Somewhere in America Telecom is Just Getting Started

Maybe I’ve been living in a cave, because it seems everyone I’ve spoken to today has already heard of this, but I was somewhat surprised by the fact that there is a place in America, where people have yet to make a phone call. 

Well, somewhere other than Pearl River, NY. 

I received a media alert today, basically telling me that Centennial Communications was going to provide Shaw Louisiana with that town’s first-ever phone service. 

Foster Campbell, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner will use Centennial's newly constructed cell towers to call Steve Largent, President of the CTIA — the international association for wireless communications.  While to some degree this can be viewed a sstunt to draw attention to that organization’s annual trade show, it’s still amazing to me that there are places in this country where you could not make or receive phone calls.

The event will take place this coming Monday March 14, at 9:00 am CST, and approximately 40 seconds later, residents of Shaw, Louisiana will likely seek to add all their numbers to the National Do Not Call registry. 

Shaw is a rural town in Louisiana that has never had any type of telephone service.  With the leadership of Commissioner Foster Campbell of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and the efforts of Centennial Communications Corp., the local wireless telecommunications carrier, the residents of Shaw, Louisiana will now have access to modern and reliable telecommunications services.  The availability of support from the federal Universal Service Fund ("USF") enabled the construction of two wireless towers in Shaw area, making possible the provision of telecommunications services to the community.

Verizon Recap

 A few days ago I blogged about the fact that my house went “off the grid” as phone service mysteriously died; not VoIP service, but my Verizon POTS line. 

Turns out the actual copper strung from the pole across the street was old and simply ceased to provide service. Nice guy that I am, I give Verizon the benefit of the doubt on that score. What kills me however is the fact that they lied to us, telling us that someone had been dispatched as early as last Tuesday to correct the issue, and that we were the only service call on the docket. Imagine the surprise, when on Wednesday the Verizon truck rolls up at our house and the nice gentleman proceeds to troubleshoot the situation, while telling us he just got his orders that morning. 

It took him no time to fix it. 

I’m as patient as anybody, but frankly I’m not so certain I want to deal with an organization that provides my lifeline service, but feels it necessary to lie and takes over 48 hours to dispatch someone to handle the situation. You gotta figure that in this day and age everyone should have access to telecommunications, be it in Shaw, Louisiana or Pearl River, NY.

Hmm... I wonder if there is an alternative to plain ol' telephone service these days.... Maybe I should check out this VoIP thing. I hear it's hot.