a cell phone when approaching a single woman in the bar. The woman, on the other hand, might be having an impromptu conversation with her faux boyfriend just to be rid of the man. It seems cell phones have become a prop for social deception.

I have witnessed this phenomenon once or twice, most recently at a poker tournament. I was sitting at a poker table waiting for the tournament to begin and some 40ish, nondescript businessman pulled out his cell phone, dialed a few numbers, and put the headset to his ear. Sitting right next to him, it was difficult not to notice what he was doing. And in poker, observation is everything.

Bill Lumbergh, as I'll call him, began chatting about an "important client" and another "six-figure deal" he was closing, making it seem like it was oh so common. But Lumbergh wasn't speaking to anyone at all. How do I know? Other than his hokey story, he didn't press the 'send' button after dialing the telephone number. No, he didn’t just press one digit and hold it for a few seconds. He actually took the time to dial several numbers in a row. I am sure it was a ploy to impress (even scare) the other players at the table. I hoped he held his cards like he held his cell phone.

I don't find it surprising that some people use a cell phone as a prop to impress or deceive others. Before cell phones became a ubiquitous fashion accessory and status symbol, people used other inanimate objects to accomplish the same goal. The automobile and television are some of the other tools that have been used by imposters to dupe the unsuspecting. Cell phones, because they can be found in every purse and pocket, are just more convenient.

By the way, I beat Lumbergh's pair of queens with my ten-high straight and knocked him out of the tournament. For his sake, I hope he doesn't try that feeble stunt again any time soon…unless it’s against me. ■

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You Are What You Eat

A WOMAN IN Blue Springs, KS nearly swallowed a cell phone this week. How, you ask? Originally the local police seemed to think the action was voluntary. But after further investigation they have come to the conclusion that the woman was a victim of assault and not just a hungry cell phone customer.

“It appears she didn’t voluntarily swallow this phone," said Blue Springs Police Sgt. Allen Kintz.

Thanks for clearing that up, Sergeant.

I wonder what kind of a cell phone it was. Can you imagine trying to consume an old Motorola DynaTAC? Then again it might have been a Motorola Razr. Doing so, however, may have proven fatal. ■

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Time Will Tell

LAST JUNE THE CITIZNES of Caledonia, MN (the wild turkey capital of the world) buried a time capsule at their municipal auditorium to mark the city's 100th anniversary. It included letters to future residents, important documents, a DVD, a disposable camera...and a cellular telephone.

I wonder what the future caretakers of Caledonia will think when they pull a cell phone out of the time capsule 50 years from now. Did our parents and grandparents predict a day when a majority of us would all be using wireless telephones? A few employees at Motorola might have had that image dancing in their heads, but most people probably did not.

Fifty years ago the U.S. was moving beyond the specter of World War II and stepping onto the threshold of the Korean War. Our country was testing the fusion bomb and preparing for the day it may be used against us. The first jet airliner was entering commercial service, Francis Clark and James Watson were ready to discover the helical structure of DNA and Sputnik was still on the Soviets' drawing board. A lot has changed since then.

Fifty years from now wireless telephony will certainly change. Some amateur prophets predict satellite telephones will replace terrestrial-based wireless systems. Some believe land lines will vanish. Still others see a day when the computer, television, and cellular telephone will mutate into one grand device.

I'm not so sure if any of these predictions will occur. Instead, I offer my own predictions. I believe within 50 years the pay phone will vanish and become little more than a novelty. I believe wireless telephony and wireless broadband data will merge. I believe antennas will be only 25 to 40 feet above ground (except in the most rural areas) and base station equipment will be the size of miniature refrigerator (or smaller). I also believe the use of cash will become an oddity and our new cell phones will be used for monetary transactions instead of cash.

The only things certain in life are death, taxes and change. And the wireless industry is destined to change, just as it has ever since Guglielmo Marconi built the first wireless telegraph in 1896. How will it change? Time will tell. ■

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The Paperless Utopia

I RECEIVED MY FOURTH COPY of the magazine AGL this week. If you have not yet seen this magazine, I urge you to get a copy as soon as possible. It is the first magazine truly dedicated to tower owners and the site development industry. The man in charge of the magazine is Don Bishop , formerly the editor of MRT magazine. He is among the most experienced and knowledgeable journalists in our industry today.

While I love reading AGL and look forward to receiving my new issue every month, I don’t know if a magazine tailored to our small niche of the industry can be successful.

AGL comes at a time when the Boston Globe is announcing steep overall declines in circulation. The New York Times, otherwise known as the Gray Lady, is also seeing declining growth. Circulation of the Los Angeles Times has plunged 5.5% in just one year. And Dow Jones & Co. reported that earnings fell 54 percent this year as its online operations earned more than the Wall Street Journal newspaper and Barron's magazine.

