“EVERY DAY SEES HUMANITY MORE VICTORIOUS IN THE STRUGGLE WITH SPACE AND TIME” – GUGLIELMO MARCONI
I feel very fortunate to be a part of the wireless industry for the past 17+ years. It is a fast moving and constantly changing industry with so much new technology every 2 years or so. One of the constant questions I get asked is even though we have seen so much advancement from voice to data with cell phones why don’t we still have reliable cell phone coverage?
Now it is easy to assume that the carriers aren’t doing much about it but that is far from reality. There is a constant push on the carrier side to provide a reliable network that satisfies their customers but there are a lot of challenges in resolving this big issue of cell phone coverage reliability. I thought I would spend some time and take a crack at the 5 reasons why you don’t get reliable cell phone coverage.
Reason #1 – Geography & Physics – This has to be one of the biggest reasons for unreliable cell phone coverage; geography and physics. Wireless technology may seem like magic but it really is just physics at its finest. Wireless networks consist of multiple individual tower/cell sites that transmit radio frequency waves that enable communication between the cell phones and the cell sites. Each cell site covers a certain geographical area and as you move out of the cell site’s coverage area another cell site picks you up and you can continue your call or data session.
This is where it gets challenging, radio waves follow the laws of physics so there is only a certain distance they can travel and they can’t go through all structures. They can’t go through mountains, concrete and even get absorbed by trees. The more obstructions in their path the weaker the radio waves get. The kind of frequencies (spectrum) the carriers use also makes a difference, the lower the frequency the higher the penetration of the radio waves inside buildings, higher the frequency the lower the penetrations inside buildings e.g. Say we have Carrier A and Carrier B that both have a cell site in the same location, all other variables being equal, Carrier A using 800Mhz spectrum will have better coverage inside the surrounding buildings than Carrier B that is using 1900Mhz spectrum. All carriers have multiple bands of spectrum and there are constantly evaluating their spectrum strategy to provide the best possible balance of coverage and capacity to their customers. Now, you can see the challenges in designing networks that provide 100% coverage everywhere.
Reason #2 – Customer Usage – One of the little known facts is the impact of high customer usage on reliability. Every cell site has a finite limit on the amount of calls or data sessions it call handle. Once that limit is exceeded there is a big impact on network performance where calls won’t go through and customers won’t be able to able to surf the internet. With the proliferation of cell phones and tablets in society it has put a huge strain on network capacity. What has also been seen is the shift in cell phone usage indoors which has increased the need for cell sites not only outdoors but also indoors. Building a system to provide coverage indoors is very challenging and can be very expensive. Higher customer usage has resulted in a bigger need for more spectrum to provide coverage. Carriers have been very busy in investing both in purchasing more spectrum as well as making significant investments in building DAS and small cell solutions to help mitigate capacity challenges.
Reason #3– Carrier Budgets – The 4 major carriers in the US are definitely very large companies with many resources. However, there is a lot of competition between them when it comes to pricing plans to the consumer which then has an impact on their network deployment budgets. Not only is it very expensive to build these networks, it is very expensive to maintain these networks. Networks take time and money to be built right and as a result there is a lot of planning involved in getting it done right. Carriers usually create long term plans that range 3-5 years and then allocate annual capital budgets for deployment. When you look at the US it is a very large country with lots of buildings and a large population that is spread across vast expanses of land. It is almost impossible to cover 100% of the land and 100% of the people 100% of the time so the budget is prioritized to provide the highest possible return on investment where the maximum impact is created for people where they live, work and play.
Reason #4 – Zoning/Building Process – To build a cell site, a lease needs to be signed with the property owner so a cell site can be installed and then depending on the location of the property it will go through the zoning process where, dependent on the property location, an approval is needed from the respective local, state or federal government entity that has jurisdiction. After the zoning approval is received, a building permit is usually needed to construct the site. This whole process can take anywhere from 8-36months. Due to the major length of time taken for this whole process, carriers are unable to build sites in a short timeframe and are forced to change their build plans as customer usage and technology needs change.
Reason #5 – Device Reliability – This is not talked about much but is a big driver of unreliable cell phone coverage. Cell phones and tablets have gotten very complicated and are constantly being launched with new hardware and software. It is not always the network that results in unreliable coverage but also the device. There are times that the radio in the device gets damaged which can create reliability issues. All devices are not made equally and may have some design features that enable it to perform better than other devices. All devices from major manufactures are usually created with strict standards in mind and are tested rigorously but that still doesn’t mean they are created equally. Some devices have better RF performance than others. There are many times you will find that you have the same carrier as a co-worker or friend but they have a different network experience than you because you have different devices. Device age and software updates can impact performance as well.
So, there you have it! 5 reasons why you don’t get reliable cell phone coverage. I would love to hear your opinion or comments on the article and if there are any topics I should elaborate on in subsequent posts