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95%? You lucky, lucky devils

Mobile phone connection rate coveted by Finns

UK mobile networks connect 95% of the time
Readers' letters 95%? You're having a laugh

The 95% connection rate claim has sparked off a right old debate down here at Vulture Central. Our readers haven't finished yet by a long way. Tim Auton gets down and dirty with:

I can see why the results are grossly inaccurate when compared to anyone who's ever used a mobile phone's experience, to quote from "data was compiled from vehicles - using roof mounted aerials".

Well that's a fucking lot of good considering the majority of calls are made from hand portables within buildings. Perhaps more of my calls would connect if I had my phone connected to a two foot vertical aerial in the street.

Here's an idea, we could have stations (boxes?) in the street where for a small fee (say, 20p?) we could plug into a nice big aerial and then we too could have 95% of our calls connect.

Lies, damn lies..

On the other hand, maybe we should count ourselves lucky, as Pekka Polari explains:

Being a Finn I used to get so excellent network coverage in my home country that it actually surprises me when suddenly, you can't make a call when being 15 miles from the nearest settlement (forgive my poor english, dunno how to say this properly...). But, after moving to Silicon Valley I noticed that maybe there is an opportunity for the unfamous satellite phones, you know, which work everywhere.

Here in South Bay, North Bay or San Francisco, it doesn't matter which standard-based device you're carrying with, it's often either bad network coverage or your cell phone's battery is dead because of poor network. Anyway, you britons (sorry again, don't know the proper term :-)) shouldn't complain, please visit this country and you know what's poor service.

When I was a kid and I was hungry and my mum said 'stop whining, there are people in Africa starving', did it make me feel any better? It did not. I rest my case. Nathaniel Shelton even goes as far as to suggest that we should be grateful:

People, get a grip. Sure the networks are struggling to keep up with demand, but instead of moaning about 95% rate, consider this: Would you rather not a have a mobile at all? Is the situation really so dreadful that you would rather bin your phone and go back to using street pay phones? I don't think so. And as for complaining about reception inside buildings, do you suggest banning steel-frame construction for the sake of your mobile telephone? Stand by the window if it's that urgent for god's sake. I'm sure those twenty calls you missed from your pissed up mate down the boozer could have waited until you got there yourself...

No, those calls couldn't wait. The pub were having a 'buy one get six free' promotion on strong lager and he was trying to get me down there and by the time I arrived the punters had emptied the barrels. Bloody crap mobile phone service.

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