NEWS - Computers & Technology

By Lou Phelps

Aug. 1, 2011 – A long-standing battle between local residents and cell phone companies providing service to the Hilton Head/Bluffton region has taken another step forward.

A citizen-led task force group is now using social media to reach out to residents and businesses, using a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/hiltonheadcell, to communicate its progress towards improving cell coverage on Hilton Head. The group maintains at website at www.hiltonheadcell.com. 

Verizon executives met with Hilton Head Island officials and the Cell Task Force last week, according to the group.

“The Task Force had a meeting with a team of regional executives from Verizon Wireless…to discuss how we can partner with Verizon to improve wireless service on Hilton Head Island. Also present were Town, County and State officials including Mayor Drew Laughlin, County Councilman Stu Rodman, Representative Andy Patrick and Senator Tom Davis,” according to Task Force members.

“The meeting was very enlightening as Verizon laid out some their near term plans and what they saw as the technology and business issues going forward. Commitments were made on both sides. On the Task Force side, we committed to work with the Town’s LMO rewrite team to try to remove the roadblocks for cell companies have in placing new facilities and to help Verizon get access to gated communities to do testing. Verizon committed to continue to work on some specific problems in Hilton Head Plantation and to be receptive on other problem areas as they are identified. Verizon also commented on their preference for taller antennas versus the use of Distributed Antenna Systems as a long term solution,” the group reported.

And the task force is now using a company that runs impartial tests of cell coverage quality, RootMetrics of Seattle, to track service weekly.  But more resident volunteers are needed to report on their cell phone reception quality from various areas on the island. It’s an interesting approach that other cities and counties in the region can tap into to address cell phone issues.

Root Metrics is releasing a map weekly of Verizon and AT&T coverage on Hilton Head Island. with a comparison to the prior week. “These maps demonstrate the progress we have been making in testing coverage for these two carriers. Notice the progress in the Verizon maps in particular,” states the task force. “We still have almost no data for Sprint or t-Mobile. While we have a lot of areas “mapped” we still need a lot more data taken at various times of the day/week to get a better feel for the impact of usage on the coverage. We’ve come a long way in a short time but we still have a long way to go,” reports the task force group which is seeking more volunteers from residents and businesses.