New cell phone tower enables more calls for AT&T users while increasing revenue, security
By Editorial Board
Jan. 5, 2011 11:17 p.m.
It’s a problem students have gotten too used to encountering on the UCLA campus. You walk into your dorm room, apartment, classroom or workplace and BAM ““ no cell phone service.
In a Daily Bruin investigation in October 2010, we learned that this problem affected mostly AT&T subscribers, forcing students suffering from spotty service to position their phone strategically to get a few bars or to make calls outside.
The culprit: a lack of towers near campus.
But in the months since then, things have brightened, and subscribers of the major network can rejoice at the news of a new tower having been built on campus, on top of Sproul Hall on the Hill. AT&T subscribers now have service in previously dead zones on campus, such as many of the dorms and bunker-like lecture halls.
Beyond the campus’s spotty service being inconvenient, the lack of service, in particular in many dorm buildings, had been downright unsafe.
Making a simple call to your mom might force you to have to leave your room, hallway, floor and even building to have a late-night chat with family while shivering in Rieber Court.
Leaving some of the more isolated dorm buildings at night puts students in potentially dangerous situations.
And while being without service in some classrooms forces some students to focus on class more, a good thing, being without service on one’s cell phone can leave a student out of the loop if faced with some emergency. Though rare, BruinAlerts are sent for a reason. And more specific calls or messages, say from one’s family members, sometimes outweigh other concerns.
In addition to more convenience and improved safety, the university actually benefits monetarily by working with AT&T. The company coordinates installation and site selection through the Communications Technology Services Center at UCLA. The tower not only takes up a large amount of space but also uses campus power. As a result, cell phone companies with towers on campus pay rent, which goes to the Chancellor’s Office, for the use of that space. And in times like these, who can say that UCLA getting paid is a bad thing?
The university could take this experience to look at other avenues from which they can both benefit financially and help students technologically. The university already attracts major entertainers at facilities such as Pauley Pavilion and Royce Hall ““ perhaps there are more ways this campus can draw income through additional business partnerships.
Essentially, those with AT&T on campus just got a free service upgrade. And if you’re glad that your phone probably works in Rieber Terrace or Kinsey Pavilion, send someone a text message about this editorial.
