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What is the target market for this in the US? The Super Bowl ad mentioned 500k mi^2 of the US are not covered by cellular, which is about 13% of the area of th
by tzs 2y ago
What is the target market for this in the US?
The Super Bowl ad mentioned 500k mi^2 of the US are not covered by cellular, which is about 13% of the area of the US. Looking at the Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile coverage maps it does look like somewhere in the ballpark of 13% is uncovered, with most of that being in Alaska.
The ad describes these places like this: "Places where emergency texts never send. Where emotional messages are not received. And countless memories are left unshared".
For the emergency texts, that is something clearly useful to anyone who finds themselves in a place without coverage, regardless of whether they live there are or just visiting.
For the "emotional messages" and "countless memories" what the ad showed as examples such as video of a high school basketball game dramatic win at buzzer, a baby's first steps, and a child's first bike ride without training wheels.
Those would be useful for people living in the cell-free areas, but I'm not sure they would be that useful for those just visiting. If I'm vacationing in a remote wilderness I probably only want emergency communications to/from outside that area.
I'd guess then is that the market for this would mostly be people living in those areas. Maybe people visiting will get it short term (if that is allowed) for the emergency texting if they aren't going to be staying with people who live there and already have it.
So...how many people live in such places?
- jlund-molfese 2y agoRemote areas sure, but also spots where you have line of sight to a satellite, but a cell signal can't get to, like canyons. Which is actually surprisingly common in some areas, like San Diego, depending on your carrier!
- BenjiWiebe 2y agoOr merely on the wrong side of a small hill, like here in Kansas. There's fair coverage in our house, but go half a mile away to one of the fields we farm and the connection is very unreliable.
- bsagdiyev 2y agoYep, I lived in an apartment off Poway Rd (Sabre Springs) and we were perfectly placed in a valley where cell had "signal" but didn't work very well if at all.
- stevenwoo 2y agoJust for an example there are places within 10 miles of Apple HQ with no cell service. It’s simply not worth it to cell providers to guarantee 100 percent coverage in all the valleys in mountainous terrain. Many of the CA state parks have no cell service outside of WiFi at the park HQ. Vast swaths of coastal region has no cell service either, so even people who might just commute or travel a bit might desire the feature.