New cell tower to provide a safe boost to coverage

Dec. 16, 2020 | Sarah Heinonen
sarah@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – Longmeadow residents may notice some construction near the tennis courts at Bliss Road over the next couple of months as a new cellular tower is being installed. While the tower promises better signal and revenue for the town, not everyone is happy about the structure.

People took to social media in the first week of December to comment on the development. While most of the 130 Facebook community forum comments about the tower installation were in favor of the potential for increased cell service in town, some people opined that it would be an eyesore while a couple of other individuals worried that the tower would cause cancer.

The town voted to contract for the tower to be built at the 2017 Special Town Meeting. Town Manager Lyn Simmons said that the $36,000 per year in revenue from the leased land on which the tower will sit will be used for the maintenance of town properties and facilities, including schools, parks and recreation grounds.

One of the main benefits from the town’s perspective is the increased cellular coverage. Currently, Longmeadow has two existing cell towers along Interstate 91, as well as antennas on a town-owned water tank. That infrastructure does not cover the entire town, however.

“Much of the cell coverage in the central part of town, east and west of Laurel Street and Shaker Road, is achieved using small cells since the area is primarily residential,” Simmons told Reminder Publishing. “For example, Verizon operates five small cells in that area, typically on utility poles. These small cells provide local coverage near the cell, but they are only about a tenth of the coverage area of a tower, and they are limited in terms of antennas and equipment.”    

The addition of the new tower will initially increase the coverage and boost the capacity for Verizon subscribers. Other major carriers will be able to use the tower as well. Simmons said the town will also benefit from expanded E911 coverage and the public safety departments will have dedicated equipment on the tower for radio coverage.

The tower is designed so that its antennas are concealed - an effort to reduce concerns that towers will blight the town. Simmons also said that there is no need to be concerned with an expanding network of towers across the municipality.

“There are no immediate plans that we are aware of for additional towers,” Simmons said. While upgrades to existing towers will continue, “New sites will be needed to meet demand to fill in any existing coverage gaps, relieve capacity issues and support future 5G.”

The use of 5G, which stands for 5th generation cellular technology, is another concern for residents. Some people fear that the towers will cause cancer through the use of 5G.

Simmons explained that the tower, owned by the company Wireless EDGE, “is simply infrastructure to support antennas and related radio equipment.” The tower will be able to support both  4G “LTE” wireless services and 5G wireless services.

“The primary differences between 4G and 5G equipment may be some different antenna models and equipment and well as more [fiber] needed to support much higher data speeds and network capacity; allowing more users with faster service,” Simmons said.

To make sure the frequencies that the tower can support are safe, Longmeadow had a certified health physicist review the technology for regulatory compliance. The report’s conservative worst-case analysis found that the results are less than 7 percent of the limits for public radio frequency exposure set by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).

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