AT&T improves cell service on campus with five new antennas

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Last semester, receiving phone service from AT&T was a daily battle for Danny Doroh.

The marketing sophomore said he would receive no service in his Waters Edge apartment, 1050 Waters Edge Drive, on weekdays, and after visiting AT&T stores with his concerns more than four times, he considered switching companies.

“It got to the point where I wouldn’t want to come back to my apartment if I was having a conversation or texting someone because I knew I couldn’t continue it,” he said.

But this semester, AT&T is hoping to remedy problems such as the ones Doroh encountered and make improvements to its service on MSU’s campus with the installation of a new Distributed Antenna System, or DAS, said Jermaine Spight, senior public relations manager for AT&T Michigan.

The five antennas are located in or on the Trout Food Science and Human Nutrition Building, McDonel Hall, Wilson Hall, Plant Biology Laboratories and the International Center.

With technology’s heavy importance in students’ lives, Spight said there is a strong need for reliable cell phone service.

“When students are using their phones it’s not always about sending or receiving texts, but a lot of them use it to connect to the Internet to search items for class projects if they don’t have their laptops,” he said. “We want to help them with faster data speeds to do what they need to do.”

Spight said the DAS appear similar to wireless Internet boxes students might find in their homes but on a larger scale. Plans to install the DAS began more than a year ago, and the new system was turned on two weeks ago. Spight declined to comment on how much the company invested in the system at MSU.

He said students might have been struggling with phone service because many MSU buildings have cement or steel in the walls, which can interfere with cell phone signals. Expected improvements in service include better Internet connection and faster uploads when students post to Facebook or Twitter, which Doroh said he already has noticed this semester.

Crop and soil sciences sophomore Evan Herman said he’s had similar problems but overall enjoys his AT&T service.

“It’s very inconvenient for myself and others trying to contact me,” he said. “But unless I’m in a lecture hall, I have fine service.”

During events that draw a large crowd, such as football games at Spartan Stadium, sometimes students have difficulties with wireless phone service. Although Spight said he cannot guarantee there no longer will be interruptions in service with so much information pushing through the AT&T network, he said the company hopes to see an increase in performance.

In the wake of the new DAS installation, Herman said he’s looking forward to the improved service on campus.

“That would be a great idea if they put one around this area (near Cedar Village Apartments),” he said. “I think I could live with it.”

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