WaPo: New Map Rates Cell Phone Service at Metro Stations

• November 4th 2010

by Mark Wellborn

With recent news that the expansion of cell phone service in the Metro has slowed, The Washington Post has put together an interactive map where cell phone users can rate the quality of service at various stations.

The Google Map identifies all area Metro stations and allows users to rate the service of the four major carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) at each. The map was just created within the last few days, so ratings for some stations don’t exist yet, but here is a sampling:

• Metro Center — Every carrier except for Verizon was given a “strong signal” rating.
• U-Street-African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo — AT&T was given a “no signal” rating, Verizon an “adequate signal” rating, and T-Mobile and Sprint have yet to be rated.
• Tenleytown-AU — AT&T and Sprint were given “no service” ratings. Verizon and T-Mobile have not been rated yet.
• Farragut West — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon were all given decent to good signal ratings. Sprint has yet to be rated.

In August 2009, we reported that Metro had begun installing hardware from the four major wireless carriers in its 20 busiest underground stations with the aim of enabling cell phone coverage at those stations by last fall; at the time we published that article, Metro had a long-term goal that by 2012, the entire system — stations and tunnels — would have coverage. Based on the ratings above, it appears that, regardless of carrier, service still remains spotty in most stations.

Related Articles:

• Cell Phone Coverage Coming to Metro
• Verizon Best in DC, Study Finds

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/wapo_new_map_rates_cell_phone_service_at_metro_stations/2642.