Yes, Virginia, Verizon has generated a myth about "the network." Yes, they’ve told you that it sends friendly Verizon people run around the nation asking "can you hear me now." But, Virginia, there is in fact a widespread data network failure going on with Verizon.
Where is it happening? Chicago and many other parts of the nation. Who says? Well, I’m living with the failure in Chicago, and have been posting about them since early Monday morning (see here and here). As for the rest of the nation, this post at PhonesReview covers the story. That story says Verizon had failed to answer inquiries as of the story being posted. Another story is on The Verge. An update there says Verizon has admitted to a limited problem on one day in a confined area. That’s nonsense if one believes all the commenters under the PhonesReview story. Indeed, the national nature of the outage/reduction in service to 1g is confirmed by myriad comments under the Phones Review story – they are from all around the country.
One more thing Virginia. You know those 4G stories of blazing download speeds? They are nice stories, in fact, they are wonderful stories. And, sometimes, the stories are true. But if you want to believe in those stories, you can’t move quickly when using a modem and a laptop. Why? According to Verizon employees, the problem is that 4G is not ready for prime time and can’t yet do smooth hand offs between many of its towers. And some towers do not even 4G. It’s a problem in many places, which I mentioned last year as the 4G service failed in various spots around the nation about a year ago. The answer Virginia? Don’t use 4G when on a commuter train or a car. Instead, believe in 3G, as I do, and leave that 4G modem in a drawer until the system grows up.
To close, my dear Virginia, let’s join hands and say: Do you hear your customers now, Verizon? Will you admit your failures? Will you step up to the plate and automtically issue credits to all affected? Or will you wait for a class action suit and then complain bitterly about class action lawyers picking on Verizon?
A side note. So far as I can find after some Google searches, mainstream media has failed to cover the story of Verizon’s data failures. A cynic might think some in media do not want to offend a major advertiser.