Can You Hear Me Now NYC?
from the build-your-own dept
Sick of dealing with deadspots throughout New York City, mayor Michael Bloomberg has set up a system to let users call in and report dead spots (obviously, they have to wait until they have service again to call). The city will then make that information public on November 24th, coinciding, of course, with the day that (most) carriers dread: number portability day. For years, the carriers have been notoriously secretive about their maps, which often show exactly where the deadspots occur. Some have tried to force the carriers to open up, partly for the sake of customers who don't want to be locked into a 2 year contract only to come home and find they have no signal at home. However, the industry has fought these attempts, saying that the maps change constantly, and releasing one to the public would be outdated in days, and thus, unfair to the company. So, now, it appears that NYC is simply routing around this issue by using angry customers to create their own outages map. It will be interesting to see what actually comes out of this. Will there be incentive for people to lie? What if they work for one carrier and want to make another one look bad? Also, will there be enough data to make this service actually useful? Since you obviously can't call when you're in the deadspot itself, how many people will remember to call later on?
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