Connecting Hilton Head

A Solid Foundation

The foundation for the new Marshland Cell Tower has been built. 33 feet of concrete are there to make sure it will not be going anywhere soon.

The tower will be erected next (by weel of 4/16). This project has certainly gained momentum over the last few days.

HIDDEN STEALTH CELLTOWER’S BUILT TO BE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING & APPEALING TO THE EYE OFFERS “GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY” STANDARDS.

DISQUISED CELL PHONE TOWERS

Construction Begins

American Tower’s newest cell phone tower is now under construction. The tower will host AT&T and HHFD communications to begin. It is designed to improve service for the Marshland Road area customers.

We will monitor the construction progress for you and report it here.

This is the first new tower to be built on the Island since the Cell Task Force was created to tackle the communications issues here on Hilton Head.

Cell phones and cell phone towers send signals using radio frequency (RF) energy,
or radiation, just like radio, television, pagers and other wireless communication
devices. Many people have asked whether the RF energy from cell
phones and cell phone towers is safe. This fact sheet provides you with answers
to some common questions about RF energy and effects on health.

Here is a link to the full article

A fun view of cellphone frustrations from the movies (some of the language is a little rough):

AT&T will launch its Long Term Evolutions wireless network in five cities on Sunday, according to CFO John Stephens speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Entertainment & Communications conference. The nation’s No. 2 carrier will launch LTE in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago and Atlanta, and already has devices that support LTE available in the market. Read further...

Recently Jim Collett, the Cell Task Force Chairman, was interviewed on WHHI TV. Check out this interesting segment about the work we are doing, RootMetrics and more.

COW at the PGA Championship

Sometimes when professional golfers are frustrated with the condition of a tournament course they say “the only things missing are the cows!”
Well, this week at the PGA Championship in Atlanta there were COWs present. These COWs were brought in specifically to boost cellular coverage for the people attending the tournament. A COW, Cellular On Wheels, is a specially designed truck equipped with an extendable tower that can be brought in to boost cellular capacity at an event like this. The one you see here was located between the 10th & 18th holes at Atlanta Athletic Club. There was a second one on the front nine also.

Speaking of cellular reception, this sign was spotted on the golf course.

PGA Cell Zone

This is definitely a “sign of the times” – a place to make phone calls on a golf course during a major! (Compare this to Augusta where you needed to check your phone at the entrance gate). Mark Twain said “Golf is a good walk spoiled”. I wonder what he would say about this.

Do we really need to use our phones while we are attending a golf tournament? What do you all think?

Cell Tower with Osprey Nest

Most of us live on Hilton Head Island on purpose! I am sure that many of you, like myself, have lived in many places because someone told us to live there. We moved here because we could. It is a great place to live, with beaches, no real Winter, no telephone poles and lots of trees. Each of those trees is carefully protected by rules layered on rules from the plantation to the town to the county. But, alas, those trees are problematic when it comes to cell phone coverage.

During our meeting with Verizon in July an excellent analogy was shared with us about the effect of foliage on a cell signal. Look directly at a light and put a piece of paper in front of you. The light is still there, but weaker. Add another piece and it gets dimmer yet. Add another, eventually you can’t see the light. This is the effect foliage has on your cell signal. Then add the walls of your house (not to mention the wire mesh cage around your beautiful stucco house) and it gets even worse. For a truly uninterrupted signal you need line of sight. Some interference is expected, for sure. We don’t live in a desert or on a runway. It is amazing that we get any coverage here at all.

The residents of HHP fought a tower in 2001 and “won”. A few year’s later a compromise solution was reached and a DAS (Distributed Antenna System) was installed. Shorter poles were put throughout the plantation, craftily “hidden” from view. Carriers finally joined and things got better. But now, the trees have grown! And we have all been buying better phones and gadgets that need access to these networks to be usable. We are back behind the curve.

HHP is not the only place on HHI that needs improvement. Ask the folks in Port Royal! And, the more the technology of these devices gives us the opportunity to connect us to the World, the more we seem to want. We need to be open to new solutions to new problems. Cell Towers – love ‘em or hate ‘em, but we need to find a way to coexist.