Improving cell phone service on Longboat Key

JOHN O. SUMMERS
Guest Columnist
opinion@lbknews.com

Many Longboat Key residents and businesses would like for cell phone service on the island to be improved whether or not the existing service meets their current needs. A major condition for many of these residents is that the increased service be achieved without any cost to them. The question is how should the town go about improving its cell phone service?

Over the past several years our town government has taken a passive approach to discovering alternatives for improving cell phone service. The town manager and the commissioners have waited for those who build cell towers and those who market cell phone services to approach the town and suggest how they can help the town improve its cell phone service.

There would seem to be at least three reasons for adopting this approach: one, these firms have a lot of expertise relevant to improving cell phone service, two, they will provide advice to the town at no cost, and three, they will execute the planned solution at no direct cost to the town. It almost sounds too good to be true. What could go wrong?

Like all businesses, cell tower builders and cell phone service providers focus on making a profit. When they recommend a particular alternative course of action as being “best,” it often means that the alternative is best for them (i.e., it will provide them with the maximum profit). Cell tower firms want to generate the largest income stream possible from the investments they make in marketing and constructing their cell towers. The cell phone service firms want to minimize the cost of providing their subscribers with the desired level of service. These two goals are often not compatible with the interests of the town’s residents.

 

The proposed plan
The cell tower builder and the cell phone service provider have told the town that they have considered all alternatives and their proposed 150-foot tower at the Longboat Island Chapel is the best alternative and the only alternative that is economically feasible. Moreover, this tower will be built at no direct cost to the town.

However, this alternative is certainly not best for the residents living in the areas adjacent to the chapel where the 150-foot tower is to be constructed. People move to Longboat Key primarily for the island’s ambiance. Having a 150-foot tower centered in the middle of your view from your balcony or front windows is hardly consistent with LBK’s ambiance.

Although the cell tower builder says that the “research” it commissioned shows the proposed tower will not negatively affect the value of the adjacent properties, one can always find some “research” firm that, for the right price, will produce whatever “research findings” the client desires. It is done all the time.

By conducting an Internet search one can easily locate several studies that report property value declines of 10 percent to 20 percent resulting from the construction of a nearby cell tower. The negative impact of the proposed LBK cell tower on nearby properties should be especially large because of its enormous size (150 feet tall) and LBK’s status as an upscale community. Given that the appraised value of nearby properties totals around $40 million, the likely drop in nearby property values should fall somewhere between $4 million and $8 million. This is part of the true cost of the proposed cell tower solution and should not be ignored. Moreover, this is a cost that should be shared by all LBK residents by having the town reimburse these property owners for their losses.

Housing prices throughout the remainder of the island should also decline, although by much less. This 150-foot tower will be easily seen by anyone driving down Gulf of Mexico Drive and will serve to diminish the upscale image of the island. One cannot shield a 150-foot tower with 50-foot trees.

Prospective homebuyers will wonder whether the town might decide to have other 150-foot tower built near the homes they are viewing. If the town is willing to change its building codes to allow for a huge tower at the chapel, it will be difficult for Realtors to convince prospective buyers that the same will not occur at other LBK locations.

There almost certainly is a better alternative for improving cell phone service on the island.

 

Where do we go from here?
The town needs to do what it should have done in the beginning — hire an independent communications expert to design two or more comprehensive, long-term communications plans for LBK. This expert should be encouraged to think broadly and consider such things as likely future communication needs, emerging technologies and maintaining the ambiance of the island. This expert should not be constrained by existing town codes in developing the best possible set of alternative communication systems for our island.

That there are cell phone-service provider combinations that provide acceptable outdoor cell phone service is evidenced by the fact that there are many residents who have lived on the island for several years without having a call dropped while driving on the island.

While waiting on cell phone service to be improved, those who currently do not experience satisfactory outdoor reception need to make it their personal responsibility to find out which cell phone-service provider combinations work and make the necessary adjustments.

Cell phones were designed for outdoor, not indoor, use. As such, one should not expect a cell phone to perform flawlessly in indoor settings. Buildings with high steel and concrete content can greatly diminish the strength of cell tower signals.

Those interested in improving their indoor cell phone service should purchase a femtocell for their home or business. These devices do provide a strong signal inside buildings. This is the resident’s responsibility.

By taking the appropriate actions, LBK residents can obtain satisfactory indoor and outdoor cell phone service while the town designs and executes a long-term, comprehensive communications plan for LBK. At the same time, the town needs to get busy on that plan.

John O. Summers is a Longboat Key resident and Professor Emeritus of Marketing at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, Bloomington, Ind.