Networks rock in hilly areas

Have you ever noticed that for last three-four months call drops have increased drastically? Be it Airtel, Vodafone, Idea or Tata Indicom, this problem is faced by all. The other day, I was in Connaught Place and all the Idea cellphones in the area were not reachable. A few days ago, my friend who has an Airtel connection called me five times and due to regular call drops, he gave up. It is shocking but this is the reality. Networks in cities are weird.
A few days back when I was planning my vacation, my only concern was - if this is the case in metros like Delhi, then what can you expect in small cities?
Recently, I went to Mussoorie and Dehradun. I was aware of the fact that my Idea connection will work in these areas, unlike Jammu and Vaishno Devi where they claim that networks are present but cellphones don't work, but still there was some doubt. But this time the promises made by operators were actually true. Not only Idea but Airtel and Tata Indicom, both CDMA and GSM networks were working without any issues. Mussoorie being a tourist destination and Dehradun being a big city might have something to do with it.
But my trip turned out to be an adventurous one and then came the actual test for the operators. I took new roads and travelled in the interior of Uttarakhand - Chamba, Tehri Garhwal District, Tehri Damn, Vikas Nagar - Dehradun District, etc. The roads we were following were dangerous as they were in hills with blind turns. And the most amazing part was that there was no vehicle around us for nearly 10 Kms. Travelling on such roads was fun but for a moment I was struck by the thought that what would happen if the car broke down or we ran out of fuel. There was no petrol pump, no workshop for our aid. But as soon as I looked at my cellphone, the network signal displayed was more than enough to raise my spirits. Bingo!
I actually realised that having networks in these areas is really important and one should congratulate operators for this. But still this cannot hide the problems faced by mobile phone users in metros.