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posted by takyon on Sunday February 17 2019, @07:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the here-be-dragons dept.

Submitted via IRC for chromas

'These maps are bogus': U.S. lawmakers tear into telecom execs over spotty rural coverage

Members of Congress are fed up with the state of cellphone coverage in the United States, and on Wednesday, they weren't afraid to lodge their complaints personally — with the leaders of some of the country's biggest wireless networks.

As Sprint and T-Mobile went to Capitol Hill to defend their $26 billion proposed merger, lawmakers buttonholed T-Mobile's chief executive, John Legere, and Sprint's executive chairman, Marcelo Claure, on the frustrating inability to get a cell signal in many parts of the country, particularly in rural areas.

Waving a coverage map of his state in the middle of a congressional hearing, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said that despite flashy promises to build a dazzling 5G network, wireless carriers can scarcely manage to serve Vermont with regular 4G LTE. "In a lot of Vermont, we have no-G," said Welch. "These maps are bogus."

When Claure tried to shift the blame to AT&T and Verizon, saying Sprint's network often relies on those companies' infrastructure in many areas, Welch interrupted. "These are no good! These are phony maps!" he bellowed.

Can you hear me now?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 17 2019, @10:10PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 17 2019, @10:10PM (#802629)

    I guess a lot of those Members of Congress have a nice and secluded estate in a rural area with bad coverage.

  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday February 17 2019, @11:04PM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Sunday February 17 2019, @11:04PM (#802646) Journal

    More likely, certain odd locations around the country, remarkably close to properties owned by goverment types, have cell towers quite nearby..

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @12:19AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @12:19AM (#802678)

    If you're around Washington DC, you don't have to go very far to find places where the only available cellphone coverage is Verizon Wireless. If that. No AT&T, no Sprint, in suburbs of Annapolis MD.