When is VZW going to be in service on the AT&T tower at Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota?

Question

The AT&T tower has been up and running for at least 9 months now and Verizon service is miserable in that area.  A Verizon rep told me they would "be on the tower soon."  9 months should be soon enough.  What gives?  Is VZW too cheap to pay AT&T's fees for using their tower?  Do they realize how poor their service is in this area?

whitetigergrowlz · Accepted Answer

It has nothing to do with ATT. In the Black Hills and most of South Dakota now they do not share towers. Verizon booted ATT from theirs and ATT booted Verizon from theirs. So now in only rare cases do they share them.

That means they would need to put up a whole new tower. Which is not as simple as 'just constructing it' or throwing some on another carriers tower. There is tons of legal red tape to get through first. In other words they may be working on it, but don't expect immediate results. It's usually a very time consuming process depending on how smoothly the whole process goes.

The average cell site takes 2 years to be built from idea to actual use. They need to put in back haul, hire contractors, go through all of the local and state BS, get approval from the landowners AND their neighbors, etc etc.  It's generally a very time consuming process.

And all it takes is 1 person to tie it up for a long time. I've seen towers get completely built and ready to go. All they need to do is flip the switch. But 1 person in that area has a grievance with it, it lands in court, and its tied up for years. The carrier cannot turn it on until the problem is settled.

Verizon may be working on it. But don't expect immediate results. It can take months...even years. This goes for ALL carriers.