Downtown most people do not get cell phone service and in this day and age, that is just totally ridiculous.
I am no expert but from what I understand cell phone tower technology is such that it can be hidden in towers. On top of that the cell phone companies pay a good amount of money to lease that space where they can put the repeaters.
Let’s look into getting a cell phone repeater inside City Hall Tower so that A) Downtown can finally have cell phone service and B) we can derive some income from it to help pay a few bills around town.
It seems like a no-brainer.
Does anyone know of any reason we wouldn’t be pursuing this?
Good Morning Gloucester 
Joey, you are correct, not having cell service downtown is unacceptable.
I retired and moved into a condo in FL, beachfront, and AT&T pays our condo association $2,000.00 a month for having a repeater on the roof. Seems like a no brainer to me.
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Absolutely! My mother was trying to make a call from Tally’s yester day, but had to drive two blocks to get a signal. Frankly, Joe, I have a problem with downtown Gloucester being a dead zone.:}
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I contacted the local Verizon store and they suggested that folks should call in a complaint to Customer Service. I then called Data and Technical Support at Verizon and they filed a Trouble Ticket to the Network Repair Bureau. A response should come within 3-5 business days. Technical Support suggested that more people should call in. lVerizon customers can call *611 or 800-922-0204.
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After filing a complaint with Verizon, here’s what the company said: because service is marginal in Gloucester and there is no plan to correct it, if customers decide to switch carriers the disconnect fee will be waived.
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Here’s the Chairman’s address at Verizon for those that want to write. A sample letter is also below:
Mr. Ivan Seidenberg
Chairman
Verizon Communications, Inc.
140 West Street
New York, New York 10007
Dear Mr. Seidenberg,
As a long-standing Verizon Wireless customer, I want to file this complaint in the hope that your company will do the right thing for Gloucester, Massachusetts and provide adequate cell service.
As your technicians will verify, Gloucester has marginal service in Gloucester. Downtown Gloucester, full of shops and restaurants, is a total dead zone. We can neither receive nor make calls in the area. I filed a complaint with technical services on September 30, and ten days later I had to call technical services to get a response. I was told that service was indeed marginal and there was no expectation that it would be remedied. I was told that if I chose to switch to another carrier the $150 disconnect fee would be waived because I was not receiving adequate service.
I understand Verizon Communications is a $100 billion/year enterprise and losing a few hundred customers here on Boston’s north shore may not mean anything to Verizon, but I cannot accept that your company refuses to look at this issue and find some way to remedy it.
I am downtown regularly gathering names of Verizon customers that would appreciate better service here. Please do not respond by providing an incentive to switch to another carrier.
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I received a response to a letter to the Chairman of Verizon about poor cell coverage in the downtown area. The engineers report indicated that the existing cell towers are designed to only cover the area around Rt 128. Verizon has requested to purchase or lease property to install a new search ring and expects activation in the beginning of 2010. I will be in touch with them toward the end of winter to get an update.
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