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Apple says it takes 3 years to get a new cell tower in San Francisco

Lingering reception issues in San Francisco, Calif., are exceptionally difficult to rectify because the local approval process for a new cellular tower takes an average of 3 years, Apple revealed Friday.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, at Friday's iPhone 4 press conference, discussed some of the difficulties cellular companies like AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., experience when trying to improve their coverage. San Francisco is one city where coverage is notoriously bad.

"It's one of the toughest spots to get approvals," Jobs said. "Sometimes I think they should enlist the support of all the iPhone users in the community."

He said that Apple is constantly asking about reception in San Francisco and the surrounding bay area, but that AT&T is caught up in the "long process" of trying to get new towers approved.

When AT&T wants to add a new cell tower in Texas, Jobs said, it takes about 3 weeks. But adding a new cell tower in San Francisco has an average turnaround time of 3 years.

"Not all of us want cell towers in our backyard, but we all want good reception," Jobs said. "(AT&T has) tried to make them look like banana trees, but still, it's a problem."



138 Comments

daharder 16 Years · 1580 comments

Apple 'says' all manner of things... One learns to discern what's most likely rubbish - Like This!

astrubhar 17 Years · 88 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaHarder

Apple 'says' all manner of things... One learns to discern what's most likely rubbish - Like This!

DaHarder 'says' all manner of things... One learns to discern what's most likely rubbish - Like This!

sheff 16 Years · 1407 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider

"(AT&T has) tried to make them look like banana trees, but still, it's a problem."

daharder 16 Years · 1580 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by astrubhar

DaHarder 'says' all manner of things... One learns to discern what's most likely rubbish - Like This!

Maybe if you (and your ilk) would removed those Apple-tinted goggles every once in a while you'd better see that no company is infallible... no matter how much you claim otherwise.

buckdutter 17 Years · 51 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaHarder

Apple 'says' all manner of things... One learns to discern what's most likely rubbish - Like This!

Meh, I can see it being true. I used to live in an area that had poor coverage from every major carrier (located in Minneapolis, MN), and plans for a tower shared by both AT&T and Verizon were pushed back for over 2 years (it never got put up while I lived there) because people continued to complain that they did not want a cell tower installed at a busy intersection. I can only imagine San Francisco is a million times worse than Minneapolis...didn't they just make some sort of cell phone radiation law? But then again...it's not like people from California are known for wanting their cake and eating it too...