photo credit: Southern California Storms Take Out Phone Service

100,000 customers throughout California lost land line phone service during severe storms. The state declared emergencies in numerous California counties, including Riverside and San Bernardino. During the storms between December 17 to January 4, storms soaked through to underground cables, disrupting service. AT&T had 70,000 complaints at the peak of the storm; Verizon had 32,000. Normally these outages are fixed within 24 hours, according to the PUC’s service quality standards. During this two and a half week storm period, AT&T and Verizon were unable to fix 90% of outages within that 24 hour window. Some customers were without phone service for as much as twelve days. Many of those people did not have cell phones.

Southern California Phone Outages Signal Need for Upgraded System

<pHave AT&T and Verizon neglected their land line networks? According to an article by Kimberly Pierceall, The Press-Enterprise, consumers, reform groups and telecommunications firms that lease copper telephone lines from AT&T and Verizon say the storm may have proven what they’ve suspected for years, that the two major carriers have neglected their basic copper networks and, as a result, their land-line customers. At the same time, both companies have expanded into more profitable cable, fiber and wireless services, the groups have noted.

“The copper network has taken second place,” said Sarah DeYoung, president and executive director of CALTEL, the California Association of Competitive Telecommunications Companies. Her group is an advocate for companies such as TelePacific and others that lease “the last mile” of copper from AT&T and Verizon. During the storms, those customers were without telephone and Internet service for five to seven days.

<pWho is responsible for fixing the networks? At this point the carrier is responsible. AT&T is responsible for the majority of wired networks in California, with Verizon coming in second. Independent companies take up the slack. Apparently these companies are falling short. According to Ms. Pierceall’s article, between October and January, the California Public Utilities Commission received 218 complaints from customers that their Verizon telephone was out of service. Another 392 complaints came from customers of AT&T. To be fair, during that storm period, complaint calls were about 10 times the average. Verizon had 32,000 pending trouble tickets and had to increase their work force by 73%. The employees worked 10-hour days, 6 days per week instead of the usual 40 hour work week. It took until January 29th for all the tickets to be resolved.

<pShould we put more money into the wired networks? With so many people switching to wireless phones only, is it worth it to fix a dying horse? The problem as I see it is that until the entire nation is wireless, we still need working wired networks. There is also the DSL issue. DSL is a wired system. We need the network to be up and functional, especially in disastrous times. It’s still appropriate to maintain the existing system. What do you think?

iPad 2 rumors are flooding the Internet. Every day you hear more rumors, everything from a new model, a new launch date or including a USB port. How do you sort out the truth from the fiction? Ben Parr, Mashable, attempted to discern the truth about the top 10 rumors. According to Ben Parr, some rumors he would bet money on, and others he predicts will only happen when pigs fly.

iPad 2 Rumors – Truth or Fiction?

