Cingular upgrades service
Cingular Wireless LLC turned on a "third generation" wireless broadband network in San Francisco and 15 other cities Tuesday and began offering high-speed data services and simultaneous voice and video calling on wireless phones.
But even as Cingular rolled out the advanced network, Consumer Reports magazine released findings of its annual survey of cell phone users ranking Cingular last among the four major wireless carriers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cingular also ranked last or second to last in 17 other metropolitan areas among a handful of providers.
The main discontent, Consumer Reports said, came from customers of the former AT&T Wireless, which Cingular acquired last year. They reported problems with connections, static and customer service, while Cingular customers generally rated the company's handling of customers' inquiries with "relatively low marks." Verizon Wireless came in first in the San Francisco area and across the country.
As an industry, cellular service providers are not a popular bunch, Consumer Reports said. The consumer rating service surveyed customers of Verizon, T-Mobile (the U.S. unit of Deutsche Telecom AG), Sprint PCS and Nextel (which are now one company), Cingular, and two other carriers....
Article courtesy of Inside Bay Area (click for full article)
