Verizon Cell Towers on Apple's Campus Likely Mean Little

[MacRumors]

Screenshot from Macworld's coverage quoting Jobs on Verizon cell site
Multiple sites have noted that during today's iPhone 4 press conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned that the company has cell towers for both AT&T and Verizon on its campus, unsurprisingly sparking speculation that the existence of a Verizon cell site supports hopes of future support for the carrier on Apple's portable devices.

While several of these sites have indicated that Apple is unlikely to have invested in the Verizon cell tower infrastructure if it wasn't using it to test Verizon-compatible devices on its campus, the reverse is actually true -- carriers pay considerable sums of money to private landowners for the right to erect towers on their property.

This certainly isn't to say that Apple isn't testing Verizon-compatible equipment on its campus, but to suggest that the mere existence of a Verizon tower is evidence in favor of it is simply reading too much into things.

Article Link: Verizon Cell Towers on Apple's Campus Likely Mean Little

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

maybe t-mobile, or any other US carrier for that matter, should pay and have their cell towers installed there now.

 

[jsf8x]

I love my Droid but an iPhone on Verizon would be great

 

[jamone13]

maybe t-mobile, or any other US carrier for that matter, should pay and have their cell towers installed there now.

Why? I'd bet most Apple employees are using iPhones and thus AT&T, with Verizion being the only likely 2nd option for the masses. Since they have such good AT&T signal around that part of town I don't see why they would want/need another carrier. Signal quality is AT&T's main drawback. Also Apple employee pricing for iPhones and AT&T probably rocks

 

[goobot]

it wouldnt matter. they prob have microcells that they use to test. plus they have those buildings that cancel out all out side signal when testing the antenna.

 

[danielchow]

maybe t-mobile, or any other US carrier for that matter, should pay and have their cell towers installed there now.

i believe mobile providers do pay to have their cell towers installed on private properties. (ps: did i understand your comment correctly; that is mobile carriers get to install their towers private properties without a lease or some sort of agreement between parties?)

for example, i have a friend who operates a large resort property in asheville, north carolina, that leased out a parcel of land for a mobile provider's cell tower. i don't recall how much. it was either $25,000 per month or $25,000 per year. since real estate is higher in california, then i assume the lease would be greater than in north carolina.

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

Why? I'd bet most Apple employees are using iPhones and thus AT&T, with Verizion being the only likely 2nd option for the masses. Since they have such good AT&T signal around that part of town I don't see why they would want/need another carrier. Signal quality is AT&T's main drawback. Also Apple employee pricing for iPhones and AT&T probably rocks

i was thinking if they ever use other carriers on campus and have good reception they might consider developing a new iphone compatible with their network once the AT&T exclusivity expires.

and if they were on the apple campus, verizon wouldn't be the only one that the rumors are mentioning..

by the way, how did those "verizon is getting the next iphone" rumors begin?

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

i believe mobile providers do pay to have their cell towers installed on private properties. (ps: did i understand your comment correctly; that is mobile carriers get to install their towers private properties without a lease or some sort of agreement between parties?)

for example, i have a friend who operates a large resort property in asheville, north carolina, that leased out a parcel of land for a mobile provider's cell tower. i don't recall how much. it was either $25,000 per month or $25,000 per year. since real estate is higher in california, then i assume the lease would be greater than in north carolina.

so theoretically if i buy a mansion and agree to have a lot of cell towers installed there (assuming all carriers want them there) i can potentially have my mortgage paid off, and be better off than renting to people who might skip rent or trash the place?

 

[SteveLV702]

so theoretically if i buy a mansion and agree to have a lot of cell towers installed there (assuming all carriers want them there) i can potentially have my mortgage paid off, and be better off than renting to people who might skip rent or trash the place?

ya but a lot of eye sores for your new mansion 🙂

 

[spydr]

i believe mobile providers do pay to have their cell towers installed on private properties. (ps: did i understand your comment correctly; that is mobile carriers get to install their towers private properties without a lease or some sort of agreement between parties?)

for example, i have a friend who operates a large resort property in asheville, north carolina, that leased out a parcel of land for a mobile provider's cell tower. i don't recall how much. it was either $25,000 per month or $25,000 per year. since real estate is higher in california, then i assume the lease would be greater than in north carolina.

Apple must be running desperately low on cash 😉😀

 

[eastercat]

ya but a lot of eye sores for your new mansion 🙂

You can always disguise them. 😉 Anyway, think of how awesome your signal would be. No matter which network you're on, you'd always have five bars.

Apple must be running desperately low on cash 😉😀

Either that or Jobs likes to mess with people's heads. Hmm, I need to drive up the share price . . . I know, I'll spread another rumor that Verizon is getting the iPhone. Who knows, Jobs might give them another chance, but I'm not even going to try and predict that one.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

You can always disguise them. 😉 Anyway, think of how awesome your signal would be. No matter which network you're on, you'd always have five bars.

