How would you interprete this mobile phone service coverage map?

Factual Questions
#1

http://www.helio.com/page?a=coverage_map&zipcode=33486

The area along the East Florida coast than includes West Palm Beach - this color is not represented by the key, right? The West Fla coast area that includes Cape Coral is closest to the 3G color, so what the heck is the darker colored area West Palm Beach is in? My email to Helio is unanswered so far.

#2

There’s no cream color on the map. It may be that brown on the map corresponds to cream color in the legend.

#3

Actually, there’s no purple in the legend either, and the left square under “Blab Away” is grey, and isn’t on the map.

#4

Wow. That’s got to be one of the most dumbed-down-to-misleadingness coverage maps I’ve ever seen. It’s not so much that they use cutesy labels to describe their degrees of coverage; it’s that they don’t provide equivalent adult terms for the rest of us!. I have a quad-band phone that’ll do GPRS but not EDGE or 3G. What zones on that map can I use my GPRS in?

Also, the colours in the legend do not match the colours on the map; there are several colours on the map that aren’t in the legend. Is the brown a roaming partner, and do I as a Helio user have to pay extra to use it?

Edward Tufte would be rolling in his grave. And if he’s not dead yet, this is the kind of thing that’ll send him over the edge.

#5

I’d interpret it to mean: “Find a new cell provider.”

#6

Yeah, it’s not a good sign, is it? I’m not using them, but I like that Ocean device they have and was thinking about going with them.

#7

Looks like they changed the map, makes more sense now.