Wireless carriers will make available at point of sale and on their web sites maps depicting approximate voice service coverage applicable to each of their rate plans currently offered to consumers. To enable consumers to make comparisons among carriers, these maps will be generated using generally accepted methodologies and standards to depict the carrier’s outdoor coverage. All such maps will contain an appropriate legend concerning limitations and/or variations in wireless coverage and map usage, including any geographic limitations on the availability of any services included in the rate plan. Wireless carriers will periodically update such maps as necessary to keep them reasonably current. If necessary to show the extent of service coverage available to customers from carriers’ roaming partners, carriers will request and incorporate coverage maps from roaming partners that are generated using similar industry-accepted criteria, or if such information is not available, incorporate publicly available information regarding roaming partners’ coverage areas.” — Excerpt from CTIA Consumer Code for Wireless Service, Section Two 9 September 2003
A White Paper presented by
Coverage Maps and the Consumer Code for Wireless Service
“MAKE AVAILABLE MAPS SHOWING WHERE SERVICE IS GENERALLY AVAILABLE
Introduction As cellular service began rolling out to the nationʼs metropolitan areas in the early and mid- 1980ʼs, people were amazed at the new technology. The publicʼs previous experience with wireless communications was limited primarily to CB radios. Only the public safety sector and a handful of industries had tasted the benefits of wireless. Expectations were relatively low. Now the wireless industry in America boasts over 150 million subscribers. With these astounding adoption rates, expectations have risen. Millions of Americans have completely cut the cord for their voice communication using wireless for both home and mobile applications. Carriers are hoping that customers will soon trend toward wireless for their data services as well. But with this wide adoption comes greater expectations. The wireless industry has become a victim of its own success. Consumers now expect their phone to work “Anytime, Anywhere.” Lawsuits involving wireless issues are becoming commonplace, and the wireless industry is being closely scrutinized by regulators. If coverage availability has been indicated where no coverage can be reasonably expected, a case for misrepresentation can be made. With the introduction of digital technology, many advantages have been realized by both subscribers and carriers. For example, subscribers have longer battery life and a host of new features; carriers have greater spectral efficiency and reap the benefits of higher market penetration with more services to sell. While the number of active cell sites continues to rise, usable coverage has ������ � actually decreased in some areas (see Figure 1). A portion of customers upgrading from an analog phone to a digital handset saw their signal strength decline. Rural sites tended to overlap one another just enough to perform a call hand-off. Any reduction in the coverage pattern generated by each site creates spotty coverage. Overlaying digital onto existing ���� ������� �� � ���������� �������������� �� ��� �������� ���� ��� ������ ����� � ����� ������� �� ���������� ��������� analog sites in these areas can produce ��� ������ ������ ������ ����� ��� ��� ����� ����������� �������� exactly this type of effect. So the addition of ������ �� ��� ������ �� � ���� �������� ������� ���� ��������� ������� ��� �������� �� ��� ���� ������ ��� ��� ������� ������ more sites in rural areas is often necessary to ������� ��� ����� ���������� ����� ����� ��� ������� ��� provide the same coverage pattern. ���������� ���������� ��� ������ ������� ������� On September 9, 2003, under increasing threat of new regulation from state and federal officials, the Cellular Telephone and Internet Association (CTIA) announced a new “Consumer Code for Wireless Service.” The major U.S. wireless service providers had collectively assembled and hammered out a diagram for providing consumers a list of assurances that touched upon many of the issues which the carriers were being taken to task for: rates, trial periods, customer service and consumer privacy, just to name a few. In the following section we will dissect “Section Two” of the Consumer Code (shown on the front cover) and address its individual elements.
Dissecting the Code 1. What are the carriers agreeing to provide? “Wireless carriers will make available at point of sale and on their web sites maps depicting approximate voice service coverage applicable to each of their rate plans currently offered to consumers.” Although most carriers have some sort of map available, license area maps will no longer suffice. A license area is a group of counties within which a carrier is allowed to build out their network. A typical license area map would often be accompanied with a legal disclaimer that might read: “Service area shown does not represent actual coverage. Actual coverage may vary.” While it is certainly true that actual coverage will always vary, showing ubiquitous coverage in remote, uninhabited valleys, empty deserts, and national parks with restricted access, is certainly stretching the truth. Although the approach, with the disclaimer, may have once been defendable in court, it has always been difficult to control the enthusiasm of the commissioned sales representative with the prospect of making a sale. Each rate plan offering a different geographic area will require a separate map. With the wide variety of national, regional and local plans, the number of different maps required for each area will depend upon each carrierʼs pricing strategy. 2. What is the purpose of these maps and how should they be created? “To enable consumers to make comparisons among carrier, these maps will be generated using generally accepted methodologies and standards to depict the carrierʼs outdoor coverage.” Consumers will be given the chance to compare service options side by side and on equal footing. Coverage “holes” exist with every carrier and some holes are not practical to show since they can change rapidly with unexpected interference. But carriers must now be forthcoming about where there is little or no chance of completing a call.
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Figure 2, at left, is a mock-up of a typical RF pattern. Although there are many small holes, they would be extremely difficult to represent on a map in any meaningful way. The larger holes are quite evident, though. “Generally accepted methodologies” could mean many things but it seems fair to say that carriers should use a similar decibel level to portray their coverage contours. Terrain should also play a part. For example, a mountainous area should not portray the coverage as being solid and unbroken.
