While residents in some areas are fighting tower placement, others invite more infrastructure to support improved cell coverage. However, those areas are often rural, where it’s more expensive to site towers.
That’s the case of Summit County, Colorado, in a mountainous area near the ski resorts in Vail. A consultant hired by the county to review options for improved internet speed and cell coverage is due out with its report next month, reports the Summit Daily. A prior conflicting report by the Northwest Colorado Council of Government (NWCCOG) concluded upgrades in the country are a priority. Still, a report by the consultancy CTC Technology and Energy is expected to find that the area’s largest wireless carriers are not planning further infrastructure upgrades. AT&T has no upgrade plan in the county now and Verizon “has not been as definitive” however the expected outcome is the same, according to county manager Scott Vargo.
Summit citizens voted to exempt the county from a state law that spells out how broadband and cellular networks must be developed; that’s when the county tapped the consultants to find new ways to encourage new tower siting, according to the Summit Daily, which adds AT&T decided not to place two new towers in the area.
Verizon is adding three new low structures, however they won’t serve the areas with the most urgent needs; low towers are about half the expense to erect and maintain as taller structures, but provide less coverage area. Safety remains a concern in some areas; “Real lives are at risk. Often someone has to run to their home to get on their landline to call 911,” said County Commissioner Karn Stiegelmeier.
Even at the ski resorts with adequate cell coverage, users can experience limited signal strength at peak times. In communities outside the ski resorts, the lack of wireless infrastructure has a dampening effect on economic development for those who may be considering small businesses in the area.
The county staff is now planning to contact third-party and lower-tier providers to entice them to install more fiber cable and towers. That way, one of the major cell providers might consider locating their antenna on that pole.
The FCC and Congress are aware of the issue of bringing more broadband infrastructure to rural areas. Asked by Senator Steve Daines of Montana what the Commission is doing about the issue at last week’s hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said “We need to make sure everybody has coverage.”
He mentioned adapting the mobility fund. The FCC has proposed revising the fund to use market mechanisms – specifically, a reverse auction – to make one-time support available to service providers to cost-effectively extend mobile coverage in specified unserved areas. Wheeler added there are new technologies, like 5G, that he characterized as “wireless fiber” that “hold great promise.”
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