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American Morning
Wireless Watchdog: Which Cell Phone, Carrier, Plan Is Right For You?
Aired January 08, 2003 - 07:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If you're going wireless, well, "Consumer Reports" has some advice for you. They say, buyer beware, and they would know.
In its yearly look at the cell phone industry, a third of the people surveyed said they were unhappy with their service. How then do you know which phone, which carrier, which plan is right for you? A great question.
Jim Quest -- Guest, rather, president and CEO of Consumers Union joins us now to help cut through some of the static.
Good to see you, Jim -- good morning to you.
JIM GUEST, PRESIDENT, CEO, CONSUMERS UNION: Good to see you, Bill -- good morning.
HEMMER: I want to get to the best phones in a little bit here.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: But I think one of the most important things is picking your carrier. A couple of bits of advice right here for our viewers. Get some recommendations first, and you could probably get those from "Consumer Reports." Also take advantage of the trial period, very critical in finding out and experimenting what's right for you.
GUEST: Yes.
HEMMER: And check out their record. Who is "they," by the way?
GUEST: Right. Well, "they" is the different carriers, and you could actually go to "Consumer Reports" this month where we've surveyed users of different cell phone carriers, and they say which ones, you know, do well and which ones don't do so well.
HEMMER: And when you went for taking advantage of the trial period and getting recommendations on things like that, you went literally through every calling plan that you could find.
GUEST: Yes, all of the major ones, yes. And the thing about it is talk to friends, talk to neighbors, talk to people at work, see, you know, are they satisfied with their plan nor not. Does it work when they need it where they need it?
HEMMER: I like that advice. Top cell providers: Verizon checked in No. 1, AT&T, Nextel, T-Mobile, Cingular, Sprint PCS. We can go through all of these time and time again.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: Why did Verizon come out No. 1 here?
GUEST: Well, we looked at things like dropped calls, dead zones, static on the line and things like that. "Consumer Reports" surveyed users in six cities, and in each of the six cities, Verizon was rated higher than the others, but generally speaking, people are not very satisfied with any of the cell phone services.
HEMMER: And the cities you looked at, these are major cities, too. It was New York, it was L.A., it was Chicago...
GUEST: Chicago, sure.
HEMMER: Well, what problems did they find? Was it picking up a cell range? Was it trying to make sure you could actually make a call and in turn hear the person?
GUEST: Yes, I mean, over 22 percent in the last week before we surveyed them either had multiple dropped calls or couldn't connect in the first place or got static on the line. I mean, the quality of service has a long way to go.
HEMMER: Why is that then? When we see so many of these essentially telephone poles shooting up in major metropolitan areas, trying to increase their service, why is not happening?
GUEST: Well, there aren't enough poles around. And another problem is, each of the different carriers uses a different technology. So, one phone often can't use or one carrier can't use another's lines, whereas in Europe and other parts of the country, they all use the same system, so if you're in kind of a dead zone for one, you can network into a live zone of another.
HEMMER: All right, let's talk about calling a plan and picking that plan. Who are you going to call is one of the things you think is probably critical, pretty fair logic. From where you're calling. Is roaming included, one of the important things you pointed out.
GUEST: Yes.
HEMMER: And when is the cheapest time to make calls. Of these four, what's critical, or are all they equal?
GUEST: Well, the key thing is figure out what your own calling pattern is going to be. Do you call mostly at night, on weekends, during business hours? And then try to match up your calling hours with when the plan you're looking at has cheap rates.
HEMMER: And picking a cell phone, ease of use you talk about. Analog or digital capability. Bells and whistles, when you're reaching into your pocket...
(CROSSTALK) GUEST: Well, first, the ease of use, be sure it feels comfortable, be sure it's easy to dial, and also be sure that your cell phone has both analog and digital capability, because that gives you...
HEMMER: Why is it important?
GUEST: Well, because if you've got that, sometimes the strong signals or the strong coverage is analog, sometimes its digital. You want to be able to move between them if you can. As far as the bells and whistles, Bill, you know, if you want it, sure, you can get a color screen, you can get video games, you can get, you know, all sorts of, you know, ringing, different sounds and things like that. But the key thing is be sure the phone works where you need it and when you need it.
HEMMER: I would say that's very key. The phone you have there, quickly for our viewers, is what?
GUEST: This is a phone -- this is our top-rated phone for the Verizon service. But the same phone doesn't work well for different carriers. So, go to our magazine, go to "Consumer Reports" or our Web site. Once you've got your carrier, and pick the carrier first and then the phone, because a lot of times, people buy a phone, and then find out that carrier doesn't even work in their own home.
HEMMER: Hey, listen, thanks for stopping by.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: Text messaging, is it gaining steam or not?
GUEST: A little bit, yes...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: I love it. I tell everybody to do it, but the Europeans have been doing it for a while.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: Jim Guest, thanks for coming.