You may also die early. A link between those masts and cancer has neither been proven nor disproven but considering the risks apparently associated with having a high voltage electricity pylon in your back garden I'm not sure I'd be first in line to sign up...

 

[kdarling]

so theoretically if i buy a mansion and agree to have a lot of cell towers installed there (assuming all carriers want them there) i can potentially have my mortgage paid off, and be better off than renting to people who might skip rent or trash the place?

Churches do it all the time... lease out space inside their steeple where antennas can be hidden.

As for the Apple campus, I remember reading that when they first gave out iPhones to all the HQ employees, many sold them because AT&T coverage was so bad around there. This prompted AT&T to add more cells in Cupertino. (Note: rumor! I'm trying to find real evidence.)

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

You may also die early. A link between those masts and cancer has neither been proven nor disproven but considering the risks apparently associated with having a high voltage electricity pylon in your back garden I'm not sure I'd be first in line to sign up...

Churches do it all the time... lease out space inside their steeple where antennas can be hidden.

so it's a good thing i don't go to the church all the time! 😀

 

[woofermazing]

i was thinking if they ever use other carriers on campus and have good reception they might consider developing a new iphone compatible with their network once the AT&T exclusivity expires.

and if they were on the apple campus, verizon wouldn't be the only one that the rumors are mentioning..

by the way, how did those "verizon is getting the next iphone" rumors begin?

Forum Post 1: "AT&T sucks, it would be so awesome if Verizon got the iPhone."

Forum Post 2: "OMG, Verizon is getting the iPhone?!?!?!"

 

[christian_k]

Why? I'd bet most Apple employees are using iPhones and thus AT&T, with Verizion being the only likely 2nd option for the masses. Since they have such good AT&T signal around that part of town I don't see why they would want/need another carrier. Signal quality is AT&T's main drawback. Also Apple employee pricing for iPhones and AT&T probably rocks

Maybe this coverage is meant for "important" visitors on the campus like representatives from Intel, Microsoft, Adobe, movie / music companies etc?

Christian

 

[zeromeus]

Apple probably had that cell tower back before AT&T got the iphone

Apple probably had the verizon tower built on campus when they try to enter an agreement with verizon before the iphone was made. It's just there now due to pre-existing plans that never went through?

 

[macintouch]

My family's small business is a property management company. We manage some buildings with antennas on them and let me tell you - they do pay considerable sums of money for a very small footprint. $20,000-25,000 a year. No free phone service though, unfortunately, haha. I don't think most houses would be tall enough for them, though.

The cell/tower companies do pay for the build out of the site, usually in the neighborhood of $200,000-500,000 depending on the area. The towers are strategically placed by the engineers and Apple likely had nothing to do with it. You can "submit" a site to them, but all of the ones that are on the buildings we manage were set up by them contacting the building owners. Also, they aren't exactly the nicest thing to look at and as mentioned, there is the question of health issues.

This likely means nothing. Apple's building is pretty tall for the city of Cupertino and it likely just fit within Verizon's needs. I mean, sure, it's always a possibility that there's some connection, it's just highly doubtful and unlikely.

 

[twoodcc]

i don't know. i bet they are testing devices on verizon. they would sell many more devices if they went to both at&t and verizon

 

[Sofabutt]

I think the death grip comment was someone just being cheeky with a captive Apple employee audience... It's not really worth spending a few minutes to write a blog post about...

 

[mike5411]

These were probably installed before Apple even launched the iPhone. It has only been out for a little over three full years (even though it seems like it has been around for so much longer now)

 

[NXTMIKE]

You may also die early. A link between those masts and cancer has neither been proven nor disproven but considering the risks apparently associated with having a high voltage electricity pylon in your back garden I'm not sure I'd be first in line to sign up...

agreed.

 

[carlgo]

so theoretically if i buy a mansion and agree to have a lot of cell towers installed there (assuming all carriers want them there) i can potentially have my mortgage paid off, and be better off than renting to people who might skip rent or trash the place?

You still have to get permission from the city or county, and you can be sure there will be a group that shows up to protest it. Around here, they get a bus to take people to the hearings.

At&T has been trying to put up a fake tree antenna, but after years of hearings, etc., and approval by the board of supervisors, it still isn't up.

Interestingly, a couple of board member said Verizon had better coverage and less obtrusive antennas, so why did they need a giant fake tree?

You can be sure Apple Headquarters is going to have the best towers there are.

 

[Bearxor]

There's definitely nothing to this. It's not unusual for large companies to pay service providers to come in and install what are essentially microcells in buildings so that employees can make/receive calls in poor service areas.

Usually it's just done with whatever provider is providing the company with service. I'd probably just say that Apple used to issue it's employees Verizon phones until the iPhone. That's why both Verizon and AT&T have cell sites there.

Nothing to see here, move along.

 

[TorontoLRT]

I wish there was a T-Mobile iPhone, because I'm on WIND in Canada which uses the same AWS spectrum, and a no-contract iPhone would be a dream come true.