For members of the UCLA community, picking a cell phone carrier
is like gambling ““ it’s hard to be an expert at the
game, and most people walk away feeling like they’ve
lost.
Poor reception quality, dropped calls and busy signals plague
cell phones all across campus. Frustrated students have repeatedly
switched companies to find a phone that actually works.
Thankfully, that feeling of frustration may soon be a
memory.
During the past year, UCLA had a temporary ban on new cell phone
sites to control the proliferation of unsightly antennae. That ban
has now been lifted and plans for a whole crop of new antennae are
awaiting final approval.
“We really want to manage how the campus looks, as well as
the coverage,” said Louis Hook, the director of Central
Telephone Services.
According to Hook, UCLA recently sent out numerous
“requests for proposals.” This means UCLA has once
again opened the field for bidders to submit plans to install new
cell phone antennae.
Hook expects the first new antennae to be approved within three
months.
In previous years, cell sites were approved using a less
centralized process ““Â wireless carriers contacted
individual UCLA departments and building managers, and made offers
to install antennae.
“Whoever felt they owned the building (approved the
sites),” Hook said.
Now, Hook plans to grant requests based only on the RFP
submissions. CTS plans to consider power requirements, antenna
design and the location of existing sites before they grant new
requests.
Cell phone companies are already rearing to go.
Richard Gomes, a press aide for Cingular, said Cingular Wireless
is aware of UCLA’s internal process to review all proposed
cell sites.
“Cingular has proposed a few sites on or around the campus
of UCLA,” he said.
Hook said T-Mobile is the only major company to have missed the
current round of RFPs, but he plans to work with the company to
ensure quality for its UCLA customers.
In the meantime, UCLA students and staff continue to strive to
find the right provider.
Part of the answer may be found in the technology behind the
phones themselves.
T-Mobile, Cingular and some AT&T phones use a network
standard called GSM. GSM is based on a Time Division Multiple
Access system. In contrast, Sprint PCS and Verizon phones use Code
Division Multiple Access technology.
The syndicated Web site howstuffworks.com includes information
comparing the two standards. According to the site, “TDMA
assigns each call a certain portion of time on a designated
frequency,” while “CDMA gives a unique code to each
call and spreads it over the available frequencies.”
“Any given cell site can hold a given number of calls …
CDMA holds about 3 times the number of calls as GSM or TDMA,”
said Verizon technology manager Todd Hallenbeck.
Because CDMA is a spread spectrum system, the system takes
longer to become overloaded than the time-sharing system used in
GSM/TDMA systems.
According to Hallenbeck, CDMA sites can handle up to 300 calls
while TDMA sites often max out at 150 calls. A Qualcomm Web
site also notes that the spread spectrum nature of CDMA also allows
the system to dynamically reallocate bandwidth.
Frequency can also play a role in signal quality. Lower
frequency waves can usually penetrate large buildings more easily
than high frequency waves.
“At five miles (from a cell site) 800 mhz would be
noticeably better than 1900 mhz,” said Hallenbeck.
Students seem to agree on Verizon as offering the best reception
at UCLA.
“Verizon has been very good … I’ve had good
reception in buildings but not underground,” said student
Massoud Karimzadeh.
Ultimately, results will vary depending on where individuals
work and live. If students are still feeling frustrated, most
companies now offer a 14-day trial period during which the contract
can be canceled and the phone returned.