I'm generally pretty jaded when it comes to carrier claims of coverage area. But I must admit that I was impressed by this.

The picture below was taken at the Racetrack in Death Valley. It's a 28 mile, 90 minute drive recommended for only high-clearance 4x4's into the back country. It's the location of the famous sliding rocks (you can see one of the trails in the bottom right) and I saw a total of 6 cars/10 people in my day-long trip out there. All of the NPS guides warn you to notify someone of where you are going, carry extra water/supplies/etc for a visit, etc., etc.

And yet, as you can see, my Sprint Bold 9650 picked up 3 bars of an EVDO signal and tested to 1.35Mbps of downlad while standing out on the playa.

I think the nearest Ranger station is 33 miles away (at Scotty's Castle) and no one lives closer than a 73 miles drive in Stovepipe Wells, 23 miles as the crow flies over two mountain ranges.

Perhaps some paid-for installation for the NPS to assist stranded visitors?