The bad news is that Denver is one of the worst cities in the nation for making a cellphone call.
The good news is that the nation’s four major wireless operators – Cingular, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile – are racing to beef up and add towers in the Denver area.
“Poor cellphone reception is a unique function of Denver’s geography,” said independent telecom analyst Tom Friedberg, who noted that Denver has ranked near the bottom of reception studies over the last 15 years. “It’s in a bowl nestled up against the mountains, which creates a really difficult wireless propagation pattern.”
New York, with its skyscrapers, and San Francisco, with its hills, are also topographically challenged when it comes to cellphones, Friedberg said.
The 2004 J.D. Power study was based on Internet surveys of 21,700 cellphone users nationwide. They were asked about problems such as static, lack of service and dropped calls.
Other factors in Denver’s low ranking, said Janco Partners analyst Donna Jaegers, are overloaded networks, local opposition to cellphone towers and a low population density that requires more cell towers.
Cellphone carriers are investing big in Colorado, and across the nation, to improve call quality and cater to a fast-growing number of wireless consumers.
“You’re not in the wireless game without a reliable network,” said Nextel spokeswoman Deborah Havins. “All of the wireless companies have come to that realization and are making huge investments.”
U.S. wireless investment hit $174 billion in 2004, up 19 percent from 2003, according to CTIA-The Wireless Association. But reported cellphone minutes climbed even faster at 33 percent, reported the CTIA.
Colorado is getting its fair share of wireless investment. Sprint has spent $78 million in the state in the past 18 months to beef up its network and buy up Qwest’s Colorado wireless operations. And Sprint is merging with Nextel, which has its own wireless network in Denver.
Verizon pumped $107 million last year into its Colorado cellphone network and expects to invest roughly the same this year.
Cingular, which bought AT&T Wireless last year, will invest $60 million this year into its Denver cellphone network, including 60 new cellular towers and equipment for expanding capacity at existing towers.
All of the major cellphone companies, and the San Francisco-based independent wireless tester Telephia, send drivers through Denver and other major U.S. cities to test for dead spots and other problems.
J.D. Power’s call-quality survey, on the other hand, was based on Internet surveys of consumers. In that same study, Sprint, Qwest and T-Mobile ranked near the top of the list for cellphone call quality in the Western region, while Cingular, Verizon and AT&T Wireless were in the bottom half.
Verizon had the fewest complaints-per-customer of major carriers in 2004, the FCC said.
Staff writer Ross Wehner can be reached at 303-820-1503 or at rwehner@denverpost.com.
