Introduction

As technology continually evolves into the wireless age, cellular networks will become of increased importance in all areas of the world. Wireless networks have great advantages over wired or “land lines".

Fierce competition has already taken place over the last few years as major cellular service companies compete to provide for the best service for the common consumer.

Conceptual Idea

I came upon the idea for this project while browsing through the website

http://www.geckobeach.com/cellular/default.htm

Being one of few people I know who still does not have a cellular phone, I was curious to the varying cellular services provided by the major companies. This further lead to curiosity about the placement of the cellular towers around Vancouver. I decided to base my project on the cellular towers of Telus Mobility due to their reputation of poor service lately, even though they seem to have the greatest number of towers located in the Lower Mainland. I ultimately ended up choosing to analyze the region of Vancouver Island upon further research and data collection, as I believed the GVRD may have taken more time then I could manage.

This project will focus on the cellular coverage provided by Telus Mobility on Vancouver Island and the ideal placement of a new cellular tower depending on suitable criteria. Criteria to be considered will be relative population concentrations, existing landuse and recreational facility locations. Also to be taken into account will be the issues of the surrounding landscape and whether it is suitable for good signal transmissions. A limiting factor that will also be considered is the fact that residents consider cellular towers as a possible health risk, therefore heavily residential areas would be unsuitable for placement of the new tower.

An ideal placement of a tower would be one that maximizes the potential growth of Telus Mobility users in that area. Areas with little to no coverage by current Telus Mobility services would be ideal. Recreational facilities also have to taken into account. Vancouver Island is a beautiful tourist attraction full of natural parks and water bodies. Placement of the tower near facilities such as camping sites, hunting grounds and boating docks as well as the travel roads to such places would also maximize the benefit for Telus Mobility customers. As stated before, the limiting factor for my analysis will also be heavy residential populated areas. As stated, residents consider cellular towers as possible health risks, and therefore prefer not to have such a feature built where they live. A location that maximizes the criteria above and minimizes exposure to dense residential areas will be the best suitable location for placement of the new tower.

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