Tower Amplifiers Leading to Fewer Dropped Calls

Customers from Cellular One from Dobson Cellular Systems across the country and here locally have a stronger signal and fewer dropped calls thanks to hundreds of new cell sites, tower amplifiers and an ambitious sectorization project on the company's state-of-the-art network. Cellular One customers in its 16-state service area are already benefiting from 138 new cell sites the company has added to its GSM network since the beginning of the year, according to spokesman Craig Davis.

Network enhancements have resulted in 43% fewer dropped calls between May 2005 and May 2006, he said. What's more, Cellular One has installed over 800 tower mounted amplifiers (TMAs) nationwide on nearly 30% of its cell sites, according to Timothy J. Duffy, Chief Technical Officer and Senior Vice President of Engineering and Network Operations.

These amplifiers, which are installed near the top of a cell tower and allow the cell site to better hear the wireless device, have already resulted in fewer dropped calls, improved call quality and better coverage for Cellular One customers, Duffy said.

In addition, Cellular One also has installed high powered amplifiers (HePAs) on more than 560 cell sites and will have completed installation of HePAs on nearly half of its cell sites by the end of the year, Duffy said.

Duffy said the installation of TMAs and HePAs, in conjunction with the sectorization of more than 200 cell sites during 2006, is part of the company's three-tiered network enhancement program known as NetMAX.

Cell site sectorization involves dividing an omni-directional cell site into three parts and giving each part a higher gain antenna, he explained. The end result is comparable to three separate cell sites, which in turn gives customers better coverage.

"This has a huge impact on our customers' user experience," Duffy said. "The results are immediate: A stronger signal for Cellular One customers."

Posted to the site on 1st September 2006