According to Edmonton city Councillor Kerry Diotte (11th Ward), Rogers Communications told him the company needs up to 1,000 new cell towers in the Edmonton area alone to meet the growing demands from cell phone, smartphone, and tablet owners who are putting pressure on the company’s wireless network.  That’s a number Rogers disputes, but regardless of how many towers eventually get erected, few residents want to live next door to one.

Diotte is caught in the middle of a major, some say inevitable, fight between the telecommunications giant and homeowners living near the proposed home of a new 25 meter cell tower that is as tall as an eight story building.

Diotte

Diotte attended a heated public meeting Tuesday evening between residents of Hazeldean and Rogers officials over plans to place the new monopole antenna right in the center of town in a residential district.

“I will absolutely bring everything that I can to try to stop this,” Diotte told CTV Edmonton. “It’s the will of the people in this ward.”

CBC Radio in Edmonton explored the cell tower controversy in Hazeldean back in July when Rogers first announced plans to erect an 82 foot monopole cell tower at a local senior’s center. Rogers says increased demand requires the company to place new cell towers in residential neighborhoods to meet demand. July 14, 2011. (7 minutes)
You must remain on this page to hear the clip, or you can download the clip and listen later.

Rogers officials found themselves shouted down at times during Tuesday evening’s meeting, as dozens of residents complained the new tower would reduce property values and could pose a health risk.  At least one resident wants Rogers to pay moving expenses to allow her family to leave the area before the tower is built.

Hazeldean residents say a better spot for the antenna would be in an industrial neighborhood a few blocks away.

Rogers Communications says wireless data demands are growing exponentially, and constructing new cell towers improves reception, data speeds, and divides up the increasing load of data traffic on their network.  Unfortunately, cell towers are increasingly required where customers live, work… and use their wireless devices.

For the immediate future, Rogers has plans for 20 new cell towers in Edmonton, a number dwarfed by their competitor Telus, which has plans to install 80 new cell towers across the province this year.

Industry Canada has the final say on whether Rogers will ultimately win approval to place its proposed cell tower in Hazeldean.

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CTV Edmonton Residents Upset Over Rogers Cell Tower 9-21-11.flv[/flv]

CTV Edmonton covered the Hazeldean cell phone tower controversy and spoke with a city councilman who shared Rogers told him they would need another 1,000 cell phone towers in the Edmonton area alone to meet growing demands for cell phone users.  (5 minutes)

Verizon Communications was supposed to have a “neutral” position regarding the takeover bid by AT&T to absorb T-Mobile, but Lowell McAdam, CEO could sit on his hands no longer, and told the Wall Street Journal “the match had to occur” and cautioned if the government blocks the merger, it needs to cough up more spectrum for wireless companies like his, and fast.

McAdam made those comments earlier today at an investor conference on the afternoon of the first court hearing on the Department of Justice lawsuit to derail the $39 billion deal.

My Breakfast With Julius

McAdam has the luxury of getting his point across directly with Washington’s movers and shakers.  While consumers continue to clamor in overwhelming numbers against the idea of T-Mobile being absorbed into a super-sized AT&T, McAdam enjoyed breakfast with Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski.

Consumers don't have the luxury of breakfast with the chairman of the FCC

“I have taken the position that the AT&T merger with T-Mobile was kind of like gravity,” Mr. McAdam said. “It had to occur, because you had a company with a T-Mobile that had the spectrum but didn’t have the capital to build it out. AT&T needed the spectrum, they didn’t have it in order to take care of their customers, and so that match had to occur.”

“So in my discussions with the FCC and folks on the Hill, if we want to stop or if the government wants to stop a merger like that, they need to then step up and say, this is how we are going to get spectrum in the hands of people,” he said.

Mr. McAdam said that can be done through secondary auctions, incentive options or freeing up additional spectrum. He said the wireless industry needs more spectrum, and the FCC will be “very focused on delivering that.”

McAdam didn’t say T-Mobile could have always sold its unwanted spectrum to AT&T instead of entering into a $39 billion dollar merger deal that will further reduce wireless consumers’ choice in carriers.

Unfortunately, consumers bringing delicious breakfast pastries and a point of view about wireless consolidation are unlikely to find themselves sharing a cup of joe with the head of the FCC.  They can’t even be trusted with the FCC Chairman’s direct phone number, which executives at AT&T and Verizon both have.

No Second Cup of Coffee for Jittery Investors

Investors may not want a cup of coffee themselves, considering the jittery reception some have had to news Verizon would forgo a recurring dividend and spend money at wireless spectrum auctions instead.

“When it makes sense, we’ll have a dividend,” he said. “When there’s a better first use for those dollars, we’ll do that with it, and the dividend will either be on a hiatus or less.”

AT&T flipped the switch Sunday on its new 4G-LTE wireless data network, and the resulting next-generation wireless speeds now available to customers in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas are impressive, averaging 23.6Mbps on the download and 15.2Mbps for uploads during a three-day test.

Mobile World reports initial testing by Signals Research in Houston delivered a peak data rate of a massive 61.1Mbps.  The researchers transferred nearly 90GB of data back and forth during the weekend tests, almost always at data rates above 5Mbps.

AT&T intends to compliment its existing “4G” HSPA+ network with a gradual rollout of LTE service in their major markets, eventually covering 44,000 nodes over a three-year period.

AT&T will first introduce its LTE service to wireless mobile broadband customers who will find the USB modems on sale with a two-year service commitment.  Support for the network on smartphones will come later.

