The Loaded Decision of Coverage
I find myself once again, and quite unintentionally, caught up in the maelstrom of mobile phone selection. I received a phone call from my mobile communications service provider - who shall remain nameless - informing me that because I had been with them for so long (at least 7 years), they would be rewarding me: free credit on my next recharge (I still use pre-pay) and a free, new handset. I could even get a free 3G handset!
Now, after the fuzzy feeling of being appreciated by some faceless corporation wore off, I began to once again appreciate the complexity and difficulty in selecting a mobile phone. I had forgotten this area of complexity. It must appear that much more difficult in the US, where phone service provider choice can in some ways be even more determining of the people and technologies you have access to. I had been going along with the assumption that a lot of people had mobile phones which they simply used, and in such exercised literacy skills. I had overlooked the intricate set of negotiations and understandings involved in the consumer's engagement with the market in selecting a mobile phone and a service provider; along with the inherently political nature of this engagement. In essence, choosing a mobile phone - such a ubiquitous and important part of contemporary everyday life for many people - is no simple task in contemporary Australia.
My situation is additionally, not as complex as most in that I am sticking with the same service provider (I am getting sick of this term! - what others can I use?) as they're the ones giving me the new mobile phone! Therefore I am really choosing between different model mobile phones (an easy task of choosing what you like the most - I like flip-phones), but more importantly, whether to choose a 3G model, and joint the 'Third Generation' network. This is the more complicated decision, as the network you choose, determines the coverage that you receive.
Mobile phone coverage was a contentious issue of debate during the roll-out of mobile phones into popular Australian culture during the 1990s. This was especially evident in a binary discourse that emerged regarding equality of access between urban/rural Australians, a binary that still exists to some extent. You can still travel through many areas of rural Australia and, depending on your coverage provider, may find yourself out of 'contact'. This situation is improving continually, though still exists. I know that my own provider drops out of coverage between towns in Northern Victoria. This is even more evident with the 3G network, which is not rolled out and available through most of rural Australia. If I make the decision to buy a 3G phone, to learn about all these new features available, then I forgoe access to that whenever I got to rural areas to visit family and friends, or for work of course.
Third Generation Networks have expanded recently with Telstra (the largest provider in Australia) launching it's 'NextGen' Network. This is a third generation model, which builds on Telstra having the most extensive coverage in Australia. It will be interesting to see if this allows for the expansion of other 3G networks provided by other corporations. If so, my decision of whether to choose a 3G phone would not necessarily limit my access in rural areas. But then again, there are still areas that don't have any digital coverage! We've all seen the skit on various television shows and movies of someone moving their mobile phone about in order to find better coverage; in rural Australia finding better coverage may generally involved a more extensive drive in the car.
The difficulties of roaming between different countries is of course even more pronounced and plagued with the difficulties of traversing different networks (unless your provider has a form of 'roaming' which is covered).
I was quite comfortable with my 2-year-old mobile phone. Sure, I haven't figured out all the features and how to access everything available with it yet, indeed, I don't use most of the features, but the offer of a new, free handset is always a temptation for one raised in consumer culture. One phone call has once again set my mind off into that labyrinth of deals and contracts and features and coverage and all the rest of that nonsense, which in some ways form legally binding contracts. There are regular media stories of young people (and wider-people generally) falling victim to the financial dragon of mobile phone contracts, or developing 'negative social habits' as a result of phone use (but these are issues for discussion at another time).
Choosing a mobile phone is a social task fraught with complexity and difficulty. Despite the image portrayed in marketing of easy of choice and easy of access, buying such a constantly used and financially alive device, is not the same as buying shoes. Like everyone else, I will continue to navigate my way through this briar-patch of possibilities and the restrictions and possibilities they allow for my communicative practices.
Now, after the fuzzy feeling of being appreciated by some faceless corporation wore off, I began to once again appreciate the complexity and difficulty in selecting a mobile phone. I had forgotten this area of complexity. It must appear that much more difficult in the US, where phone service provider choice can in some ways be even more determining of the people and technologies you have access to. I had been going along with the assumption that a lot of people had mobile phones which they simply used, and in such exercised literacy skills. I had overlooked the intricate set of negotiations and understandings involved in the consumer's engagement with the market in selecting a mobile phone and a service provider; along with the inherently political nature of this engagement. In essence, choosing a mobile phone - such a ubiquitous and important part of contemporary everyday life for many people - is no simple task in contemporary Australia.
My situation is additionally, not as complex as most in that I am sticking with the same service provider (I am getting sick of this term! - what others can I use?) as they're the ones giving me the new mobile phone! Therefore I am really choosing between different model mobile phones (an easy task of choosing what you like the most - I like flip-phones), but more importantly, whether to choose a 3G model, and joint the 'Third Generation' network. This is the more complicated decision, as the network you choose, determines the coverage that you receive.
Mobile phone coverage was a contentious issue of debate during the roll-out of mobile phones into popular Australian culture during the 1990s. This was especially evident in a binary discourse that emerged regarding equality of access between urban/rural Australians, a binary that still exists to some extent. You can still travel through many areas of rural Australia and, depending on your coverage provider, may find yourself out of 'contact'. This situation is improving continually, though still exists. I know that my own provider drops out of coverage between towns in Northern Victoria. This is even more evident with the 3G network, which is not rolled out and available through most of rural Australia. If I make the decision to buy a 3G phone, to learn about all these new features available, then I forgoe access to that whenever I got to rural areas to visit family and friends, or for work of course.
Third Generation Networks have expanded recently with Telstra (the largest provider in Australia) launching it's 'NextGen' Network. This is a third generation model, which builds on Telstra having the most extensive coverage in Australia. It will be interesting to see if this allows for the expansion of other 3G networks provided by other corporations. If so, my decision of whether to choose a 3G phone would not necessarily limit my access in rural areas. But then again, there are still areas that don't have any digital coverage! We've all seen the skit on various television shows and movies of someone moving their mobile phone about in order to find better coverage; in rural Australia finding better coverage may generally involved a more extensive drive in the car.
The difficulties of roaming between different countries is of course even more pronounced and plagued with the difficulties of traversing different networks (unless your provider has a form of 'roaming' which is covered).
I was quite comfortable with my 2-year-old mobile phone. Sure, I haven't figured out all the features and how to access everything available with it yet, indeed, I don't use most of the features, but the offer of a new, free handset is always a temptation for one raised in consumer culture. One phone call has once again set my mind off into that labyrinth of deals and contracts and features and coverage and all the rest of that nonsense, which in some ways form legally binding contracts. There are regular media stories of young people (and wider-people generally) falling victim to the financial dragon of mobile phone contracts, or developing 'negative social habits' as a result of phone use (but these are issues for discussion at another time).
Choosing a mobile phone is a social task fraught with complexity and difficulty. Despite the image portrayed in marketing of easy of choice and easy of access, buying such a constantly used and financially alive device, is not the same as buying shoes. Like everyone else, I will continue to navigate my way through this briar-patch of possibilities and the restrictions and possibilities they allow for my communicative practices.
Labels: Australia, Autoethnography, Mobile phones, Service Providers
posted by Calvin Taylor at 11:55 am
1 Comments:
decisions, decisions, aye ... just get the panang curry instead.
so you are with Telstra?
Post a Comment
<< Home