# How would you interprete this mobile phone service coverage map?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 9, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425 "2007-12-09T22:40:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425/1 "2007-12-09T22:40:21Z")
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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.
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### Author:  [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425/2 "2007-12-10T01:26:57Z")
There’s no cream color on the map. It may be that brown on the map corresponds to cream color in the legend.
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### Author:  [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425/3 "2007-12-10T01:45:10Z")
Actually, there’s no purple in the legend either, and the left square under “Blab Away” is grey, and isn’t on the map.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425/4 "2007-12-10T02:01:30Z")
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](http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi) 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.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425/5 "2007-12-10T02:07:25Z")
I’d interpret it to mean: “Find a new cell provider.”
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425/6 "2007-12-10T03:09:53Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.]
I’d interpret it to mean: “Find a new cell provider.”
[/QUOTE]
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.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-interprete-this-mobile-phone-service-coverage-map/429425/7 "2007-12-12T13:53:31Z")
Looks like they changed the map, makes more sense now.