Earlier this year the Carnegie Corporation of New York released a report that shed some light on this very issue and the future of how news and information will be delivered to consumers. The report showed that 18 to 34 year olds are increasingly retreating from newspapers and magazines to receive their news. More and more adults are looking online for their information. All of this will have a huge impact on trade journals, too, and especially those just starting.

Few of us can forget how badly the wireless telecommunications industry was hurt a few short years ago after 9/11. Telecommunications companies slashed budgets and advertising sales at trade journals slumped. I can remember Wireless Week going on a brief hiatus and only publishing once every other week until it could reorganize itself. All trade journals and magazines that cater to our industry were affected just as much as the wireless carriers and vendors.

Perhaps AGL should consider publishing its product exclusively online and delivering it to its readers via E-mail instead. The cost of printing a four-color magazine and sending it out to subscribers (often free of charge) can not be cheap. This is superb magazine and I hope it is available to read for a long time to come. Using the wonders of technology to do so seems like a good way to accomplish that...especially when covering an industry already comfortable with technology. ■

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Up, Up and Away...

SEVERAL TELEVISION STATIONS and newspapers are talking about a company called Sanswire Networks. They claim to be close to completing a prototype of an unmanned airship that is will deliver mobile phone service from the Earth's stratosphere and replace cellular telephone towers altogether. I am very skeptical. Let me tell you why.

Many companies have tried to resurrect the popularity airships had before World War II. The U.S. military used airships for a variety of purposes. Each time the effort was scuttled. Other companies thought airships could be used as sky cranes. Those efforts also failed. Now someone wants to put high-tech balloons at an altitude of 65,000 feet to provide wireless telephone coverage to 180 million subscribers? Say it ain't so, Joe.

Sure, technology has come a long way since the 1930s and 1940s, but I am reminded of the promises of Motorola's Iridium debacle. Remember, they were going to replace towers, too. I just don't see how a network of airships can provide seamless cellular telephone coverage efficiently and cheaply.

Let me tell you a short story. Several years ago when I moved to Madison, WI I purchased my first satellite TV receiver. The only problem was that my satellite TV provider did not offer local Madison, WI channels. They did offer local channels to the people of Milwaukee, WI, though. I asked them if I could have Milwaukee, WI channels instead. I was told "no." I then asked them if my receiver was technically capable of receiving the spot coverage of the Milwaukee, WI channels. They said I was too far outside of Milwaukee for the beam to even hit my dish. They were wrong.

I also had a Milwaukee, WI address. I told them (I know, I'm a bit ashamed of this, but no one got hurt in the process) that my receiver was in Milwaukee and my billing address was in Madison. Which was true; my receiver was in Milwaukee...for a brief time. They turned on the Milwaukee, WI local channels and instantly they were transmitted to my living room in Madison, WI.

Where am I going with all this? According to Sanswire Networks, these blimps will cruise at 12 miles above and provide coverage to 300,000 square miles on Earth. They also say it will only take 12 airships to provide coverage to most of North America. While I am not an engineer (and nor do I play one on TV), I find it hard to believe Sanswire Networks can have an airship at that altitude and transmit signals with pin-point accuracy.

Yes, I have many questions about this application. Even if Sanswire Networks could deploy these airships with the most sophisticated phase array antennas (like the radar used on the F-14 Tomcat), how much would all of the necessary antennas, batteries and equipment weigh? What kind of equipment will be needed to provide coverage to 500,000 or more subscribers over 300,000 square miles? How much power will a phone need to transmit to transmit to a blimp flying 12 miles up in the sky? How will battery life be affected? How big will the antenna on the phone need to be? These are all issues that plagued Iridium.

Can Sanswire Networks overcome all these hurdles? I think not. ■

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Lazy Bones

I DON'T WATCH A TON of television or listen to the stereo as often as I would like, but when I do, I want to enjoy it as much as possible. Lately that hasn't been the case.

My stereo receiver came with this enormous, complicated remote control that doesn't make me very happy. It's far too large, it isn't comfortable in the hand, the LCD screen is slowly losing its brightness, it is impossible to read, and the controls are not at all user friendly.

I began my quest to find a new remote control many months ago, but couldn't find anything that appealed to me. I also wanted something that appealed to my girlfriend (who is the quintessential technophobe). I hate needing to use multiple remote controls, so a universal remote control is a must. It needs to be functional and it needs to be easy to use. Up until recently my quest ended in failure.

The first television remote control was invented in 1950 by Zenith Electronics Corporation and it was called the "Lazy Bones." Lazy is right. I know it is probably smarter to get off my hind quarters and change the channels manually, but who does that any more? Besides, channel surfing, especially during commercials, is a must.

