Oh San Francisco, you never cease to amaze me. This is the city with probably the highest Apple iPhone-per-person ratio and most of the whining you hear about AT&T reception. Of course, this city is also potentially making it more difficult to put up new cellular antennas based on aesthetics.
According to the S.F. Examiner:
Under the proposal, which is being heard today at the Planning Commission, new restrictions would include the banning of new utility poles used solely for antennas. Installation of small antennas on existing poles wouldn’t be affected, but phone companies would need special permits before installing larger devices on public property.
If the legislation becomes law, The City could reject proposals for antennas based on visual impacts or require phone companies to plant trees to disguise the structures.
So, this all sounds reasonable because no one wants super ugly cellular antennas jutting out on every block but this city is also very vocal about the lack of Apple iPhone coverage. It also happens to be the cradle of most of the tech press (including yours truly), so the coverage here does disproportionately impact the perception of networks like AT&T.
AT&T has been trying to improve coverage to placate the influential digerati (bleh) in San Francisco but it has been hamstrung by the local government. Apple said AT&T has been trying to roll out new towers in San Francisco for three years!
By no means am I suggesting the city should bend over and let the cell phone makers run wild, but there’s a common middle ground which can improve the citizens’ lives with better voice and data coverage without destroying San Francisco’s uniqueness. I could complain for days about my beefs with the local government but I’d like to turn my vitriol to my colleagues who live here and constantly complain about AT&T’s Apple iPhone coverage.
I get it: it’s an easier narrative to just paint AT&T as bad. Granted, it does need to do a better job boosting its mobile data network but there are impediments other than AT&t being “evil” or “greedy” or “lazy.” You want better Apple iPhone reception? Pester your local representative about making it easier to put up new towers – that’s if you’re not too busy on Twitter to actually know who your Board of Supervisor representative is.
Stop checking in on Foursquare for a moment and take and actually pay attention to the complexities of your situation and asses how you can make an impact.
Sorry for the rant friends, it’s a slow news Friday and I’m just sick of this shit.
[Via SF Examiner]