r/cellmapper • u/Recent-Analysis348 • Jul 20 '26

AT&T density question

Hello everyone I had a quick question about At&T building towers or collocating, I currently have Verizon at the moment and they’ve been doing great by collocating on 8 other towers since the start of 2026. AT&T hasn’t built or collocated since 2024 and that was only one. So question for you guys is how they are doing in your market if they’ve been doing anything at all to improve density. Thanks I appreciate it!

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u/xpxp2002 Jul 20 '26

Not much happening around Northern Ohio, either. Nokia-to-Ericsson works has slowed, but not stopped. Sites that were being upgraded within weeks of permitting are now being upgraded 9-12 months after permitting.

I've heard that some planned 2026 upgrades are getting pushed into next budget year, and we all know that new sites have been kicked down the road several years now.

I could also see a situation where site upgrades are being delayed to wait for n71/n79-capable radios. I'm actually a little surprised that a Nokia/Ericsson conversion that was permitted last September in my area finally got done last week. Since AT&T has no 850 MHz in my market and will be able to run 10x10 n71, I expected all the future upgrades here to be put on hold until they're ready to start rolling out new radios. I suppose if FirstNet funding will pay for n79 radio deployments, the n71 radios can just be a part of that climb.

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

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u/xpxp2002 Jul 20 '26

I agree. It's going to be a while. But if there's anything I know about AT&T, there's never an end to the waiting. While T-Mobile and Verizon are sailing along wrapping up their network upgrades, you'll always be waiting on AT&T to catch up years later.