# Do all mobile phone carriers use the same infrastructure **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-mobile-phone-carriers-use-the-same-infrastructure/251877 "2004-06-23T21:18:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-mobile-phone-carriers-use-the-same-infrastructure/251877/1 "2004-06-23T21:18:49Z")
I dont know alot about this. It seems wasteful and it seems like something the FCC wouldn’t stand for if each had their own towers and distributors. Do they use the same infrastructure the same way regular phone companies use the same phone lines or do they each have their own? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-mobile-phone-carriers-use-the-same-infrastructure/251877/2 "2004-06-23T21:29:34Z")
They all have their own radio equipment and radio spectrum. In some places they sometimes share towers. Some companies resell other companies service. Virgin mobile uses sprint pcs infrastructure. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-mobile-phone-carriers-use-the-same-infrastructure/251877/3 "2004-06-23T21:32:13Z")
In Canada, for the most part, yes, we have our own towers. What typically happens is that in the larger cities, each company (Bell, Rogers, Telus and Fido) all have their own towers (mostly because Rogers and Fido also use GSM where Bell and Telus use CDMA). Bell, with it’s very extensive province-wide network “rents out” towers to Telus. Bell Mobility recently expanded to the west coast and for a long time “rented” Telus network usage until Bell’s own city-wide network was up and running. After that point, Bell would share “out of city” towers from Telus (in Alberta and BC). I suspect the US is similar because some of your carriers use GSM, while others use CDMA. The major carriers would all have sharing agreements along with their own towers in the bigger cities (since it would probably be cheaper than renting). ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-mobile-phone-carriers-use-the-same-infrastructure/251877/4 "2004-06-23T21:38:41Z")
No. Here is a brief history of the standards. [http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:vNSJcC62ilUJ:inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa072199.htm+cell+phone+standards&hl=en](http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:vNSJcC62ilUJ:inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa072199.htm+cell+phone+standards&hl=en) Things are more standardized in Europe and Asia, but in a nutshell the US is still a mishmash of TDMA, CDMA & 3G, (depending on carrier) each using different infrastructure. Hopefully someone will be along to explain it better, I just wanted to start the ball rolling. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-mobile-phone-carriers-use-the-same-infrastructure/251877/5 "2004-06-23T22:26:16Z")
In Australia, theres 3 main vendors who all have their own towers (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone) however, the last two frequently resell their service to smaller outfits. It’s quite obvious that this is so because people on different networks often have quite different levels of reception in places. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-mobile-phone-carriers-use-the-same-infrastructure/251877/6 "2004-06-23T22:59:08Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > It seems wasteful and it seems like something the FCC wouldn’t stand for if each had their own towers and distributors. Far from it, the FCC wanted it that way. It considers it the natural consequence of a deregulated marketplace. Whether it’s better than forcing a carrier to open up its facilities to competitors is a topic for Great Debates.