cell phones

[cafealotaguy]

So, chances are you have one, but according to this article, the chances are even greater if you live in Greenville. I thaught this was pretty amazing for US to have more cell phones per capita than say, NYC or LA. Just another interesting bit about Greenville. So, what does everyone think about the pervasiveness of cell phones in Greenville ? Personally, I have cingular & love it to death, and it works wonderfully everywhere in the city. I'm just kinda baffeled about how were number one.

[goodbye]

Verizon here - and it is (or was) the BEST, IMO.

We had a few wireless companies startup here, I believe. TriVergent was one I can remember.

[Sandlapper]

Pretty cool stuff. I remember my mom telling me that a while back because she works for Alltel. I'm a little biased towards them because of that.

[Spartan]

Thats kinda cool. Verizon here. It works everywhere I need to go.

[Fiddlestix]

Back in the day, Greenville was home to DialPage which then used the tower sites and radio frequencies to become DialCall which had a large service area "footprint" that was coveted in the SMR (a/k/a SMRS) industry and by the regular cell phone (CMRS) companies, eventually being bought out by NexTel. I believe it was a former PacBell executive who came here, started up DialPage (l/k/a DialCall), cashed in with the acquisition (around '95, I believe) and went back to California a couple tens of millions richer for about, oh, 5 years of work (and considerable risk). There used to be DialCall outlets all over the place around here. (The other big SMRS regional powerhouse was OneComm, also now part of NexTel.)

When the cellular market was divvied up by lottery conducted by the FCC, every market had two cell phone companies. The frequency ranges allocated to SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio -- the sort of technology taxi companies and fleet dispatchers might use) were used to basically replicate the functionality of cell phones, though the walkie-talkie push-to-talk features of SMS were a big hit with contractors. DialCall (then NexTel) implemented this to become the third wheel in the cell markets. Greenville was a really happening place for this back in the mid-90s.

I lived in Washington, DC at the time and knew little about what was going on back in Greenville other than these three facts: 1) it was Ground Zero for the SMR 800 MHz service providers breaking into competition with cellular; 2) BMW was building a plant here and setting it up as a Foreign Trade Subzone where it would build the Z3 roadster, perhaps coming in a little too late to the roadster niche in America (was I wrong!); and 3) Michelin was completing its transition and acquisition of its Uniroyal/Goodrich units (mainly from Ohio). Of the three, the SMR developments were the most startling because, while it was impossible to predict how things would shake out, it was clear that this place would be a launching pad for a trend that was going to shape how the people of the United States will communicate with each other for the next couple decades. (Read the first two paragraphs of this very prescient scholarly paper and you'll see that I'm not exaggerating.) Sure, BMW and Michelin are far more important to Greenville locally, but from the vantage point of Washington, DC, DialCall was creating a very, very interesting dynamic.

It's actually an extremely fascinating history -- how cellular communications got to where it is today -- and I really wish that I could give you a link to a clear and concise narrative and not make you rely on my fuzzy recollections. I have to assume -- without really knowing how it's so -- that DialPage/DialCall has much to do with Greenville having such a high cell user rate.

EDIT: I think this might be the guy who spearheaded the DialCall merger here: http://www.cedargroveinv.com/about_cgi/about_pp_sj.htm

[Greenville]

I actually read something several years ago which stated that Greenville had the most cell phones per capita. It was surprising, especially when you think about places like NYC and LA (where it seems everyone has a cell phone).

I am a Verizon customer, and consider them the best. I used to have Cingular, and the reception was horrible. I had a lot of dropped calls and basically could not use it inside. I was amazed when I switched to Verizon and could use it almost anywhere with great reception.

[jarvismj]

I've actually still have the article from Boston Metro that caused me to burst out laughing on a rush hour Red Line T train, about this. I'm surprised because it came out in 2002, almost a good 4 years ago, and it's just being mentioned here on UP.

[RestedTraveler]

I've actually still have the article from Boston Metro that caused me to burst out laughing on a rush hour Red Line T train, about this. I'm surprised because it came out in 2002, almost a good 4 years ago, and it's just being mentioned here on UP.

Hehe hehe heheheh hehe.... they said, "penetration."

Seriously though, I noticed the article from St. Louis is from 2003. I wonder what the current market penetration figures are?