GL: Verizon or AT&T along the loop

[George Hechtman]

Jeff's Coke vs. Pepsi analogy, as to how one of the above is going to  
"taste" via the other, is a good one.

This is a very dynamic and competitive industry, so the coverage  
someone got last year is about as relevant as that of ten years ago.  
If there is a specific obscure place where it will be very important  
to use your phone, like any other boating issue, call there and get  
some local knowledge. Usually the local marinas and tow companies  
will know this well, in addition to places like Radio Shack or Best  
Buy if they have a presence there.

One mild advantage ATT's 3G system has that Jeff didn't mention, is  
that if you use your phone as the modem (called "tethering") you can  
talk and surf simultaneously.

There was a long discussion on this on this forum just a few weeks  
ago, so a trip through the archives will yield some detailed  
information on the technologies from Jeff and myself. By the way "2G"  
"2.5G" ""3G" are generic terms and do not apply to any one specific  
technology. Verizon/Sprint use one platform (generically, EVDO)to  
deliver "3G" data speeds, AT&T uses another (HSDPA). It looks like  
ATT and Verizon are going to adopt "LTE" as their platform for "4G",  
Sprint and others will use a variant of WiMax. Sprint already had the  
right radio spectrum pretty much in hand as a by-product of their  
otherwise ill-fated merger with Nextel; Verizon and ATT were huge  
purchasers at the recent auction of spectrum that is being freed up  
due to the transition to digital TV.

George