Cellular companies are promising they will. Cingular on June 29 proclaimed its $46 million investment into the Las Vegas network for 2006. Like other major cellular services, Cingular's strategy is to put up more cell sites in areas where locals are quickly moving.

"Las Vegas, as everyone knows, is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the nation for many years now, and Cingular recognizes it," said Brian Soehngen, the area's Cingular spokesman.

"It does its best not only to fix some areas of the city with challenges, but to predict where new houses are going."

Cingular's most recent investment comes in the form of 60 cell sites this year, including 33 that have already been built. In 2005, the Atlanta-based company spent $80 million in Las Vegas to build 85 cell sites and deploy a 3G broadband network, which allows fast wireless digital connections.

Like in previous years, Cingular is currently pitching interior cell sites to casinos. The systems, which have been around for about six years, convert radio waves into a light signal that runs through fiber optics cables inside a structure.

So far 12 casinos have the Cingular technology installed.

"Casinos recognize the importance of providing quality cell service," said Art Navarro, a regional public relations director. "(Business people) who walk into any hotel on the Strip have got to be connected. It's our goal to provide that kind of quality service."

Ty Womack of Broken Arrow Communication finishes work on a new Cingular Wireless cell tower. Photo by Sam Morris

Cingular's local network was formerly the AT&T network, but it became Cingular's after the company purchased AT&T Wireless in 2004. The former Cingular network in Las Vegas was sold to T-Mobile, Navarro said.

The changes to the Cingular network are expected to be unnoticeable to its subscribers, because sites are tested off the network and come online overnight. But if callers pay attention, they will start to notice better call quality and fewer drops, officials said.

"Yes, it should be noticeable," Soehngen said. "This is not happening overnight but people should be noticing it every month that more cell sites are coming up."

Just as Cingular is building onto its network, other major companies are also pumping money into the local area to keep up with the growth.

• Verizon Wireless spent $65 million in Nevada in 2005, but does not release information about 2006 investment for competitive reasons. It counts $215 million of investment in the state in the past five years.

In 2004, Verizon unrolled its own 3G broadband network. It also has cell networks in casinos. The company, based in New Jersey, took over the Alltel wireless network in Las Vegas in 2000, said regional spokeswoman Jenny Weaver.

• Sprint does not release information about local or regional investment, but spokeswoman Debra K. Havins said the Nationwide Spring PCS Network and the Nextel National Network together invested $5.6 billion in 2005. Sprint touts its mobile cell sites, called cell on wheels of COWs, that it takes to temporarily crowded venues, like stadiums.