Government

Cell Tower at Silver Hill Hospital to Go Live in Early 2015, Officials Estimate

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Cell service on the eastern side of New Canaan stands to improve in early 2015, officials say. The tower installed on Silver Hill Hospital’s campus likely will go live in the first quarter of next year, “at least according to AT&T,” Utilities Commission member Tom Tesluk said at the group’s meeting Monday night, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. The timing at Silver Hill is important to the commission, in part, because the group is overseeing data collection through a “drive test” of town roads that has seen a specially outfitted vehicle record cell strength on a street-by-street basis, providing New Canaan with site-specific data that it’s never had before. That test is essentially finished and a draft map is in the works, Tesluk said, though there’s an open question about whether some areas—the south, southeast and perhaps northeast parts of town—ought to be re-tested once the tower at Silver Hill and a second planned tower, for the Norwalk Armory site, go live. Tesluk cautioned that it may take a while for the Armory tower to go up.

News

As Cell Service Improves, New Canaan Eyes Stronger VHF Coverage for First Responders

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Town officials working toward improving cell service here say there may be an opportunity at the same time to boost VHF coverage for New Canaan’s emergency responders. The Colorado-based company that New Canaan hired to gather data on current cell coverage has done one “drive test” through town and will do another after a set of new cell towers—at Silver Hill Hospital and the Armory just over the Norwalk line on Route 123—are up and functioning, Tom Tesluk of the Utilities Commission said at the group’s most recent meeting. The idea is to identify town-wide cell signal strength on a granular, street-by-street basis—and an amalgamated map from carriers shows that New Canaan is closer to 75 percent covered (far better than prior estimates of about 25 percent). The Utilities Commission for years had worked to improve cell service in town, both for residents’ convenience and also to improve public safety—recently the effort had been led by town resident Geoff Pickard. If improving cell service after the second “drive test” involves putting up new towers, it may be prudent to add VHF antennas for use by police, fire, paramedics and public works officials, Tesluk said.

Government

New Canaan Pursues $29K Cell Service ‘Drive Test’

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New Canaan soon could have hard data to back up what many residents know anecdotally: The town has a lot of cell service dead zones. Even with service coming to parts of eastern New Canaan as a cellphone tower goes up on Silver Hill Hospital property, connections often are spotting in areas such as Ponus Ridge and Smith Ridge—an inconvenience as well as a public safety concern, officials say. Soon, our town roads could undergo a “drive test” that would see a specially outfitted vehicle record cell strength on a street-by-street basis, and provide New Canaan with site-specific data that it’s never had before. At the request of the New Canaan Utilities Commission, the Board of Selectman approved $29,000 for an independent consulting firm to complete the project. The item is expected to go before the Board of Finance and Town Council in May.

News

Finally: Construction of Cell Tower at Silver Hill To Start This Week

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After more than a decade of false starts, legal wrangles, lapsed approvals and countless volunteer hours dedicated to the effort, a new cell tower finally will go up in eastern New Canaan. Silvermine is one area of town (there are others, yet without a firm plan for acquiring service) that long has endured a spotty cell signal—a  shortcoming that affects not only quality of life and real estate values, advocates say, but most importantly, public safety. Construction of the monopole-style tower on a wooded ridge at Silver Hill Hospital’s campus is due to start this week under the supervision of Phoenix Partners LLC, according to the staff at the Valley Road psychiatric facility. “We’re very happy to be able to do this as an accommodation to the town,” Silver Hill President and Medical Director Dr. Sigurd Ackerman told NewCanaanite.com Monday. “From that point of view, it’s a very good thing.”

It isn’t clear just when service will be available.