Why Can't You Make a Cell Call in Encino?

Nestled in hilly terrain, Encino presents special challenges for cell phone users, many of whom are frustrated over poor cell phone reception. 

Lewis Roth, for example, has lived in Encino for 12 years. Before AT&T recently installed a cell tower a few dozen feet from his house, he had almost no reception. 

"To use our cell phones, we would come outside the house in the morning in our pajamas and make a call from the front yard," he said. "My neighbors would do the same thing to use their cell phones. Inside the house we couldn't get any reception at all." 

After residents complained to AT&T about the poor reception, the company finally came out and said it wanted to put a tower in and would pay all expenses.

"They put in a 30-foot tower, but it took them a long time to do it," Roth said. The tower on Sapphire Drive has only been in place for a few months, but "what a big difference it makes." He no longer stands outside in his pajamas to make a call. 

There are online tools, such as cellreception.com, that allow users to search ratings of various carriers in the Encino area. Residents can sort by carrier, zip code, number of towers and reception ratings before deciding on a cell phone company.

"The minute you begin to go south of Ventura, reception gets progressively worse until you hit Lanai and Hayvenhurst Drive, where it just drops completely," one resident commented on cellreception.com. "For some reason, this heavily populated area, which is less than a mile from the Encino business district, is one big dead zone."

Debbie Rapoport, an AT&T spokesperson, said the company is focused on delivering the highest level of performance and reliability for its customers through investments in wireless improvements. "We've enhanced in-building coverage with new technology throughout the southern region, which will double the capacity of each cell site, resulting in an increase in network efficiency and handling of more traffic," she said. 

For those customers in Encino who may be in the hills and can't get clear reception for their cell phones, AT&T offers in-home 3G micro-cells, "basically an in-home cell site that syncs up with a broadband network," Rapoport explained.

These in-home technologies are available from most carriers. They connect through the Internet using a wireless device to make cellular calls at home. In addition, third-party companies provide a variety of gadgets to amplify cell phone signal strength, such as WirelessCoverageSolutions and www.repeaterstore.com.

Justin Dunn, sales representative for Sprint in Encino, said that technologies to boost signal strength work well and are very popular in the hilly section of Encino because of the poor reception there.

Depending on the make and model, "the devices can amplify weak signals coming from towers that are within 1,000 feet of the home location."

Kathleen Dunleavy, corporate communications officer for Sprint, and Ken Muche, public relations director for Verizon, said the number of towers operated by their respective companies in Encino is confidential, however both companies have cell towers serving the area.

Clark Harris is development manager for T-Mobile for Encino. No T-Mobile towers are located in the Encino area, first and foremost because of the challenges the company has in finding a site that is available and, second, Harris noted, having enough demand in the area the company wishes to cover. 

"Once you get into the hills, there are serious coverage issues," Harris said. "Because of zoning codes, there are not a lot of locations for us in Encino because the city-owned streets are the primary locations for towers." That can be controversial: if you put a tower just off the street, you're also putting it near people's homes. "Obviously we're not trying to create ill will; we want to work with the community," he said.

T-Mobile has been looking at the Encino area for years, trying to come up with a plan, Harris said. "But we've been very cautious before proceeding because of the sensitive nature of respecting the rights and desires of residents." So, for now, no new T-Mobile towers are planned in the hills of Encino until more thorough studies have been made, he remarked. 

Cell phone companies are also coming up with newer ideas for how they might aesthetically blend the cell towers into the environment and be more compatible within the neighborhood, such as using slim-line designs or placing equipment on structures that are already built.