Cell phone service is not the reason for them to pick your property, but it is a reason for them to leave if it is poor

I have been in the cell phone service development industry since 1997.  Since 2005, I have been a subject matter expert with respect to real estate industry and service provider interface.  I am connecting with more and more clients who are experiencing less than ideal cell phone service.  Concrete and steel construction are obvious causes; however, it is starting to happen in wood frame structures as well.  Green material and technologies such as low-e glass as well as dense building configurations are having a significant impact on service quality.

Real estate owners and developers are starting to realize that poor cell phone service can truly impact the value of their investment by making their project undesirable to prospective residents who are heavily reliant on their smartphones, most of whom no longer consider or want land lines.  For many years, I have suggested to service providers and developer clients that providing service to residential areas is crucial.  The carriers as well as real estate owner developers who can do it successfully will have a significant competitive advantage.  Those who don't will wonder why their bottom lines are suffering.

While DAS is the most comprehensive solution, the service provider and vendor coordination details can be tricky, challenging and time consuming.  There has been a lot of buzz about small cells; however, they have their own challenges such as being usually being single service provider solutions.  In my experience assessing large multifamily sites, without augmentation, typically at least one-third to two-thirds of the residents will likely experience weak or spotty service.

In talking with the service providers, with mature networks like AT&T and Verizon Wireless, they can no longer improve service by adding new outdoor cell sites.  They are now looking to off load their network through the use of small cell and/or DAS.  Recently, a major service provider in a dense high, profile market has approached me about installing Distributed Antenna Systems at client projects to help with this offload process.  This is interesting, because historically, they focused on larger venues such as stadium, airports, campus and other high profile large end user locations.  I am hopeful that this will represent a change in the opportunity set that I will be able to provide to clients.