Before revision:  Combining experiments and stochastic modeling, we find that networks with sparse or defective connectivity have a reduced propensity for calcium oscillations and exhibit a broader distribution of oscillation frequencies. We find that cell-to-cell variability makes the conventional model of frequency encoding ineffective for a large population of communicating cells.
After revision:  Combining experiments and stochastic modeling, we find that networks with sparse or defective connectivity have a reduced propensity for calcium oscillations despite large cell-to-cell variability makes the conventional model of frequency encoding ineffective for a large population of communicating cells.