Want better cell coverage? Forget femtocells, just run for president and have your wife's staff ask nicely. That, according to the Washington Post, is all it took for Cindy McCain, wife of GOP candidate John McCain, to get a pair of free portable wireless towers delivered to her remote 15-acre ranch in Hidden Valley, Ariz.
The candidate's wife sought out better service just as her husband was beginning his campaign in early 2007 and by the time the campaign was up and running this summer, so was wireless service from Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
According to the Post, Verizon delivered a portable tower, generally used to restore service when cells are knocked out by emergencies, in June, responding to an online request from Cindy McCain's staff. In July AT&T brought in its own free portable tower to match Verizon's offer, proving to federal overseers like McCain, who's a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, that there really is competition among the wireless providers.
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