[at-l] Request for Info on Pay Phone and Cellphones

[nealb@midlandstech.com (William Neal)]

This is NOT a request for opinions on whether cellphones should or should
not be used on the AT or in any outdoor/wilderness situation.  This is a
request for info on the availability of Pay Phones along the AT or nearby &
for information on the connectibility of Cellphones on the AT.  If you want
to make a comment  to the list about the advisability of cell phones on the
trail, please do so under a "new" and different subject heading & not just
an RE.  Or, if you want to comment to me, please send directly to me. 

I intend to collect the info and at the end of the main hiking season, I
will post it to the list.  I already have lots of comments on the
advisability of using a cell phone.  What I need is the info below.  Also, I
have had suggestions and a couple of queries about posting to other lists
&/or publications.  No-one will be quoted unless they give me permission.

PAY PHONES : The intent is to find out how available pay phones are along or
nearby the AT.  Many pay phones are being yanked out by the main, old-line
phone companies.  And many of the pay phones still out there are owned by
"for profit" companies -- those companies that can charge almost anything
they want since apparently they are not considered "true" utilities and are
considered a "non-essential" service provider.  Which means those who don't
want to use cell phones, may find that they will have trouble making phone
calls when they need to.  Or even finding where something is because there
is no phone book because there is no pay phone.  So let me know what the
situation is like whether you thru-hike, section hike or even if you only
live in an area near the AT.

CELL PHONES: Connectability is the big question.  What's the use of carrying
a cellphone if the only place you can connect is in a town?  Or if the
signal is as scratchy as old time wool.  So I would like to find out how
connectable cell phones are along the trail.  Is the signal scratchy?  Fair?
Good?  Excellent?  If so, where?  Were there dead spots?  And if so, for how
long a distance?  So if you use a pay-phone while on the trail, let me know
how connectable it was and any problems you had.

I intend to post and re-post this query every so often -- probably the last
week of the month.  And I am doing that only to catch someone who is a
newbie to the list or who might have been out on the trail when it was first
posted.  But I'm posting it now because my original posting seems to have
gone "astray" and some people may have valuable info but may not have sent
it in because of the way the thread changed.  

Again, if you want to start a "lively" discussion about the advisability of
using cell phones, please start it with a "new" subject heading.  But
remember, we've pretty well beaten that dog to death recently.  May it's
spirit lay in peace for awhile.

Also, feel free to forward info from anyone not on the list.  Or, (Heaven
help me), let them know what I am doing and give them my email address for
the info.

William, The Info Turtle