Analysis of the current cellular coverage in Los Angeles County, California, reveals that 58.2% of the county land area does not currently have cellular coverage. Map 1 shows the extent of current coverage (pink) plotted against population density. Note the significant lack of coverage in the northwestern region of the Los Angeles County in Santa Clarita Valley as well as the lack of coverage on the northern coast near Malibu.

Three scenarios were analyzed to determine which method would be the most cost-effective way to increase cellular coverage in the area.

1. Add three new cellular towers in underserved areas;

2. Increase the height of all existing cellular towers by 10 meters;

3. Increase the maximum range of all existing cellular towers by 5 kilometers.

Maps 2, 3, and 4 show the analysis results each of the three capital improvement scenarios. Increasing the tower height by 10 m would increase coverage by 0.6%, increasing the range of the towers by 5 km would increase coverage by 2.9%, and adding 3 cell phone towers would increase coverage by 2.6%. The chart and the data table show the change in coverage area (as a percentage of total land area in Los Angeles County) across all three scenarios.

The scenario that produced the greatest increase in cellular coverage was to extend the range of the towers by 5 km, followed closely by adding 3 new cellular towers. Given that both of these scenarios produced similar results, it is my recommendation that the cost of the 2 scenarios should be calculated and the scenario that is the least expensive should be selected.