• Rumor #1: There Will Be Three Versions of the iPad 2 - One will be Wi-Fi only, one will support Wi-Fi and UMTS, the 3G technology utilized by AT&T Mobility, and the third model will support Wi-Fi and CDMA, used by Verizon Wireless for its 3G network. According to Parr, this rumor has an 85% chance of being true. With Verizon iPhone being released early this year, it only makes sense that Apple would make a Verizon iPad as well.
• Rumor #2: iPad 2 Will Have a Front and Back-Facing Camera – One of the big improvements from the original iPad to the iPad 2 is Facetime. In order for Facetime to be effective, Apple needs to have as many Facetime-capable devices as possible. Parr gives this rumor a 99% chance of being true.
• Rumor #3: Slimmer, Lighter and Retina Display – According to Parr, Reuters was told by its sources that the new iPad would be slimmer and lighter than its predecessor and would have a “better resolution display than the first iPad.” This is a no-brainer. History has shown through the evolution of the iPhone and the new MacBook Air that they constantly keep improving the resolution and the size of their devices. Parr gives this rumor a 99% chance of being true.
• Rumor #4: The iPad 2 Will Have a Flat Back – This rumor was spawned by another rumor leaked in Japan that a third party case would be available. Parr say the rumor of the case is blatantly false. According to Parr, Apple never releases the specs for new products to third party accessory makers. As for the flat back, Parr thinks there is 40% chance of it happening.
• Rumor #5: iPad 2: Now With Wide-Range Speakers? – This is another leak from a Japanese source, but it does make sense. The iPad is a family device, and if you want to enjoy a movie on it, it will need upgraded speakers. Engadget says the source has no track record and should be taken with a grain of salt. As for the upgraded speakers, Parr is betting on a 50% chance of the rumor being true.
• Rumor #6: The iPad 2 Will Have a USB Port - Chinese publication Economic Daily News, claims Apple’s new tablet will have a USB port so it can connect to other devices. It would make perfect sense to me, since I feel like that is a serious flaw in the original iPad. However, Parr thinks this rumor only has a 33% chance of happening. Wonder why?
• Rumor #7: The iPad 2 Will Have a Dual-Core CPU – Do you think that Apple is going to let the Android beat it? The Android LG Optimus 2X already utilizes a dual-core process. Parr thinks a dual-core processor would give the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 far greater multitasking capabilities and would be a significant development in mobile technology. He gives this rumor a 75% chance of happening.
• Rumor #8: Non-Smudge Screen & Gyroscope – This only makes sense. Parr gives it a 90% chance of happening.
• Rumor #9: A 7-Inch Version of the iPad? – Forget this rumor. According to Parr, Steve Jobs himself shot down the possibility of a 7-inch iPad. The reason, Jobs said, was that there simply wasn’t enough screen real estate for creating great tablet apps. Parr gives this rumor a 2% chance of happening.
• And the best kept secret: When Will the iPad 2 Launch? – There is much speculation about the launch date for the new iPad 2. Parr thinks Apple is unlikely to launch the iPad 2 and the Verizon iPhone at the same event, so if the Verizon iPhone comes out in March, we can expect the iPad 2 in January, and if the Verizon iPhone arrives in January, then don’t expect the iPad 2 until March. Parr is betting on a March release of the new iPad 2. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Ben Parr has gone to all the work to research the rumors. Only time will tell if Parr is spot on, or just blowing smoke. What’s your take on the rumors? Think the iPad 2 will have a USB port? Do you think it will run on a dual-core processor? Give us a comment or two to let us know what you think.

Partnering with Boingo, the nation’s leading source of public Wi-Fi, MetroPCS phones running Android can now tap into hotspots for free. The LG Optimus M and Huawei Ascend, two of MetroPCS’s Android phones, will now come pre-loaded with special software from a company called Devicescape. The app recognizes 500,000 hotspots that are controlled by Boingo, which would cost other users a monthly or weekly connection fee. For the other 200,000 hotspots that actually cost money, the user would have to pay $7.95 a month fee.

MetroPCS Android Phones Have FREE Wi-Fi

Who needs the Big Four? Up until now, the Big Four, (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile) have been the only cell phone providers worth mentioning. Now MetroPCS has accomplished what the others haven’t. By offering free Wi-Fi connections at so many hotspots globally, they have made a pre-emptive strike. Unfortunately MetroPCS is not available all over the country yet, but their service areas are expanding rapidly. Surprisingly, MetroPCS already has the fifth highest number of subscribers in the US. The company is known for its low cost service in metropolitan areas. MetroPCS had promised to be the first to deploy an LTE network, and that promise came true in September 2010. Verizon is reportedly going with LTE, but won’t be releasing their first 4G phone until next year.

“We’re creating a platform for the future, for the next 10 years and beyond,” said MetroPCS senior VP Ed Chao in a PC Mag article.

Boingo provides global connection for both mobile phones and laptops. According to Boinigo’s website, now you can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots on your laptop and Wi-Fi enabled Smartphones with Boingo Wi-Fi Combo, the perfect plan for the tech lover or gadget enthusiast. You have one username, one password, and hassle free Wi-Fi. Do you travel a lot? With Boingo you can connect at almost 1,500 airports while you wait for your flight. While some airports provide free Wi-Fi access, many do not. When I was traveling in England it would have been nice to have a Boingo account. I paid as much as £15 per night at some hotels.

Are you fixated on being with one of the Big Four? Are you willing to give MetroPCS a try? If they were here in my area, I sure would! The Big Four should get a little nervous with MetroPCS’s growing threat.