Arabian Desert Has Better Cell Coverage Than U.S.

There has been a lot of speculation that the business practices of US wireless companies has been crippling the industry, largely for the sake of squeezing a few extra bucks out of their customers. Apparently many other countries are not having this problem. Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz noted during a trip through the desert that his coverage was far better in the deserts of Dubai than it is in the farmlands of the US.

Despite the Arab Emirates being number 65 on the cellphone spending lists, and the US and UK being at the top, Dubai has far better networks. So how does a country with far fewer carriers and less money moving around in general have such superior service?

It might just be that companies like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. are just too greedy to spend money on improving their networks. In some European countries, governments impose strict laws stating that companies must set aside a set amount in infrastructure in order to keep their license. While this might seem extreme, communications is a very important service for a country to have working properly.

The question is if you think that governments should spend the extra money on communications infrastructure to give full coverage, or will tougher laws be enough to keep companies in line? Being that my entire house is a dead zone for cell coverage on every imaginable network, this one really hits home. It blows my mind that a barren wasteland has better coverage than my house.

[via Gizmodo]