Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Dead zones kill cell phone reception

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 10:58:38 -0500

Dead zones kill cell phone reception
Source: U-WIRE
Publication date: 2003-11-19
Arrival time: 2003-11-20

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- You go to make a call on your cellular phone but you have
hardly any reception. You may have entered the dead zone.

While different cellular providers have various dead zones, no one company is in
the clear when it comes to clear reception.
"There's no perfect wireless service out there," Tucker Bickel said, store
manager of Mobile Communications Centre in Lawrence. "If there was a perfect
wireless service, we'd only sell one. We wouldn't sell three. You need to find
one that works in the places that you need it to."

Bickel said T-Mobile and Sprint had the fewest dead zones around the Lawrence
area. His store sells Sprint, Nextel and T-Mobile products. He said most stores,
including his, had a 14-day return period when they would take the phone back.
Bickel said there were two types of phones: Global System for Mobile
Communications, or GSM, and Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA.  GSM
operates completely with digital signals and are good for users who spend most
of their time in urban areas. CDMA operates on both digital and analog signals
and is good for rural areas, he said.

Dead zones can vary from month to month and even day to day, said Cheryl Bini,
Verizon Wireless spokeswoman. She said numerous factors such as foliage and
construction could alter coverage. Her company offers a 15-day return policy,
she said.
Jim Stiles is an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer
science at the University of Kansas. He said there were two main causes of dead
zones.

The first was a lack of nearby cell towers. When users move away from their
companies' cell towers the reception worsens, he said.

The lack of cell phone towers is largely because of their size, Stiles said.
"Nobody wants one in their backyard. They're a bit of an eyesore," he said.
Zoning restrictions also play a role, he said, leaving cell phone companies to
prop their towers on top of tall buildings.
The exact amount of cell towers in Lawrence is not on record, said Bill Ahrens,
transportation planner in Lawrence Douglas County Metropolitan Office.

Stiles said the second cause for dead zones was an area where the radio waves
could bounce around, especially in buildings composed largely of reflective
materials like metal.

If a cell phone cuts out in an area with good coverage, Stiles said, the user
might have walked into a small area where there was no signal called a
multi-path null. It is caused when a positive and negative radio waves come
together and essentially cancel each other out.

Brandon Perkins, Lawrence junior, said he always had trouble getting a signal
with his Sprint phone inside of Budig Hall. Perkins thought this was because of
a number of interferences, including sound systems and camera systems inside the
building.
Zach Sediqzad, Overland Park junior, said he only had a problem with his
T-Mobile phone when he was in a confined area like a basement.

"It doesn't go dead," Sediqzad said. "It's not like, 'Can you hear me now,' you
know?"
--Edited by JJ Hensley

(C) 2002 University Daily Kansan via U-WIRE
http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnnmoney/Story.nsp?story_id=43914317&ID=cnnmoney&scategory=Business+and+Finance&

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