Lisa doesn't understand my need to channel surf. She always worries that I will forget to change the channel back in time. But I have this instinct; a sixth sense. I know when two minutes is up and when the commercial will be over. I tell her not to worry. And with atomic clock-like precision, I always manage to flip back to the previous program at the exact moment the commercial ends...unless she's watching the Lifetime Movie Channel and I am deliberately stalling.

I think I found the perfect remote control, though. Logitech has come out with a new product called the Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote. Until recently, I didn't even know Logitech made a remote control. Everything about this device has me mildly excited. If I buy it I'll let you know how well it works. Until then I'll manage to get by with my other one. Then again, maybe I'll get some exercise and change the channels myself. ■

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5 Things I'm Thankful For

THE JOB OF SITE ACQUISITION can often be a busy one. But I have found five useful things that can make the job of site acquisition much easier:

HP ScanJet 8290 Scanner -

The HP ScanJet 8290 has quickly become my favorite gadget in the office. It sits just to the left of my computer monitor and has become a force multiplier in my office. I use it to scan exhibits and documents for clients, receipts for reimbursement, reports and photographs. The automatic document feeder, coupled with optical character recognition (OCR) software makes converting large documents into editable text a synch.

The HP ScanJet 8290 has 4800 dpi x 4800 dpi resolution, which is sharper than many other scanners in its class. It also supports larger formats, including legal sized paper (8.5 in x 14 in).

If you don't have ample desk space or place to easily reach it from your office chair, I doubt you will be as enthused about this device as I am. It’s a bit bulky and requires ample desk space, but for me it is well worth it.

Google's Advanced News Search -

While I have not completely abandoned Yahoo! in favor of Google, I do like Google's Advanced News Search. According to Wired News , Google's automated news-gathering computers sift through more than 7,000 sources of to decide which articles are the most relevant. Google's Advanced News Search even grabs the headline and first paragraph.

Every day I use Google's Advanced News Search to find industry news from around the globe. I am able to follow how companies are waging war for new cell sites. I can find out what new hurdles wireless carriers are facing. I can learn what companies are expanding and which ones are closing. I can even use it to see what others are saying about my own company. Google's Advanced News Search is a valuable web site, indeed.

Garmin StreetPilot 2620 -

I spend more than 20,000 miles a year behind the wheel and finding unfamiliar places quickly is important. After using this handy GPS receiver for about three months now I can declare that the Garmin StreetPilot 2620 is the greatest invention since the Gutenberg press.

The Garmin StreetPilot 2620 can help find virtually any location in the U.S. All you have to do is type in an address, coordinates or street intersection and the unit automatically plots a course to the destination. The car adapter has a speaker on it and the unit accurately informs the driver where and when to turn. The on-screen display also calculates your speed, estimated time of arrival, heading and distance to turn.

The small color display and touch screen is much easier to use and read than first expected. I also like how the GPS receiver recalculates routes almost instantly when I do find my self off course. Overall this is was a very nice purchase that is paying for itself very quickly.

Kinko's -

Although I wasn’t happy to hear FedEx bought Kinko's, the acquisition hasn’t changed Kinko's at all. For the road warrior Kinko's is a savior.

Kinko's provides mobile workers with the tools necessary to get many jobs done. I can send files from my office or hotel room by E-mail to my destination city and have them picked up just in time for a meeting. Whether I need 11" x 17" plans or just a place to hook-up my computer, Kinko's has it all (and affordably priced). The recent addition of credit card terminals to each copier station is also a plus, allowing me to get in and out of Kinko's in rapid fashion. Some say FedEx paid too much for Kinko's. Nonetheless, I am still a fan.

Milio's Sandwiches -

Formerly called Big Mike's, Milio's Sandwiches is a submarine sandwich shop of the Subway and Cousin's variety, but their sandwiches are much better. Located predominately in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, Milio's Sandwiches may have changed their name but not their menu. Their sandwiches are fresh, they taste great, most of their locations have a drive-up window, and they deliver. More importantly, however, they are much easier to eat behind the wheel than either a Subway or Cousin's sandwich.

When working on the road and in a hurry, there aren't many healthy options to choose from.McDonald's, Wendy's and Taco Bell all offer speed and convenience, but they are probably the worst thing a person can eat when working far away from home. And while healthier than fast food, gas station sandwiches have got to be the nastiest form of sustenance known to man. I think I would rather eat some things seen on Fear Factor than many of the gas station sandwiches I've consumed over the years.

