CH> GE>I have been selling cellular service for a few years now. I think it 
s
CH>   >very important. BUT IT IS NOT A NECESSITY. People survived without 
ell
CH>   >phones for a long, long time. The Pennsuylvania PUC does not take an
CH>   >aggressive role in regulating the cellular phone industry -- thank 
od!
CH>   >The free-market economy does a wonderful job of handling that, thank
CH>   >you.
CH> Obviously, your view is somewhat biased.  The cellular companies
CH> advertising sure gives the impression that they think it is a
CH> neccessity when they try to sell the service; but the deny it is a
CH> neccessity when it comes to regulation.
I don't know what advertising you've seen or heard, but I've encountered
none that claims a cellular phone is anything other than a very, very
useful tool. And that's all it is.
CH> The free-market economy does
CH> not regulate the cellular phone industry in all neccessary areas.
CH> After all, cellular phone industry uses a national resource.....the
CH> airwaves and the public telephone system.
The cellular industry's use of the airwaves is well regulated. They have
to conform to the FCC's technical regs regarding frequency and transmit
power. But the "public" phone system is the property of private
enterprise. It's no different from any other private business that
society has developed a level of dependence on.
CH> About the only real reason
CH> there is not more regulation is because the cellular companies have
CH> done a good job lobbying (bribing) our government officials.
That's a crock. The simple fact is that it is very expensive to build
and maintain a cellular phone network. The towers and MTSO alone cost
billions. The only way that a cellular phone network can function is if
the company that owns and operates it makes enough revenue to handle
expenses, and enough profit to make it the work required worthwhile.
Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is also a publicly owned company.
And those "unethical" people happen to be anyone who buys shares of
stock in the company.
CH> GE>Now, if you absolutely positively MUST have a cellular phone, then 
ust
CH>   >go get one. It's as simple as that. If you have to sign a contract and
CH>   >make a service commitment, sign the damn contract and make the
CH>   >commitment! You're the one who claims it's a neccessity. Why wouldn't
CH>   >you want to keep your "neccessity" working for a year or two?
CH> Because I shouldn't have to tolerate extortion (one or two year
CH> contract) to enjoy the benefits of the neccessity service.
I suggest you go to the library and look up what "extortion" means.
Setting terms and conditions for service is one of the standard things
that all businesses do. The simple fact is that it costs all cellular
companies a certain amount to set a customer up. The cellular companies
don't start making a profit from a customer until that customer has been
with the carrier for a certain length of time. If they couldn't be sure
that customers would stick with the company for a given length of time,
then they'd have to charge much higher prices for everyone.
Besides, if you don't like the way that Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile does
business, then just get a cell phone from the "A" side carrier. The area
code on your tagline indicates you're from the Southeastern corner of
PA, so I think your alternate carrier would be Cellular One or AT&T
Wireless. Or, go to your local Radio Shack and cough up the $200 bucks
to buy a Sprint PCS phone. Sprint doesn't require contracts. They also
don't have towers outside of major cities, but that's the way it goes.
CH> GE>If the cell carriers require you to post a security deposit, then shut
CH>   >up and post it! If you pay your bill on time, you'll get it back with
CH>   >interest. If you can't pay your bills on time, what do you need a cell
CH>   >phone for?
CH> Your comment is a bit ignorant and aristocratic.  I don't see why a
CH> company like Bell Atlantic Nynex should be able to extort deposits from
CH> potential customers with which to fund it's expansion.
The don't. They require security deposits from people who are bad credit
risks. But they never turn anyone down for service.
CH> Their credit
CH> requirements are excessively stringent to the point of being ludicrous.
CH> There is no question about paying bills on time;
Yes, there is. If you haven't established a credit history of paying
your bills on time, very few companies are going to trust that you will
pay them on time. Cellular companies are no exception. Try getting
electrical or gas service without a security deposit if you have bad or
no credit.
CH> and your question:
CH> "what do you need a cell phone for?" is redundant and off point.
No, it was rhetorical, not redundant.
CH> GE>Frankly, I wish you'd quit your whining about how you can't get a cell
CH>   >phone under your own terms. You don't own a cellular phone network --
CH>   >Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile does. It's their bat, and their ball, and
CH>   >they make the rules. It's not "unethical" to do that. No one is 
utting
CH>   >a gun to anyone's head forcing them to do business with BANM.
CH> Bell Atlantic Nynex was originally Bell Atlantic Mobile and established
CH> with funding from its parent, a public utility and near monopoly.
No, Bell Atlantic was one of the "Baby Bells", formed as a result of the
divestiture of AT&T in the early 1980's. It is not a "public" utility,
it is and always was a publicly held corporation. And ALL phone
companies were monopolies within their service regions, until recent
technologies made competition possible for local wireline service.
CH> company utilizes a public resource (airwaves and public telephone
CH> system) to create a profit.
The "public" telephone system is now, and always has been the private
property of the companies that built it (and the people who own stock
in those companies). It is not, and never has been, the property of the
general public, except for those people who bought a piece of it on the
open market.
CH> Any other company involved in broadcasting
CH> has to serve the public good as a condition of their license; and I
CH> suggest that Bell Atlantic NyNex is not serving the public good with
CH> their unreasonable terms which are discriminatory to many classes of
CH> persons within their service area.
The only people that Bell Atlantic NYNEX (and every other cell phone
company) "discriminates" against are people who can't or won't pay their
bills.
 * OLX 2.1 TD * Eat Italian food and in 5 or 6 days you're hungry again.
--- Renegade
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