Ohl give me a cell ghone where the signals won't roam
`
`SUNDAY NEWS (LANCASTER, PA.)
`
`May 19, 2002, Sunday
`
`Copyright 2002 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.
`
`Section: BUSINESS,; CONSUMING THOUGHTS
`
`Length: 780 words
`
`Byline: Judy Strausbaugh
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`Body
`
`Are you a cellular phone customer?
`
`Are you a knowledgeable one?
`
`Here‘s a test: What's the difference between a long distance fee and a roaming charge?
`
`If you don't know, don't feel bad. In an informal survey of a dozen of my co-workers only three or 25 percent knew
`the difference. Most of them didn‘t even know there is a difference.
`#CONSUME.M120#
`
`I'm not ridiculing my colleagues. Just a couple of weeks ago,
`roaming fees were basically the same thing.
`
`I, too, was ignorant.
`
`I thought long distance and
`
`I was kind of right. But I found out "kind of" doesn't count when the bill comes.
`
`I am charged for each
`Roaming means a cell tower outside my designated calling region has picked up my call.
`minute my cell signal is roaming. Even if I make a call while in a designated calling area to someone else in my
`designated calling area, a foreign tower might still pick it up.
`
`Long distance is, well, long distance -- like from one state to another.
`
`I was charged $10 and $20 in roaming fees. How can this be? I thought. In my
`In my last two cellular phone bills,
`travels,
`I physically roam in my calling territory. How can I -- a resident of Pennsylvania -- be charged fees from
`Washington, D.C., or New York, N.Y.? I didn't accept or make any calls out of those cities.
`
`Silly, said the cell phone provider's customer service rep, that's not long distance you're being charged. It's roaming
`charges. Two different things, she said.
`
`I found out I can control long distance charges. I just don't make or accept any long distance calls.
`
`But I can't as easily control roaming charges. Short of hanging up when my little window flashes "roaming," I have
`no power to stop my phone signal from being picked up by a tower outside my designated calling territory.
`It
`happens automatically if a tower inside my territory is too full to handle my call. And then I am charged 69 cents a
`minute.
`
`But, I told the CSR, I didn‘t understand roaming charges when I bought my cell phone serivce. I thought that when I
`purchased the cellular phone plan the real live person who sold me my contract told me everything I needed to
`know to help me decide ifthis plan would fit my needs.
`
`3G Exhibit 2011
`3G Exhibit 2011
`IPR2020-01157
`IPR2020-01157
`
`

`

`Oh, give me a cell phone where the signals won't roam
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`Page 2 of 3
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`Hah!
`
`I mean, how can I budget my monthly cell phone costs if I never know what my roaming charges will be from month
`to month?
`
`Double Hah!
`
`That‘s pretty tricky, I told the CSR.
`
`To make amends she offered me free long distance. But what about the roaming charges? I asked.
`
`Triple Hah! Don't you wish! Read your contract, Toots. It's all in there.
`
`I said, suddenly feeling foolish. Knowing I couldn't win this battle,
`Who can understand that gobbledygook,
`thanked her for her “help" and ended the call.
`
`I
`
`Later, I talked to Kate Dean of the Telecommunications Research & Action Center or TRAC in Washington, D.C.
`
`She told me I wasn‘t alone in my ignorance of how cellular phone service works. She said cellular phone service
`providers make most of their money with roaming charges.
`
`Dean, a native of Pennsylvania, was, however, a little perplexed how a call from Lancaster can end up on a
`Washington or New York tower.
`
`TRAC is in the process of compiling a tip sheet for people about to become cell phone users. For more information,
`contact TRAC at (202) 263-2950. Its Web site is www.trac.org.
`
`In the meantime, I am boning up on cellular phone jargon. And the glossary is a long one, folks.
`
`Here is a sample of some words, what they really mean in cell phone land, and what I thought they meant.
`
`Air interface. Cellular meaning: The standard operating system of a wireless network. My definition: What happens
`when my dogs stick their heads out of the window of a moving car.
`
`ATM. Cellular meaning: Asynchronous transfer mode -- a high-speed, high-bandwidth transmission. My definition:
`The bank machine where I can get cash.
`
`Big LEO. Cellular meaning: Low-earth orbit satellite system. My definition: The loan shark at the corner store.
`
`Broadband. Cellular meaning: Using a wide-bandwidth channel for voice, data and/or video services. My definition:
`What my happens to my waistline when I retain water.
`
`Cell splitting. Cellular meaning: Increasing the capacity of a cellular system by subdividing calling cells into two or
`more smaller cells. My definition: Something biological that happened to each of my kids moments after they were
`conceived.
`
`Churn. Cellular meaning: A measure of the number of subscribers who leave or switch to a competing provider. My
`definition: What my stomach does when | read my roaming charges on my bill.
`
`FCC. Cellular meaning: Federal Communications Commission. My definition: Same as the cellular one. Well, at
`least I know something about cell phones.
`
`Judy A. Strausbaugh is the business editor of the Sunday News.
`
`Classification
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`

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`Oh, give me a cell phone where the signals won't roam
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`Page 3 of 3
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`Language: ENGLISH
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`Subject: CUSTOMER SERVICE (78%)
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`Company: LONG DISTANCE SAVERS (55%); LONG DISTANCE SAVERS (55%)
`
`Industry: MOBILE & CELLULAR TELEPHONES (91%); MOBILE & CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS (90%);
`TELEPHONE SERVICES (90%); LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE SERVICE (89%); TELEPHONE RATES (89%);
`WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (78%)
`
`Geographic: LANCASTER, PA, USA (90%); NEW YORK, NY, USA (78%); PENNSYLVANIA, USA (92%);
`DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA (79%); NEW YORK, USA (79%); UNITED STATES (79%)
`
`Load-Date: May 23, 2002
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`End of Document
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