Sprint cellsite decommissioned...what gives?

[Andy]

I went to an area on I-15 today and noticed that Sprint has decommissioned their one panel that used to face south on a Crown Castle tower that used to give coverage up and down I-15 from South Santaquin (Rocky Ridge area) to Mona, Utah.

Service by the tower is now at -104 and there are areas with no coverage along I-15 now from South Santaquin to Mona. Why would Sprint decommission a cell site they desperately needed? There are no new towers going up in this area and there is nowhere else for Sprint to co-locate on to gain coverage back.

FCC ID# 1216124

Just for reference, Verizon Wireless and at&t mobility are on this Crown Castle cell tower and even while Sprint had their one panel up on the tower, there was plenty of room for more carriers to co-locate.

This is an important area with a lot of traffic along I-15 going from Salt Lake City/Provo to Saint George and towards Las Vegas. Sprint now has a rather large area of unreliable service with some no-service spots.

Pictures are attached for your viewing pleasure...this is what the installation used to look like before it was taken down. These pictures were taking at the end of June. In between then and now, the panel was decommissioned.

[RadioFoneGuy]

This is a odd ball set up. I have seen this done with repeaters to just cover a shallow dead spot but not an actual site. Max that thing was only covering 90 degrees.

Did they remove the equipment or was the site just off the air?

[Andy]

Originally Posted by RadioFoneGuy

This is a odd ball set up. I have seen this done with repeaters to just cover a shallow dead spot but not an actual site. Max that thing was only covering 90 degrees.

Did they remove the equipment or was the site just off the air?

Yup, this panel used to cover a straight shot facing south along I-15, maybe a 5 mile stretch of the interstate until their next tower further south kicked in.

Sprint's panel and entire equipment is gone. There is no NEXTEL towers nearby where Sprint could co-locate on either. iDEN service in this location is nearly non-existent too.

[RadioFoneGuy]

this setup make no sense exept for a repeater or if the carrier is on the edge of their license area. For example before ubiquitel got bought out and Corporate Sprint was just a couple miles down the road they would point an antenna in that direction.

Obviously something happened, leasing or changing equipment but you would see the new stuff sitting next to the old.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by RadioFoneGuy

this setup make no sense exept for a repeater or if the carrier is on the edge of their license area. For example before ubiquitel got bought out and Corporate Sprint was just a couple miles down the road they would point an antenna in that direction.

Obviously something happened, leasing or changing equipment but you would see the new stuff sitting next to the old.

I see what you mean, RadioFoneGuy. It would make sense if they were on their license border.

I don't think that this setup, however, has anything to do with their license border. This panel used to face south, their license border is to the north and there actually is a Ubiquitel tower about five miles north of where this panel used to be.

There is no new equipment in place- actually the equipment pad area where Ubiquitel used to have their equipment on is empty.

You would know more about this than I do, but I doubt that Crown Castle Towers would terminate a lease with Sprint on a tower that has plenty of room to go around. At the same time, I don't understand how Sprint would take away their equipment and create a 5 mile dead spot on a busy interstate highway.

[RadioFoneGuy]

Only people that would really know is Sprints local engineering team. Plus if a site is turned off for an extended period of time the FCC needs to know about it and normally it has to be a act of nature or the site is not accessable like some of mountain top site in the winter.

I have seen tons of sites de-activated but it was due to a buyout and their was another site down the road or fairly close. If you see a Sprint tech out there and say WTF?

[AnthroMatt]

Did you take any pictures of the tower as it is now?