New Verizon tower proposed for rural Muskegon area
Posted By: mlive on January 30, 2025. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
Verizon users in rural Muskegon County who have struggled for years with poor service have something to look forward to.
The Dalton Township Planning Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 28, approved a special land use application on behalf of Florida-based telecommunications firm Vertical Bridge to construct a new cell tower on a vacant piece of township-owned land.
The application was submitted by Pyramid Network Services, a telecom construction company based in New York.
The proposed 199-foot tower would be located at 1298 Pine Road in Twin Lake. The township signed a contract to lease the property to Vertical Bridge in January of 2024.
While the tower would be built mainly to enhance Verizon Wireless’s service in the area, it also would be able to accommodate two additional cellular carriers, according to the site plan. A fenced compound and ancillary ground equipment would be installed at the base of the tower.
The tower is being proposed due to a “significant service gap” in the area, Verizon radio frequency engineer Jin Tang said in a letter to the township.
“Verizon customers using their devices in and around the gap area are likely to experience diminished call quality, slow and unreliable data transmission speeds, call drops and blocked calls,” Tang wrote, noting this service gap has existed for several years.
Dalton Township has a population of just over 9,500 people across 36 square miles, according to its website.
The new tower will “greatly” improve cell coverage in the township between West Lake and Fox Lake, Township Zoning Administrator Stephen Kerr said.
“Since the approved tower will be located on township property, the lease agreement will also generate some additional revenue for the township,” he said.
Before proposing a new tower, Verizon first considered whether any existing towers in the area could be used to resolve the coverage gap. The closest facility, however, is nearly three miles from the proposed site, according to the application.
“In addition to the coverage issue, capacity has become a major issue for wireless carriers,” Austin Babich, project manager at Pyramid Network Services, wrote in the application.
“Smart phones have pushed all carriers’ systems to the maximum and, to get relief, the carriers need additional cell sites to accommodate this increased use of data.”
Vertical Bridge owns more than 17,000 telecommunication towers across more than 30 states and partners with major carriers such as Verizon, T Mobile and AT&T, according to its website.
The company would be responsible for inspections and routine maintenance of the tower once it’s complete.
Following township approval, Vertical Bridge must now apply for building permits and receive federal approvals for the project, Kerr said.
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