Will rural cell coverage ever improve?
2023-12-28
Dear friend,
Do you ever get so accustomed to something not working that you almost forget how frustrating it is?
I'm trying to think what's like that in my life right now, but I'm pulling a blank. See, this is a problem!
Oh. Here's one. There's an antique pull-chain sconce in our bathroom that got stuck in the "off" position over two years ago, and I haven't been able to fix it or replace it. Before it broke, it was the one light I would use most often for its indirect glow on the rest of the room. Now it's just a weird decoration above the toilet.
Here's another one. In 2002, I was on my landline in Brattleboro, on the phone with a friend in Anchorage, Alaska. We were talking about being housemates in Brattleboro. There was a delay on the line, which made it really hard to talk. It was a stressful conversation. I remember covering the key points and then getting off the phone as quickly as possible.
Back when I had a copper landline that was actively maintained by a phone company, I liked talking on the phone. No matter where I lived, I'd talk to friends and family for hours.
Things changed in the 2000s. If someone called me on my cell phone, in the years that I had both a cell phone and a landline, I would often call them back from the landline. Landline to landline, I'd breath a sigh of relief about a conversation where I could easily:
1) hear the other person as well as if they were standing there,
2) without having to raise my voice for the entire conversation,
3) with no delay,
4) no random choppy coverage, and
5) no urgency to finish the conversation before one of our phones drops out.
Landlines gave us telemarketing, but that was way less annoying than spam. Telemarketers were usually human, at least. It was annoying that they called during dinner, but at least it wasn't all the time.
Another thing about landlines—we all had them. You could count on being able to "reach out and touch someone," in the words of AT&T's classic jingle.
Today, cell service isn't that bad—in larger towns where there is a concentration of customers. I live on a hill in Halifax and have okay service. It drops out as soon as I hit the main road in the valley. A lot of key roads and villages are concentrated in valleys where signals don't reach. For large sections of Halifax and Whitingham, there's still no service.
Here's the FCC map showing Verizon LTE data coverage between Bennington and Brattleboro:
Is this even accurate? I don't think so. I never have coverage across Route 9 in Searsburg and Woodford. Do you?
You can see the map for your location, for each provider, here.
With landline reliability not what it used to be, and so much of life having switched to apps on phones, and broadband still not here yet, not having cell service at home is one of life's many stresses for a lot of Vermonters.
It also affects everyone's safety. I'm writing this email because one of the issues that a Wilmington resident asked me to look into is why they still don't get cell coverage on Route 9 going to Bennington. That can be a dangerous road in the winter, with houses few and far between.
Not only that, but we've changed socially. For example, a good friend here in town is 26 and dating. He never uses apps or social media. He meets people by going to events and striking up conversations -- like we used to do before online dating. But when his friends hear this, they ask him, "Do you ever have sex?" They can't imagine being able to date without Tinder. In 10 years, will we even remember that it was a thing.
Back to my constituent stuck out on Route 9 in a winter storm, it used to be socially acceptable to knock on someone's door and ask to use their phone to call AAA. I've had many a Vermonter invite me in to warm up, and even fire up their truck and help pull me out of the ditch. I think that's who we are on the inside. But are we maintaining those ties?
I have a feeling that most people today would they rather call AAA from the safety of their warm, locked car, and wait. In the car, we're in control. Knocking on a stranger's door is an unknown.
Here are some other things I've noticed:
Landline-quality conversations are a thing of the past. Will they come back, and better than ever, with universal broadband? Maybe. Let's check on it in 10 years.
In-person conversations have been replaced by zoom, which suffers all the same quality problems as cellular calls, plus you're watching yourself on screen... it's hard not to feel self-conscious.
We're addicted to our phones, take them with us everywhere, and use social media applications that make us less happy, according to researchers. I congratulate Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark for suing Meta for the harm they know they are causing us.
Cell phone service remains unavailable in key locations, and that stresses us all out, in one way or another.
