17 April 2009
ScoutingNews: Cell Phones at Jamboree
Posted by admin under: jamboree .
According to ScoutingNews.org there will be better cellular service at the centennial Jamboree at least for iPhone users.
AT&T has committed to be a major sponsorship of the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. As part of their commitment, they plan to place numerous portable cellular phone towers featuring both closed and open systems.
The Jamboree Director, John Alline, also announced that cell phone recharging will not be allowed in the medical tents. They are currently working on other options, which may involve fee based recharging stations. In addition there will be no pay phones, however there may be a tent sponsored by AT&T with cell phones available for scouts to call home for free.
I guess the open systems thing means other providers can get through, too. I wonder how this will affect the no electronics policy. Our boys took cell phones on their Jamboree trip, but that was because of the extra tours through Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania where they could check in and give updates every once in a while. Those updates would be eagerly shared among the parents who were hungry for any kind of news on what was going on. Funny stories like boys getting lost on the subway were popular reading.
So, now you might be able to get a call like, “Hey, mom! Saw the President at opening ceremonies yesterday. Gotta go. There’s an adult trying to trade for a CSP I’ve had my eye on”.
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2 Comments so far...
Mike Walton (Settummanque, the blackeagle) Says:
4 May 2009 at 7:24 am.
The rows of payphones and Scouts (”Hey Mom…I know I maxed out the credit card you sent me here with but…”) and Scouters (”Sweetheart, I love you but I only brought two backpacks with me and both are already full with stuff I’ve got here — and it’s only Tuesday!!”) will go away. That’s sad.
The thing I am really concerned with regard to the “no electronics” rule is the potential loss of social media venues. AT&T’s cellnet may limit the ability to texting…that means that Scouts and Scouters won’t be able to send that cool pix of themselves or their new friends back home to those who couldn’t come. More importantly, could this mean no “Tweets” and no SMS? I sure hope not, for Tweeting provides journalists and friends back home a great, unfiltered idea of just how much fun a National Jamboree really is — and sets us up for continued successes in future Jamborees.
Settummanque!
Dean Whinery Says:
9 September 2009 at 2:22 am.
This has got to be an improvement over 2005, when I watched folks who did not have the same cell phone brand as mine that worked, walking around in small circles on small mounds of dirt asking, “Can you hear me now?” then shaking either their heads or phones and walking away.
Because some of our walkie talkies might have made good sinkers for Scouts angling for “the big one”, but were not much good for the needs of Security, those of us with the one cell system that worked most of the time became an unofficial communications net.
There was a disadvantage, though. I had become legal guardian for a Scout-age boy and Venturing-age girl too late to get them slots for the Jamboree, so about every other day my pocket would ring and they’d ask (1) if I could wire a little more spending money, and (2) whether I’d be home in time to get to summer camp with them. I think they may have spent more money at home than I spent on the road, and yes, a motorized sprint across the continent got me home 30 hours before summer camp check in. But at camp, AHHHH, peace. There is no cell phone service there!
