Subject: [NEXTEL-1] West Virginia Cell Towers Could be Costly

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 15:53:42 -0400

West Virginia Cell Towers Could be Costly

West Virginia could end up spending nearly $7 million to build and upgrade cell
phone towers to cover the states' turnpike corridor. The West Virginia Turnpike,
which spans for a length of 88 miles, is under debate among legislators that are
determining if the erection of cell phone towers along the turnpike is necessary.
Obstacles, such as the Mountain States' winding roads and elevated terrain, could
make it difficult and costly to build new towers.

============================================================

Turnpike cell phone
service could be costly
Study shows new towers,
upgrades could cost millions

By The Associated Press
Wednesday September 10, 2003; 10:30 AM
LEWISBURG -- The state should
expect to spend as much as $7 million
to build or upgrade enough cell phone
towers to cover the 88 miles of the
West Virginia Turnpike, legislators
meeting in interim session learned.

But that investment will not
automatically entice the nation's
wireless companies to provide
coverage, the co-chairman of the select
joint subcommittee studying the issue
observed.

"How sure are we that this will get
enough carriers willing to attach (their
gear) to these towers?" Delegate
Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, said.
"There's no point in building them if
nobody's going to come."

Still, the subcommittee welcomed a detailed study by two consultants, Terradon
Corp. and Elevations LLC, which mapped out what the Turnpike's tower network
should look like.

Lawmakers said the report helps them in their task of finding a way to provide
wireless telephone as well as emergency 911 service to the Turnpike.

The road's infamous twists and turns complicate the prospect of arraying towers
efficiently, the subcommittee was told. Level ground allows a signal to travel up
to 15 miles from the tower. The state's mountains and valleys often limit the
range to two or three miles, Elevations President Jon Cooper said.

"You pretty much have to be able to see the tower to communicate," Cooper said.
"As soon as you go around the next turn, you need to be looking for the next
tower."
Building towers has proved more costly in some areas of the Mountain State
compared to elsewhere. Cooper said each tower needs an access road as well as
nearby electrical and telephone lines. Again, terrain plays a role.

"Building the access road is probably the biggest headache," he said. "And we're
talking about putting up towers in a lot of places where there are no utilities."

West Virginia's mountains also contain another surprise. Cooper recalled that
while digging the foundation for a tower near Fairmont, a wireless company punched
into an old mine.

"They had already made the investment in the site, so they had to go ahead and
fill the mine shaft with concrete," Cooper said.

Cooper noted that for existing towers, the study relied only on those registered
with the Federal Communications Commission. Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, the
subcommittee's co-chairman, said including towers not on that list could reduce
the project's price tag.

http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2003091013

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