***
Switching topics for a moment, how is our national mood?
Gallup has polled Americans' in their satisfaction with how things are going since 1979. The average over that time is around 35% of people being satisfied.
In 1999, the dot-com economy was booming and it still seemed like the Internet could be fun and democratic. President Clinton had been acquitted in his impeachment trial, and we were wondering what to do with our national budget surplus. After living through some glum periods in the 1980s and 1990s, I remember things feeling pretty good then. You could call your friend across the country and have a really nice phone conversation. People still sent letters.
The national satisfaction peaked then at 71%.
Today it's at 18%, and has been bouncing around in the teens and 20s for a while.
Bummer!
I wouldn't be the first person to draw a connection between adoption of social media and polarization in America.
But I feel like that's only scratching the surface. I feel as though the phone changed entirely. It went from being a connective tool to one fraught with anxiety, and that has consequences in how we relate to each other.
People started switching in large numbers to cell phones in the 2000s, and the iPhone came out in 2007. Our national mood consistently dropped over that time. We might use "Trump" as shorthand today for talking about polarization in America, but I see Trump more as a product of who we became by the year 2016, not the cause of it.
What would help us recover? I wonder.
How do you feel about how things are going in America? And do you have any feelings about what's contributing to that?
***
Whatever you think of my read on the national mood, one thing is clear -- access to cell service, low-quality as it might be at times, is not just a convenience to Vermonters.
A cell signal at home is an essential utility for public safety, with most of us living far away from police. And it's an essential utility for emergency and routine healthcare, with most of us living far away from a hospital.
Why don't more constituents bug me about cell service? I have a guess. I think it's like the light in my bathroom. It's frustrating, but you've given up on hope that it will improve, and you kind of block it out.
I'm not okay with that. Like the Christmas tree in "Christmas Story," I might never get everything in my home working perfectly all at the same time, but making a steady effort keeps the spirits up.
That star is crooked -- from "Christmas Story"
"It seems like my voice doesn't matter," is what I hear from a lot of Vermonters about the political process. How much of that is because so many things aren't working, and seem to be headed in the wrong direction?
In response to my constituent question on Route 9 cell service, I've been in touch with Commissioner June Tierney at the Department of Public Service to see what's going on.
Construction of new cell towers is largely stalled in Vermont, due to several factors that I can detail in a future newsletter. In short, cell coverage today is similar to where broadband was at prior to the development of Communications Union Districts (CUDs) like DV Fiber (<-- please make sure you've signed up with them to be notified when service arrives)
That is, there's not much more private investment going into it, and there's also not much going on with public funding.
That could change, and there's a new report out with some great ideas. For example, the deployment of fiber broadband across our towns could lead to deployment of "micro-cell" installations.
However, it's not going to change without political will. Status quo policy and funding won't get us there. The Legislature and the Governor will have to put skin in the game.
Is this issue important to you?
What other issues are of high importance to you for 2024?
I'd love to hear from you via this one-minute poll: Top issues for you in 2024
Feel free to email me back, and you can call or text me at 802-275-2881.
If you do call, don't be surprised if, after a few minutes of chatting or texting, I suggest we get coffee or otherwise meet in person. Quality of dialogue matters.
I also love getting and writing letters:
Tristan Roberts for Vermont
PO Box 97
W. Halifax, VT 05358
Dec. 21, 2023 Senior Meal, Whitingham
One of my joys in life has also becoming inviting guests to our farm and showing you around the magical forest here in person. As my friend, just ask if you're in the area. We are often able and happy to add a place-setting for dinner, or put you up.
Or we simply sit in my office and have tea for an hour and talk about telecommunications, like one recent guest from Wilmington.
Like at the Christmas Senior Meal in Whitingham last week that I attended with Sen. Wendy Harrison, in-person conversations with neighbors really are the best.
Love,
Rep. Tristan Roberts
Quill Nook Farm – Halifax, Vermont
P.S. Wherever you live, please take this one-minute survey of your top issues.