decaturtxcowboy wrote:

> That logic goes both ways. Sprint and T-Mobile might have towers in
> place and Verizon and Cingular get denied.

It's rarely the case, because in most cases Verizon and Cingular have
the legacy 800 MHz networks (after a series of mergers, acquisitions,
etc. (except in a few major metro areas like South Florida, and parts of
Texas).

So not only do Verizon and Cingular have towers in places where they
were able to get them in before planning commissions knew what was
happening, they also have the huge advantage of the better spectrum.
It's an advantage that is nearly impossible to overcome, especially in
suburban and rural areas, because even if Sprint and T-Mobile could get
approval for sufficient towers to equal the coverage of Cingular and
Verizon, the cost of putting in so many towers would hurt their margins.

In the dense metro areas, the advantage is not as great, but in most
metro areas you have a few dense cities surrounded by vast suburban areas.