Ocean Navigator Communications Newsletter #31

Cellular Data: Pros and Woes

About two weeks ago, I found myself suddenly requested to go on a short-notice weekend trip to Finland to sort out some marine computer issues. My first thought (well, one of my first thoughts anyway) was, "How will I keep in touch?" At the time, I had a SprintPCS cell phone. Both SprintPCS and Verizon have embraced CDMA technology, which isn't in widespread use anywhere in Europe. So there wasn't any chance my existing phone would have worked over there. Scanning the inventory shelves for a handheld satellite phone, I came up empty as all of our Iridium and Globalstar phones had been sold in recent weeks (see my previous newsletter).

So, late on a Thursday evening, the night before my four-leg to northern Finland, I marched to the local AT&T Wireless store and picked up a "global" model GSM/TDMA phone. The GSM network is widely available all over Europe and is available in many areas in the US. Here in Maine, GSM is available locally in Portland but peters out pretty quickly in the popular cruising grounds of Midcoast and Downeast Maine. TDMA is available in most of those areas and many other areas that have yet to be included in the GSM network.

A half-hour later, I walked out of the store as the proud owner of a Siemens S46 phone. Before you go searching all across the Internet for details about the phone, keep in mind that in the two weeks since I've bought it, AT&T seems to have discontinued the phone - or at least removed the model from it's web store.

With the WorldConnect service I requested - I should have been able to have it all -- GSM coverage both here and abroad, additional TDMA coverage in the US, email to/from the phone, and the ability to use the phone as a wireless modem with my laptop. All worked well in my initial tests that night. I was able to make and receive calls, send email to and from the phone's screen, and even tether the phone via an infrared to my laptop and use it to browse the Internet at reasonable (appx 48 kbps) speed.

That was about the last time things worked well.

The next day in Finland (this time of year, it's perpetually day in Finland as it never gets dark enough to qualify for "night"), I was able to place calls easily but could not receive any calls. After three very long days, and three very long phone calls to AT&T's customer service department they finally admitted to having a problem with their negotiated roaming agreements that prevented me from registering with their Finnish roaming partner. I had been using a secondary carrier who had been happy to place my calls for me, but didn't have a contract with AT&T. (I still haven't seen the bill for these calls.) Because of this, the data connection on the phone was also out of commission until my return home. I won't go into the other comical service issues this caused, but let's just say it wasn't a pleasant communications experience for me.

A few days after my return to the US, I had to travel to Rockport - squarely in the midcoast, non-GSM area of Maine. Upon arriving aboard the Cape Dory sailboat, Fiona Rois, the owner promptly made a phone call on his AT&T wireless phone without incident. I then tried my AT&T wireless phone. Incidents ensued.

Fast forward to 10:45 PM that night, at a pay phone, outside Dunkin Donuts, on US Route 1. I had to find a landline to call AT&T so they could reprogram my phone to troubleshoot it. Fifty chilly minutes later (it gets cold at night here in Maine), I was still not any closer to being able to use my phone. After another 65 minute conversation with customer service the following day, the third technician I talked to finally solved my problem - which in the end was due to my account being incorrectly setup for GSM only service. Still doesn't explain my Finland problem, but makes me a happier camper locally.

My intention is not to let loose complaining about my provider - they were actually very polite, helpful and courteous. Rather I thought it would be instructive to share a typical real-life experience with next-generation mobile service.

While my experience was somewhat extreme, we've worked with a number of clients in recent months who all report that data service via mobile phones can be tricky to troubleshoot, especially overseas. Once established, it seems to be a reliable and effective means of communication, but getting the first connection is often more complex than anticipated.

On the other hand, we've had very good experiences both with Verizon's Express network and AT&T's GPRS data network. In both cases, the first email was sent within 30 minutes of unpacking the phone.

Our European-bound clients find it much cheaper to purchase prepaid SIM (account) cards once they arrive in their destination country. Most overseas service providers won't allow you sign up for a pay-as-you-go plan unless you have a permanent residence in their country - thereby relegating you to the prepaid services, or roaming rates through your US carrier.

For me, the lessons learned from all this are:
- buy your phone and service plan well in advance of your intended departure
- test your data connection well in advance of your intended departure
- be prepared for anything once you arrive in your destination country
- if budget allows, carry a handheld satellite phone just in case

Stay tuned for next month's installment, which might include reports from the field. "The field" in this case being my colleague Tim Hasson's upcoming offshore trip from Cape May to Cape Cod with a handful of communications devices aboard.

Keep in touch.

Dan Piltch
dpiltch@MarineComputer.com