If perseverance had a middle name it would be Renee Gray. The Washington County resident's efforts have led to the news by U.S. Cellular that the company will be installing seven new cell phone towers in the county. The company was awarded money through the recently held FCC USF Mobility Fund that will result in expanded access for the area's businesses and organizations, residents and visitors.
     "The seven new sites include the towns of Eastport, Lubec, Cutler, Trescott, Alexander, Princeton and Whiting. In addition, the money will be used to bring 4G LTE service to seven existing sites in Washington County, allowing customers access to speeds that are up to 10 times faster than 3G and similar to a high-speed Internet connection," says U.S. Cellular Maine Project Manager Richard Houde.
Gray has worked for Downeast EMS for 10 years and is the deputy clerk for the Town of Lubec. "I've been working on this for a long time," she explains about her search for a company that would bring expanded cell phone service to the area. "I was attacking this from the safety standpoint." She adds that when she's in an ambulance with a patient and "you can't talk to the hospital, it becomes a life-and-death situation." Her search for increased cell phone service took her on a merry chase, from corporate headquarters to Internet searches. While she says that her work and the decision by U.S. Cellular to focus on Washington County may be coincidental, that's not stopping her from continuing to collect information for Houde and to keep the pressure up to have cell phone service in Lubec.
     "It's been full‑force," Gray notes, saying that everything culminated with a lucky search engine find of a Jonesboro cell tower and the minutes to a Rockland planning board meeting. That led her to Project Manager Houde. "Dick was the pot of gold," she says with a happy laugh. When she talked to him, she told him: "The biggest complaint -- people want that service." She's put together a packet of letters of need from the county commissioners, the sheriff's department, the county manager, the county's Emergency Management Agency, the Lubec harbormaster and more, all testifying to the need for better access. She printed off newspaper articles that showed how cell phones had saved the lives of fishermen at sea. Of U.S. Cellular's news, she says, "It's very exciting."
     There's no doubt that the cell towers will go up, but it will take up to three years. Houde says, "There is no set timeline for the new cell sites in Washington County, as specific locations for the cell sites have not yet been determined. We are required to complete construction and begin to provide service under this USF program within three years, so the cell sites will come online throughout the next three years as sites are determined and after proper approvals are granted."
     Along with many in the county, Eastport City Manager Jon Southern has been working on the cell phone coverage issue for over two years. He says that he got a call from U.S. Cellular about a week ago. "It's definite for Eastport," he says. From his conversations with Houde, Southern expects the tower to be installed in the first quarter of 2013. Code Enforcement Officer Robert Scott notes that the city's ordinance restricts height within the city limits to 35 feet, so U.S. Cellular would need to receive a variance from the zoning board of appeals. The Federal Aviation Administration controls heights that would interfere with airport flight path zones.
     Passamaquoddy Water District (PWD) Superintendent Nancy Seeley confirms that the PWD has been approached by the contracting company working for U.S. Cellular to install a tower at the water tower location in the city. "We're working with them." She adds that there will be no expense to PWD; all construction costs will be born by U.S. Cellular. Southern notes that if the PWD location does not work the city owns "about 70 acres back there" that could be utilized. "We'll be working to make sure that the impacts are minimized," he adds of the 100-foot tower.
     U.S. Cellular successfully bid on 26 census tracts in the FCC September 27 Mobility Auction 901 to bring mobile broadband service to rural communities. The three successful bids for Washington County totaled $1,419,381 and will cover just over 100 road miles. "Making these funds available will help carriers serve more rural customers who deserve the same access that urban residents have had for many years," says Mary N. Dillon, president and CEO of U.S. Cellular. "We would like to see the FCC open up more funding to allow carriers to continue expanding their networks to enhance the public safety and economic development in underserved communities."
     While some may feel ambivalent about the thought of the incessant public "yacking" of cell phone users coming to roost in the county, there's no doubt in the minds of many that the news is important to the county's economic health.
     Washington County Council of Governments Executive Director Judy East says, "Cell phone access is an assumed prerequisite for economic development; it is a basic requirement for all sectors whether freight, tourism, fishing, you name it. We all know there will be the odd dropped call, but for our region to grow we need far greater uniformity of access rather than the uniformity of no service that we currently have in southeastern Washington County."
     Southern says, "It speaks for itself. Every business we've had dealings with over the past few years -- I couldn't name one that hasn't remarked on the need for cell phone service." He adds, "It's pretty much taken for a given" that it will be available in an area.