Evans seeks remedy to spotty cell-phone service

County commissioners clashed last week over the reasons for inferior cellular phone service in the San Juans and what they ought to do about it.

Commissioner John Evans said improving coverage is now feasible for cell-phone users, given recent advancements in communications technologies. Access to high-speed Internet and voice, video, and data technology also could be vastly improved if it weren’t for outdated and overly restrictive rules on siting of cell-towers and communications facilities, he said.

Evans lobbied for formation of a committee of local industry experts to study stumbling blocks to improved communications and offer a list of remedies to the obstacles. The committee would meet during summer and provide recommendations by Sept. 17, according to Evans’ plan.

“I think there’s a misconception about a restrictive county ordinance,” Commissioner Rhea Miller countered. “The problem is in the free-market economy and that companies don’t invest here because of the population. They don’t find it worth their expense because of the number of people.”

For now, Miller said, improvement of the local communications industries should remain a matter for the marketplace and not an assignment for the cash-strapped and understaffed agencies of local government. In addition, she said, providing a government-sponsored, fast-track forum for a panel of experts to boost their industry undermines the local tradition of public participation, and may also lead to changes in local regulations.

“It sounds like a railroad job to me,” Rhea Miller said.

Nevertheless, Evans said the islands’ notorious gaps and dead spots are more than an inconvenience for local cell-phone customers or a matter of benefits for private business. The numerous holes in communications are also obstacles for public safety and the agencies that depend on swift and reliable communications to fight fires and save lives.

“San Juan County is on a dead-end siding on the information highway,” he said. “My hope is we can catch-up from where we’re at right now.”

For right now, Fire Chief Rob Miesen said cell-phone and radio coverage is so spotty on Lopez Island that firefighters and paramedics sometimes won’t receive pages when emergency signals are dispatched from the Sheriff’s office in Friday Harbor. Because there are no towers on the island that relay radio or cellular phone signals, some pagers may not activate, depending on location. Miesen said he frequently leaves fire station headquarters in Lopez Village and drives to the spit on Fisherman Bay to talk on his cell-phone with someone on the east side or the south end of the island.

“We’re handcuffed until we have towers to enhance radio or cellular coverage; we’re also strapped by the cost of improving that infrastructure,” he said. “How can you expect the volunteer firefighter to respond to the scene if they don’t receive the call?”

Undersheriff Jon Zerby said communications gaps on Lopez Island are not an isolated occurrence. The same holds true on Orcas and San Juan islands, depending on geography and availability of antennas and “repeaters”, of which there are few in the islands, Zerby said.

“The east side of Orcas is pretty bad, but Lopez is the worst,” he said. “It’s definitely a public safety issue.”

Commissioner Darcie Nielsen found the middle ground. She said inconsistencies in coverage can’t be overlooked from a public safety standpoint and the restrictions on communications facilities are likely outdated. Still, Nielsen said the more appropriate forum for investigating the issues is through the local Economic Development Council, an affiliate of local government.

“We can’t overlook that we do have some major areas of the islands that don’t have coverage,” Nielsen said. “I do think our cell-tower ordinance is outdated because the technology has advanced.”

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