Lab 1- Mapping Cell Towers

In the past decade, the use of cell phones throughout the world has greatly increased as technology has continued to reformat the devices to make them more user-friendly and accessible. In the United States, about 270 million mobile cellular telephones are in use, representing about 89% of the population (The World Factbook). In order to provide cell phone reception for users, it is necessary to implement cell phone towers which communicate with each other to allow for the device to connect to the server. Server companies might include AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, etc., and each has their own towers. More populated areas will most likely have a greater number of cell phone users. As a result, cell phone towers should be located in densely populated urban areas in order to accommodate the greatest amount of users. Similarly, areas with small populations, such as rural farms, should have significantly fewer cell towers due to fewer users. Therefore, locating cell towers is important as it can give information regarding the spatial distribution of populations. Additionally, locating cell towers becomes important when evaluating the potential health effects as well as property value depreciation caused by cell tower transmissions.
In my map on the location of cell towers in Orange County, there is a pattern of the cell towers being located in more populated cities as well as near major freeways. Additionally, there tends to be more cell towers located in the more affluent regions of Orange County. Wealthier people are likely to have more cell phone use compared to lower-income individuals. In Orange County, there tends to be wealthy people concentrated near the coastline. As a result, there are greater numbers of cell towers on the coast compared to inland regions. It would be expected that there would be greater numbers of cell towers near airports due to the high volume of people within these small areas. However, based on the map, there was no pattern found for more cell towers to be located near airports.
Not only can cell tower location provide insight into the current distribution of populations, but also the emergence of new cities that will most likely experience expanding populations. When new housing developments and complexes are built, the population in that area increases. As a result, cell phone companies will seek to provide greater service to these areas and will most likely build cell towers. In Orange County, the population change from 1990-2000 was +18.1%. To accommodate an expanding population, more cell towers were most likely built. Comparing the location of cell towers each year could provide insight into the developmental history of an area as well as changes in population distribution.
Despite the desire for phone companies to increase their numbers of users, cell tower location has caused some conflict with residents. There has been some speculation that close proximity to cell towers could lead to a greater likelihood of developing cancer and other health risks. However, there has been no scientific evidence to support this claim (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3X_Cellular_Phone_Towers.asp). Additional issues surrounding the location of cell towers include blocking views and devaluing property. In order to appease residents, companies will often pay rent to the property owner where the tower resides. Overall, there has been little research conducted on cell towers and health risks because they are a relatively new technology. If it is found that cell towers do produce health risks, then locating cell towers will be crucial in order to evaluate who might be affected as well as inform potential buyers of the level of exposure they will have to cell towers in the area. Because cell towers are concentrated in more densely populated areas, findings that cell towers have negative effects on health could be catastrophic and would result in the need to relocate most of the existing towers. Locating cell towers provides the first step in analyzing the potential effects that the radio transmissions can have on people living nearby.