GUEST: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: Good deal.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Right For You?>
Aired January 8, 2003 - 07:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If you're going wireless, well, "Consumer Reports" has some advice for you. They say, buyer beware, and they would know.
In its yearly look at the cell phone industry, a third of the people surveyed said they were unhappy with their service. How then do you know which phone, which carrier, which plan is right for you? A great question.
Jim Quest -- Guest, rather, president and CEO of Consumers Union joins us now to help cut through some of the static.
Good to see you, Jim -- good morning to you.
JIM GUEST, PRESIDENT, CEO, CONSUMERS UNION: Good to see you, Bill -- good morning.
HEMMER: I want to get to the best phones in a little bit here.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: But I think one of the most important things is picking your carrier. A couple of bits of advice right here for our viewers. Get some recommendations first, and you could probably get those from "Consumer Reports." Also take advantage of the trial period, very critical in finding out and experimenting what's right for you.
GUEST: Yes.
HEMMER: And check out their record. Who is "they," by the way?
GUEST: Right. Well, "they" is the different carriers, and you could actually go to "Consumer Reports" this month where we've surveyed users of different cell phone carriers, and they say which ones, you know, do well and which ones don't do so well.
HEMMER: And when you went for taking advantage of the trial period and getting recommendations on things like that, you went literally through every calling plan that you could find.
GUEST: Yes, all of the major ones, yes. And the thing about it is talk to friends, talk to neighbors, talk to people at work, see, you know, are they satisfied with their plan nor not. Does it work when they need it where they need it?
HEMMER: I like that advice. Top cell providers: Verizon checked in No. 1, AT&T, Nextel, T-Mobile, Cingular, Sprint PCS. We can go through all of these time and time again.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: Why did Verizon come out No. 1 here?
GUEST: Well, we looked at things like dropped calls, dead zones, static on the line and things like that. "Consumer Reports" surveyed users in six cities, and in each of the six cities, Verizon was rated higher than the others, but generally speaking, people are not very satisfied with any of the cell phone services.
HEMMER: And the cities you looked at, these are major cities, too. It was New York, it was L.A., it was Chicago...
GUEST: Chicago, sure.
HEMMER: Well, what problems did they find? Was it picking up a cell range? Was it trying to make sure you could actually make a call and in turn hear the person?
GUEST: Yes, I mean, over 22 percent in the last week before we surveyed them either had multiple dropped calls or couldn't connect in the first place or got static on the line. I mean, the quality of service has a long way to go.
HEMMER: Why is that then? When we see so many of these essentially telephone poles shooting up in major metropolitan areas, trying to increase their service, why is not happening?
GUEST: Well, there aren't enough poles around. And another problem is, each of the different carriers uses a different technology. So, one phone often can't use or one carrier can't use another's lines, whereas in Europe and other parts of the country, they all use the same system, so if you're in kind of a dead zone for one, you can network into a live zone of another.
HEMMER: All right, let's talk about calling a plan and picking that plan. Who are you going to call is one of the things you think is probably critical, pretty fair logic. From where you're calling. Is roaming included, one of the important things you pointed out.
GUEST: Yes.
HEMMER: And when is the cheapest time to make calls. Of these four, what's critical, or are all they equal?
GUEST: Well, the key thing is figure out what your own calling pattern is going to be. Do you call mostly at night, on weekends, during business hours? And then try to match up your calling hours with when the plan you're looking at has cheap rates.
HEMMER: And picking a cell phone, ease of use you talk about. Analog or digital capability. Bells and whistles, when you're reaching into your pocket...
(CROSSTALK) GUEST: Well, first, the ease of use, be sure it feels comfortable, be sure it's easy to dial, and also be sure that your cell phone has both analog and digital capability, because that gives you...
HEMMER: Why is it important?
GUEST: Well, because if you've got that, sometimes the strong signals or the strong coverage is analog, sometimes its digital. You want to be able to move between them if you can. As far as the bells and whistles, Bill, you know, if you want it, sure, you can get a color screen, you can get video games, you can get, you know, all sorts of, you know, ringing, different sounds and things like that. But the key thing is be sure the phone works where you need it and when you need it.
HEMMER: I would say that's very key. The phone you have there, quickly for our viewers, is what?
GUEST: This is a phone -- this is our top-rated phone for the Verizon service. But the same phone doesn't work well for different carriers. So, go to our magazine, go to "Consumer Reports" or our Web site. Once you've got your carrier, and pick the carrier first and then the phone, because a lot of times, people buy a phone, and then find out that carrier doesn't even work in their own home.
HEMMER: Hey, listen, thanks for stopping by.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: Text messaging, is it gaining steam or not?
GUEST: A little bit, yes...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: I love it. I tell everybody to do it, but the Europeans have been doing it for a while.
GUEST: Sure.
HEMMER: Jim Guest, thanks for coming.
GUEST: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: Good deal.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Right For You?>
