#078 Mobile Phone (Roaming)

Pretty much everyone has a smartphone these days, and one seemingly simple concept still can not be sorted out for me: roaming.

I live in Michigan, and the location where I live in the state happens to border Ontario, Canada. Very frequently my mobile phone picks up a cell tower in Canada as opposed to one in Michigan (United States).

I am aware of settings on my phone that will make it impossible to pick up these towers, but sometimes I need to use my phone and if I happen to be roaming so be it: sometimes you need to use your phone no matter what! Therefore, I keep the mode such that it will automatically pick up any network, and not just my "home" network.

My problem is this: with such technology out there available to the masses, why can't my smartphone, enabled with GPS, pick up only towers in the state/province/country that I am ACTUALLY, PHYSICALLY located? Perhaps I live close to Canada, but I never set foot in the country: should my smartphone pick up towers in Canada that may be closer than the ones in the U.S.? I think NO.

Furthermore, why can't every mobile company provide at least 3G service everywhere in the country? If I go on a trip that lands me in the middle of nowhere or somewhere in a mountain range, it's extremely inconvenient to have the GPS/Navigation on my phone (which I happen to be using, thank-you-very-much) cut out and then I have absolutely no idea where I am or where I'm going... and I can't call someone to assist me because there is no service whatsoever.

The saying goes, "You get what you pay for", but I definitely don't feel like I'm getting enough for my money.