The Trouble With Cell Towers & "Ten Unusual Cell Tower Sites"

[jones]

http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...7s+top+stories

The Trouble With Cell Towers
Mobile-phone carriers have long dressed up unsightly towers with leaves and branches. Will they now consider concealing antennas in blimps?

Two main concerns typically arise. For starters, towers can be just plain ugly, and residents don't want to see property values dragged down. Then there are questions about possible health risks associated with exposure to radiation emitted from the equipment. The San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union (SNAFU) is among the many organizations across the U.S. fighting to keep carriers from placing towers too close to neighborhood schools, hospitals, and playgrounds.

TIME FOR "STRATELLITES"? Until and unless more research helps clarify the issue, there may be little that mobile-phone companies can do to allay some people's health concerns. That is "not a concern that will go away," says Doug Loranger, a SNAFU spokesperson and producer of the documentary Bad Reception: The Wireless Revolution in San Francisco.

But there's a lot that service providers can do to alleviate the aesthetic concerns. For years, they've tried to dress up unsightly towers as trees and other foliage. Companies have hidden antennas in crosses and buried them in storefront signs.

Now comes Bob Jones, president of Sanswire Networks, who's pushing the idea of "stratellites" that would house cellular antennas in computerized blimps hovering 12 to 13 miles above Earth. According to Jones, the blimps would be a more efficient way to give widespread coverage to customers, while keeping the source hidden.

TESTING NEEDED. Wireless companies aren't exactly embracing the blimp concept with open arms. Cingular Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile phone company, already has 47,000 towers in operation in the U.S. "Cell-phone service, reliability, and sound quality" are the priority, says Cingular spokesman Ritch Blasi. The company isn't planning to consider a change to blimp coverage before any new technology is tested and proven to work just as well as current cellular towers, he says.

Meantime, the carriers have plenty of other ways to conceal antennas. Larson Camouflage in Tucson, Ariz., counts Cingular, Sprint Nextel (S ), and Deutsche Telekom's (DT ) T-Mobile among its clients. Says Larson Camouflage president Andrew Messing, his company works with the carrier and the local site to make sure it seamlessly blends in with the surroundings, whether it's a 200-foot grain silo in Illinois or a church cross in California

[nKrypteD1]

http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...7s+top+stories

The Trouble With Cell Towers
Mobile-phone carriers have long dressed up unsightly towers with leaves and branches. Will they now consider concealing antennas in blimps?

Two main concerns typically arise. For starters, towers can be just plain ugly, and residents don't want to see property values dragged down. Then there are questions about possible health risks associated with exposure to radiation emitted from the equipment. The San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union (SNAFU) is among the many organizations across the U.S. fighting to keep carriers from placing towers too close to neighborhood schools, hospitals, and playgrounds.

TIME FOR "STRATELLITES"? Until and unless more research helps clarify the issue, there may be little that mobile-phone companies can do to allay some people's health concerns. That is "not a concern that will go away," says Doug Loranger, a SNAFU spokesperson and producer of the documentary Bad Reception: The Wireless Revolution in San Francisco.

But there's a lot that service providers can do to alleviate the aesthetic concerns. For years, they've tried to dress up unsightly towers as trees and other foliage. Companies have hidden antennas in crosses and buried them in storefront signs.

Now comes Bob Jones, president of Sanswire Networks, who's pushing the idea of "stratellites" that would house cellular antennas in computerized blimps hovering 12 to 13 miles above Earth. According to Jones, the blimps would be a more efficient way to give widespread coverage to customers, while keeping the source hidden.

TESTING NEEDED. Wireless companies aren't exactly embracing the blimp concept with open arms. Cingular Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile phone company, already has 47,000 towers in operation in the U.S. "Cell-phone service, reliability, and sound quality" are the priority, says Cingular spokesman Ritch Blasi. The company isn't planning to consider a change to blimp coverage before any new technology is tested and proven to work just as well as current cellular towers, he says.

Meantime, the carriers have plenty of other ways to conceal antennas. Larson Camouflage in Tucson, Ariz., counts Cingular, Sprint Nextel (S ), and Deutsche Telekom's (DT ) T-Mobile among its clients. Says Larson Camouflage president Andrew Messing, his company works with the carrier and the local site to make sure it seamlessly blends in with the surroundings, whether it's a 200-foot grain silo in Illinois or a church cross in California

Just curious about something here, Anybody consider that these anti antenna groups probably use cell phones for the majority of communications, and that they, just like everybody, gripe about poor reception. For the time being towers are the primary backbone of Cell phone service, and will remain that way.

[bobolito]

SNAFU? LOL!

From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

snafu
Etymology: Situation Normal All Fouled Up
1. a situation marked by errors or confusion
2. snarled or stalled in confusion
3. to bring into a state of confusion

I think the name says it all about that union. They are just a bunch of confused people. LOL!

[chuikov]

So much fear mongering in one small article. property values, health concerns - good grief.

Confusing "towers" with "cell sites" is another bugaboo. Cingular does not have 47,000 towers. They might have that number of sites, but nowhere near that many towers.

I don't think it's hair-splitting or a minor technicality. A tower, is well, a tower, and a cell site is a cell site.