Wireless phone reception beefed up at Taste of Chicago

Taste of Chicago visitors should have no trouble getting a cell phone signal. Yewon Kang/MEDILL

BY YEWON KANG – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Did you ever watch a wireless network company’s TV commercial in which thousands of network carriers were following each cell phone user to boost reception? In reality, it isn’t people, but portable cell trucks, or “cell site on wheels” that help boost cell phone connections at heavy network traffic sites.

A case in point: For this year’s Taste of Chicago in Grant Park, which draws an average of nearly 3.5 million people during its 10-day run every year, Verizon Wireless Services LLC has brought a portable mobile cell truck. The festival runs through July 5.

Each truck, which costs about $500,000, will receive signals that handle 1,000 additional calls, according to Carolyn Schamberger, spokeswoman for Verizon.

“During the July 3 fireworks, we expect to handle twice the number of calls, compared to a typical day,” Schamberger said.

T-Mobile USA Inc. also had a portable cell tower at Grant Park. No spokesman was available for comment.

Joe Ignatius, a Howard University student, who went to Taste of Chicago Friday with his mother, said “the connection was fine” while he was making several phone calls to track down his mother, who was momentarily lost in the crowd.

But not everyone was excited about the fully wired zone. “People are on their phones too much,” said Paul Karger, a retired Chicago native who strolled the Taste of Chicago with his wife. Karger said he only uses his cell phone to call his wife, a flight attendant who often travels abroad.

Tags: cell phone, mobile technology, T-Mobile, Taste of Chicago, Verizon Wireless, Wireless