A few important points to consider before becoming too excited with AT&T’s speed ratings:

1. Signals Research conducted the tests on an effectively empty network.  Since AT&T hasn’t started selling LTE-capable smartphones yet, the only ones using the network are AT&T’s mobile broadband customers, most of whom are using AT&T’s older HSPA+ service.  AT&T doesn’t guarantee any particular speed, and it’s a safe bet speeds will slow considerably when smartphone customers eventually pile on board.
2. That speed comes at a significant price.  AT&T is charging $50 a month for mobile broadband service with a 5GB usage cap.  Each additional gigabyte runs $10.  Signals Research is lucky they didn’t pay AT&T the going rate during their tests.  That 90GB of data would result in a bill from AT&T amounting to $50 for service, and $850 in overlimit penalties.

KJCT-TV caught customers lined up literally out the door of this AT&T store in Grand Junction, Colorado.

AT&T store employees in the Grand Valley of Colorado are using the company’s upgrade of former Alltel service areas to 3G service as an excuse to tell customers they need to buy new cell phones if they continue to want to use their wireless service.

Customers lined up outside AT&T stores in communities like Grand Valley, Colorado on Monday fuming over service problems than began last weekend.

“I had about an half hour wait just to find out I had to buy a new phone and they wouldn’t credit me for it or anything,” customer Josh Simpson told KJCT-TV.

AT&T employees told the television newscast the company is “getting rid of the 2G service in Grand Junction to make room for larger networks.” Employees also said customers were sent a letter informing them about the service change, but customers might have overlooked the e-mail because it looked like spam.

Local employees shrugged their shoulders as customers repeatedly complained about having to foot the bill for brand new phones, often at full price, in order to continue using their service.

“It’s a corporate decision,” one replied.

At issue is AT&T’s adopted network, acquired originally by Verizon Wireless from Alltel but spun away to AT&T as part of an agreement with federal anti-trust officials.  Alltel’s network in the Grand Valley placed more prominence on its legacy 2G EDGE network than AT&T is willing to continue.  AT&T isn’t actually discontinuing the 2G network — it is moving 2G service to less-favorable spectrum it owns in order to make room for improved 3G coverage.  That might work fine in areas less expansive and rugged than western Colorado, but in the Grand Valley, it means many customers will find they no longer have data service at all.

The ongoing tower upgrades have also disrupted cell service generally, and when customers arrive at AT&T’s stores to complain, the employees on hand attempt to upsell them more expensive phones to “fix” the problem.

Customers calling to complain are met with busy signals or general statements from AT&T telling them the changes are for their own good.  But because so many basic cell phones don’t support 3G service, upgrades to phones that do often represent a major unexpected financial hit (and another two year contract and data plan if the phone happens to be a smartphone).

“Alltel served us just fine for many years,” writes our Glade Park reader Tim. “When AT&T eventually showed up, we got everything we never wanted, and this should be a lesson for those who think AT&T will somehow ‘improve’ service at T-Mobile if they acquire them.”

AT&T customer Joan Burns told KJCT AT&T just made up her mind for her.

“I will never again sign a contract with them,” she said. “That’s bull.”

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KJCT Grand Junction ATT Customers Forced To Upgrade Cell Phones 9-19-11.mp4[/flv]

KJCT in Grand Junction reports AT&T customers may be noticing a disturbance in their cell phone service, as AT&T employees use it as an opportunity to get customers to upgrade to more expensive phones.  (3 minutes)

LG Optimus T

Some analysts would have you believe nobody wants to keep doing business with T-Mobile, but when the price is right, it can bring the company’s online ordering system to its knees.

T-Mobile’s prepaid division ran a sale this morning on a refurbished LG Optimus T, an entry-level Android v2.2 smartphone, for just $82.49.  In addition to free ground shipping, the phone also included $30 in airtime credit (as all of their $50+ prepaid phones currently include).

T-Mobile exhausted its supply within hours, but not without some frustration from customers who found completing the order difficult when the website began to fail from all of the traffic.

“This is an amazing deal, especially when combined with some “cashback” programs run by websites like Fatwallet, which knocked another $7.50 off the price,” writes Stop the Cap! reader Jenny Truro.  “T-Mobile’s prepaid service is actually a good deal when you top up once for $100, because all subsequent refills in any amount won’t expire for an entire year.”

Truro doesn’t use a cell phone enough to justify a standard two-year contract plan, and hated dealing with AT&T’s GoPhone prepaid plan because minutes were costly and expired quickly.

“AT&T lets you keep minutes up to a year when you spend $100, but you have to keep renewing at $100 every year if you want to hang on to last year’s minutes,” Truro says. “T-Mobile doesn’t stick you with that, and some of the other providers charge way too much per minute.”

Truro says the LG Optimus T she purchased this morning will be her introduction to smartphones.

“If I find I don’t use it enough to justify paying for prepaid data plans and other features, it was not an expensive experiment.”

The LG Optimus T can also be unlocked by T-Mobile by calling customer service 60 days after activating the phone on their network.  That allows the phone to be used on other providers’ networks with an appropriate SIM card.

Since AT&T announced its intention to merge with T-Mobile, analysts have declared T-Mobile a white elephant — one that postpaid customers are increasingly leaving.  But T-Mobile’s innovative, often-aggressive pricing proves that for the right price, customers will not only stick with the carrier, they’ll be joined by thousands of others willing to sign up.