TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: NYT's Friedman Calls For Better Wireless Access

Re: NYT's Friedman Calls For Better Wireless Access

Mark Crispin (mrc@CAC.Washington.EDU)
Thu, 4 Aug 2005 08:59:21 -0700

On Wed, 3 Aug 2005, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> A New York Times columnist, Friedman, calls today (8/3/05) for
> better wireless access in the United States. He says many foreign
> countries have better systems than we do and they will have the
> competitive edge on the US as a result.

Tell him to take a look at a map and consider the differences in
geography and demographics. It's pretty easy to have good wireless
coverage in densely-populated postage-stamp sized countries,
especially when not encumbered by zoning ("you are NOT going to put
that tower where I can see it!").

It is also advisable to consider geography. Japan is no slouch when
it comes to wireless, yet there are numerous dead zones in big cities.
Any honest coverage map of Japan will show that there is no coverage
at all in the sparsely-populated mountainous interior of Japan; the
coverage is in the big cities which are all on the coasts. I know
from personal experience that you lose service as soon as you get a
few kilometers from the urban core.

I also know from personal experience that there are numerous dead
zones in London.

Now, if two relatively small island nations have problems, consider
wireless coverage issues in a large continental nation, and you have
the situation faced by Canada, the US, and Mexico.

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

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