The #4 Pilgrim's Pride is my favorite sandwich, which includes thinly sliced turkey, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts. It may not be a New York strip, but it is mighty fine for lunch on the road (and no, I don't steer the car with my knees). ■

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Tower City USA

THERE ARE ONLY FIVE municipalities in the United States with the word 'tower' in their name: Tower City, ND, Tower City, PA, Tower Hill, IL, Tower Lakes, IL and the small town of Tower, MI.

I wonder how many towers are in each place. More importantly, I wonder if any of them ever had a tower moratorium. ■

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Cutting the Cord

YEARS AGO, just after the FCC completed the first round of the PCS auctions, I remember people predicting the day when cell phones would replace land lines. At the time only 100 million people used cell phones worldwide and the prospect of landlines being replaced didn’t seem too likely. A decade and one billion wireless subscribers later, I think we are now on the cusp of that day soon coming.
According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, "a shift from wired communications to wireless has cost traditional phone companies such as SBC Communications dearly in lost business and revenue, and analysts suggest the trend is accelerating."

College campuses are among the first institutions to abandon land lines, which is ironic if any of you have faced the difficulty of siting an antenna facility on a university campus. American University, for example, will soon eliminate traditional phone service in its residence halls. So too will Marshall University. And the student directory at James Madison University lists mostly cell phone numbers from out of state. Still other universities, who once relied on telephone service in its residence halls as a cash cow, are "evaluating other options."

Gartner, Inc., a New Jersey think tank, figures up to 10 percent of nation's cell phone users have already cut the cord. In-Stat, a Scottsdale, AZ market research firm further states that wired expenditures topped $188 billion in 2003, but will shrink to about $160 billion by the end of 2008. And The Diffusion Group predicts U.S. wireless penetration will hit 75% by the year 2010.

So as Americans cut the cord at work and at home, as payphones begin to vanish, and as 9 out of 10 college students will attend classes this fall with cell phones, one has to wonder how long it will be before everyone cuts the cord. ■

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Fast Facts

JUST A FEW FUN FACTS I thought I would pass along to you. Please forgive me if I do this from time to time:

• Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital.

• The U.S. military's specifications for making chocolate covered brownies and oatmeal cookies is 26 pages long.

• Antarctica doubles in size every winter.

• The significance of the number 21 in a 21-gun salute comes from adding the digits in 1776.

• The only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table of Elements is the letter 'J'.

• The microwave oven was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. ■

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.00218 Times Less

EARLIER THIS YEAR Morristown, NJ newspaper, the Echoes-Sentinel, quoted a health physicist regarding a proposed 135-foot Nextel Communications tower. She said it was "considered safe and would not pose any health threats."

Alice Fey Elwood said the antennas would produce "a maximum emission of rays less than 1.2 microwatts per square centimeter, which is significantly less than the 550-microwatts per square centimeter limit that is considered safe by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)."

A useful bit of information if you ask me. ■

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Claims and Allegations

JUST WHEN YOU THINK you've heard every fairy tale and crazy notion regarding cell sites a new one rears its ugly head. This one comes from across the pond and has more to do with carbohydrates than it does with common sense.

The BBC has reported that a baker in Whitstable, England is protesting the construction of a new cell phone tower claiming it will ruin her bread. Bakery owner Ingrid Greenfield suggests that the RF emissions from the antennas on the tower will "disrupt subtle forces which help make the loaves (of bread)." You see, Ms. Greenfield's bread is made without yeast. She instead uses "biodynamic" ingredients and it is "grown out of a spiritual understanding of nature."

When I was a kid I remember my mom telling me to be very quiet when she was baking bread. Otherwise, she warned, the bread would collapse and the loaves would be ruined. Thinking back I don't ever recall a loaf of bread collapsing in our house. I wonder if it was just a ploy to keep me quiet.

Likewise, it seems, Ms. Greenfield's claims are a ploy…only more sinister. Does anyone honestly believe that a cell phone antenna will have any effect on bread, cosmic or otherwise?

To be certain, I did some investigating of my own. I called the Dunkin' Donuts across the street from the WGN-AM radio tower in Elk Grove Village, IL. I'm confident Dunkin' Donuts doesn't us biodynamic ingredients, but they do make their donuts with a spiritual understanding of those who have an addiction to sugar.

The employee I spoke to said he managed two other Dunkin' Donuts in the greater Chicagoland area, too. He admitted he could not tell a difference between the donuts made in St. Charles, IL and those made across the street from WGN’s 50,000 watt blow-torch in the sky.

I wonder if Ms. Greenfield knows that a cell phone transmitter uses only 50 watts of power; 1,000 times less than the WGN tower. Ms. Greenfield, however, wasn't available for comment. Neither was the butcher or the candlestick maker. ■

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