Cell Tower Industry in NH/VT

You are asking for a LOT of information that is not something most of the posters on this board will care about or be interested in, in my opinion.

My suggestion would be to call US Cellular's store nearest you, and ask if you can spend some time with the local manager. He/she should be able to answer most of your questions. You need someone very knowledgeable of industry practices.... most of the readers and posters on this (and other cellphone-related boards) are ordinary users who don't get down to this level of detail, and aren't usually interested in it, anyway.

-way

 

Here are a few answers.
Question#1&2
Basisally you have the same answer for both. The cell companys start with the latest U.S. census info, looking for the most populates areas. Those nearest to major highways usually. Some carriers simply "blanket" all areas they own liscence's for. Most do not. Carriers do not want to buid out into any areas that are not going to provide imediate and substantial boost to Minutes of Use(mou). Thus revanues.
Question#3
Usually carriers will look for an existing tower location that will serve their needs. Building a tower is usually the last chioce. Co-locating is prefered. So tower company's are looked at first. But any suitable structure is considered.I.E. water towers, buildings, power transmission lines, radio towers etc. basically anything that will keep the carrier from forking over the dough to build a new tower.
Question#4&5
If the site is co-located the tower owner/manager is generally responsible. But since many do not get the proper permits from the local government,because it will raise taxes on the site, carriers may actually seek permission to co-locate from local governments. Sometimes the carrier handles all of the legal stuff just to cover thier own behinds.Co-locating is much easier to get aproval for than building a new site. If the carrier is building the site(including the tower) they are responsible for everything.
Question#6
Depends on if the tower company own just the tower itself or the cell equiptment also. If the tower company owns just the tower then thats all they are responsible for. The carrier is responsible for their equiptment. If the tower company owns the tower and equiptment then they are responsible for the equiptment maintenance also.
Question#13
These people are called NIMBY'S(not in my back yard), and usually claim not only the asthetics but health reasons. They also sometimes claim the tower may lower property values.

These are about the best answers I can give you. Remember alot of this is different between carriers. Not all do the same thing the same way. If you do get somebody from a certain carrier to talk to you, remember they all are required to play by the same rules. But many do not play by the rules at all.