It seems to me that in the readership of this blog are some of Aliant’s most active cell phone users. Perhaps not in terms of network usage (although maybe…), but certainly in terms of “early adoption” and “pushing the envelope.”
Aliant is uniquely dorky when it comes to the cell phone market: they are always behind the curve by a good amount, and by the time they release “new” handsets, they tend to resemble Oldsmobiles in terms of street cred.
The result is that we who are in a position to help them spread the word about new and cool mobile applications and devices are left, instead, complaining about what a crappy phone company we have, and have to sit at the back of the room when we travel because our gadgets aren’t cool enough.
So here is my proposed solution: we form an ad hoc “Aliant Mobility Consumer Panel” and then attempt to engage Aliant at a fairly high level to tell them our stories and offer feedback.
Worst case scenario, we get more frustrated. Or perhaps we manage to find someone who will listen to us collectively in a way that they’ve never been able to muster individually, and some real change happens.
Anyone interested?
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I am Peter Rukavina and this is my blog. I am a writer, letterpress printer, and a curious person.
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Comments
I’m in - my trusty old
I’m in - my trusty old Motorola “peanut” phone is ready to retire.
By the way, the old Motorola’s were built like tanks. Mine has skipped across Grafton Street and bounced down by beautiful hardwood stairs many times.
I’m in as well. My new V60 is
I’m in as well. My new V60 is giving me immense headaches. Missed calls, battery doesn’t charge, latent text messaging, etc.
I want to complain about how
I want to complain about how much you all complain about Aliant. They just put a new cell tower in Tyne Valley, and have expanded their Highspeed internet in several smaller communities, well done Aliant!
If you are so dissatisfied why don’t you go with Rogers or Telus and stop with the esoteric I’m smarter than Aliant as your benchmark. Why not commend their superior reliability in providing 911 access to every subscriber in the maritimes all the time? Isn’t that more important than satisfying the needs of geeks who make up a micro percentage of the market?
Your petty fussing bores me.
Ken,Agreed - Aliant does some
Ken,
Agreed - Aliant does some things VERY well. Local phone service for instance couldn’t be run better than it is. Congrats Aliant!
They’ve also just installed a digital tower beside Cavendish (my hometown) and it works fine and dandy. Congrats Aliant! Rogers doesn’t have enough coverage to be an option. Telus uses Aliant’s infrastructure.
While they do a lot of things very well they haven’t quite mastered the cell market yet. For instance: I know at least 3 people who regularly (multiple times a week) do not receive calls people make. Their phones simply do not ring and the person if forwarded to voicemail.
Aliant is also a bit (just a bit) behind the rest of the country when it comes to offering us geeks our toys. I acknowledge that we are a small market ourselves, but we are the early adopters. We are the first line of reccomendations to the rest of the adopters, so our opinions do have a significant impact.
Are we not going from passive complainers to helpful customers by doing what Peter is suggesting?
Thanks for the othe side of the coin. We geeks are often blind to it.
Why not go to Eastlink for
Why not go to Eastlink for your cellphones?
Update: I’ve had a useful and
Update: I’ve had a useful and productive dialog with the Vice President at Aliant responsible for Aliant Mobility. We’re going to set up a meeting for next week. Others interested?
Good work Peter! I assumed
Good work Peter! I assumed you were just grandstanding with the idea, which I originally suggested in a broader form.
I am very interested in being a part of this, let me know when and where.
I’m game for a meeting.
I’m game for a meeting.
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