Figure 3, at right, represents a “cleaned-up” version of the pattern shown on the previous page. The larger holes, whether created by hills, forests or some other feature, are clearly defined and would be apparent to a consumer. RF propagations can be accomplished using a variety of software packages that can all produce different appearances. Forcing all companies to use the exact method would not only be impractical but likely impossible since the engineers using the software would have to input the information in precisely the same way in order to produce a uniform result. One way is not necessarily “more correct” than another.
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Every company has its own corporate branding guidelines that include different colors, fonts and styles. There is no insistence that the maps from every carrier look the same. What is clearly stated is that “outdoor coverage” can be represented. That would imply that carrierʼs are not required to depict varying signal levels showing, for example, in-building capabilities. Ubiquitous coverage is not a reality and is unlikely to be so anytime in the near future. Looking back over the last two decades, it is a tribute to the industry that there is already so much coverage available. 3. What other information should the map include? “All such maps will contain an appropriate legend concerning limitations and/or variations in wireless coverage and map usage, including any geographic limitations on the availability of any services included in the rate plan.” Make clear to the consumer what they are seeing. For example, if there are two different colors on the map representing coverage, is it home service versus roaming service or perhaps digital features availability versus analog voice service only? Whatever the map is being used to represent, the legend should be explicit in its descriptions. Geographic boundaries should clearly indicate where each type of service begins and ends. Depending upon the scale of the map, features with which consumers should be familiar can be utilized to help them make their buying decision — state lines, county boundaries and communities of interest, just to name a few. And if there are any exceptions in regards to type of service availability, whether due to topography, customer equipment, technical limitations or the rate plan the consumer chooses, they should be absolutely unambiguous.
4. How often should the maps be updated? “Wireless carriers will periodically update such maps as necessary to keep them reasonably current.” Each service provider will be different in how it must respond to this portion of the code. Carriers overlaying multiple technologies will have a particularly tough challenge. Considering continued system build outs, ongoing network reconfigurations and regular changes to rate plan offerings, it is easy to see how the mapping demands of the business have multiplied for carriers unaccustomed to providing such volatile information. Smaller carriers that have completed their build out may have a very static local coverage pattern and may need to update their coverage maps only once or twice a year. Larger carriers, on the other hand, may need to update maps every quarter. If special circumstances arise, interim maps may need to be created separate from the normal schedule. But, regardless of size, if a carrier offers roaming capabilities, changes may take place with their roaming partners and cause an update of their maps to be required. 5. Should roaming partner coverage be represented and, if so, how? “If necessary to show the extent of service coverage available to customers from carriersʼ roaming partners, carriers will request and incorporate coverage maps from roaming partners that are generated using similar industry-accepted criteria, or if such information is not available, incorporate publicly available information regarding roaming partnersʼ coverage areas.” It is critical to realize that even if every carrier conforms to these standards, significant complications still persist. Just because Carrier X has a roaming agreement with Carrier Y, only a portion of Carrier Yʼs service area may be available due to differences in technology choices (GSM vs. TDMA for example). Another scenario may be economic, where Carrier X may prefer to do business with a third carrier in a portion of that area due to lower wholesale rates or a minority ownership. Mergers, acquisitions, consolidations and market swaps have significant impacts on roaming agreements. The quest for the largest coverage footprint and an ever growing “home rate” area has driven virtually every wireless service provider to make alliances with others, but these relationships are dynamic. Item 4, above, spoke to the need of keeping coverage and rate maps up to date. Since no carrier can control what their roaming partners may alter about their service areas, and few carriers wish to disclose their intentions in advance for fear of losing a competitive edge, the approach to mapping is often reactive. Planning for the unknown is a frustrating exercise. The key is to be able to react quickly and have the capabilities close at hand to properly interpret and quantify what changes an outside decision has wrought.
Conclusion There are several factors every carrier should consider for the long term health of their business: • Customer Satisfaction — Often not seen as a direct cost but painful all the same. People talk about who they do business with and are quite vocal about whether or not they
have been treated fairly. Negative talk about a company can lose it business that it never even knew existed. • Churn — Some customers will always try to change carriers like most people change their socks. But why add to it? With number portability right around the corner, there will be one less reason to stay with their existing service provider. Make them happy, keep them happy, and profit from it. • Acquisition Cost per Customer — Why should a carrier wish to sign up a customer that it knows will be unhappy with the service? Sometimes it is better to send the customer elsewhere if you cannot meet their needs. • The Cost of Conforming — Complying with the new Consumer Code could be a very complicated process for those carriers that have not already taken the necessary steps to ready themselves. Carriers need to determine how much of this task can be accomplished in-house and what portions should be out sourced. Necessary personnel include mapping experts, graphic artists and researchers to track roaming partners. Regional and national maps should be consistent in their presentation when relating the same features and rates. These requirements can easily constitute an entirely new department with all its related expenses: hardware, software, office space, benefits, and other incidentals. The new Consumer Code for Wireless Service is a proactive measure in an effort to avoid added regulation on a state by state or federal level. Carriers that are not prepared to implement the industryʼs new standards will certainly have it pointed out by those who have.
American Roamer incorporated in 1988. The conpany began by creating and producing standard and custom roaming guides. Within two years, coverage map creation had been added to the list of services. By tracking the industryʼs build outs and technology advancements since its infancy, American Roamer is in a unique position to assist wireless service providers in meeting the new challenges of the “Consumer Code of Wireless Service.” Should your company need assistance with research, map creation, or technical information, please contact American Roamer at 901-377-8585 or visit the web site at www.americanroamer.com.