Much attention has been devoted to the story “Customers angered as iPhones overload AT&T” but unfortunately, everyone seems to be conflating data congestion with spotty cell phone service.  This is a popular misconception but the truth is that these two issues have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

It is true that iPhones with their innovative mobile web browser are putting a lot of data load on AT&T’s 3G network, but cell phone calls run over dedicated circuits.  These circuits are essentially dedicated time slots within the same wireless spectrum that also handles 3G data.  If there’s data congestion, it has no effect on cell phone calls because they’re scheduled on different time slots.  If there are too many cell phone callers, that also has no effect on existing calls but the network will not allow new calls until an existing call ends.  The only thing that will cause problems for an existing call is if it moves into a dead zone which will exist in any wireless network because some buildings or structures are very good at blocking radio frequency signals.

Can these dead zones be lessened or eliminated?  Sure, but it will require new cell towers.  Then why haven’t the wireless carriers installed more cell towers?  Are they trying to skimp out on infrastructure investments to maximize their profits?  No, wireless carriers have desperately tried to get new cell tower sites approved.  They’ve asked, pled, and even went to court for years or sometimes decades to get a new cell tower site approved.  For example:

• In one extreme case where local city officials went to extraordinary lengths to obstruct a new tower, it took 14 years of litigation to get a tower approved.
• The city of Berkeley imposed a moratorium on new cell towers from 2000 to 2002 and they have been holding up new permits since 2003 while carriers have been in court since 2007.
• San Diego is starting to impose new 30 foot tall limits on existing towers whose permits are up for renewal.  Many of those existing towers are more than 100 foot tall and provide critical wireless infrastructure to the city of San Diego.
• There are 3300 pending site applications as of September 2008 with 180 of those applications being held up for more than 3 years.

Cities have essentially resorted to the stalling tactic of not approving or denying cell site permits so that the courts won’t look at cases which are still being processed.  The CTIA Wireless Association has asked the FCC for some sort of time limit on these proceedings so that the cities must render a yes/no decision on a cell site permit.  The legal expenses in some of these cases might even exceed the cost of the tower so it’s unlikely carriers are trying to save money by avoiding new towers.

So it’s clear that the wireless carriers are trying to improve the infrastructure, and AT&T will be spending close to $18 billion dollars this year on beefing up their wireless infrastructure to provide better signals and increase overall capacity.  The problem is that they face significant resistance from local city officials who are afraid of a vocal minority.  These same cities want better wireless and Internet infrastructure, but they can’t have this while obstructing critical infrastructure.