Verizon Leasing Towers Question

I don't know any specifics about a given region, but all carriers lease towers and most carriers own some of their own as well. For instance, there is a Sprint and Nextel "tower" across the street from me. The tower is actually owned by a 3rd party which leases the space to Sprint and Nextel. About a mile away there is a Sprint tower that is owned by Sprint. I think that arrangement is common. Carriers will own towers where they can and when they cannot or where they do not deem it cost-effective, they will lease space on a tower owned by another company.

Ownership of a tower will have nothing to do with dropped calls. If your Sprint phone drops calls while a Verizon phone does not, it is just possible that there is a stronger Verizon signal there. It's also possible your phone isn't the best phone Sprint offers. Different phones get different reception, even on the same network.

I think the Sprint person misled you. If Verizon does lease space from other companies, it does not mean they use the same "signal" but rather they set up their own equipment on a tower that is already built. This is why you can see some cell towers with 5 antenna arrays on them. If Verizon was using another companies network, that would be considered network sharing. Verizon does not share a network with Sprint in Michigan (or anywhere in the USA as far as I know).

 

Remember also, that "sharing a tower" , Does NOT mean that they are both sharing the actual cell panels, & a "Tower" isn't a cell site.
For example, there could be 4 "towers" (big, tall metal structures), in the area that happen to be owned by Sprint, & both VZW & Sprint each have their seperate cell panels & equipment mounted to those towers.
VZW could also have additional cell sites mounted on top of buildings. Since buildings aren't "Towers", This could explain why VZW has a better signal since they have a cell site closer to your area, yet at the same time the Sprint rep is "technically" correct saying VZW doesn't own any "Towers" around here, they lease ours.
The Sprint rep is probably hoping the average customer thinks a "tower" is a cell site, which it is not.....

 

FYI- Alltel does own some towers- they sold many to American Tower Corp and leased back space from ATC on them. There still own some.