Originally Posted by
shadyjay
"We" is my company, who is a subcontractor for Verizon. We've done towers from Brattleboro to Newport and all points in between. And I used to do this work for a company in CT as well, where I dealt with towers from the Jersey Shore to the Maine coast.
Yes, the difficult part is definetely getting the towers permitted, between the Act250, various local and state, and of course, adjoining land owners. Since new tower installations are limited due to visual impact, they cannot be over a certain height, usually 10-20' above average tree height. This limits most of our towers to just over 100'. Given the thickness of woods in VT, and the hilly terrain, having a tower at a max height of 100' may not work for every carrier. For instance, since VZW puts up the tower, they get the top spot. Most of these towers are capable of supporting 2-3 additional carriers, but, lets say, AT&T may not be satisfied with the height of 80' on a tower, since that may put the antennaes in the trees, thus limiting the range.
Exceptions are those towers which are granfathered in, such as radio towers, tv towers, and such. Those are not required to "blend in" (ie- be pine trees) and are more likely to have extensions put in which extend the pole, usually by 10-20'. Such a cell company may go lower on the tower, as the tower may be some 200-300' tall. An example is the towers on Mt Mansfield and Ascutney. I was performing the work on Mt Mansfield on one warm 50 deg summit day in October - quite the installation up there. Nice drive up, too.
At these towers, equipment is generally confined to a pre-fab shelter building, which has all necessary equipment for the antennaes to function. Hookup to local phone and electric service is required, though phone line hookup can be replaced by microwaves, in the cases of mtn top towers. There is nothing saying that the carriers can replace their equipment. This has been done in the past, and I used to be a part of it in NJ, as antennaes and equipment were replaced to upgrade equipment, expand coverage, etc.
Within the past year, I have worked at Mt Snow, Stratton, Magic, Bromley, Okemo, Killington (town), and Stowe (base and top), as VZW realizes that a lot of their customers partake in winter sports recreation, whether for day trips, weekends, or weeklong trips. I have tried to get the flow going for service at the 'Bush/MRV but to no avail yet. Slapping up some antennaes/equipment on the Lincoln Peak tower I wouldn't think would be too hard and is a great extra source of income for the mountain. Plus, I'd have no problem strapping my work equipment to my back, with a board under my feet, while heading up Heaven's Gate to enjoy some great weekday pow pow, say, in Feb or Mar. But until the "island" issue is addressed, we're out of luck, as cell companies prefer to have their sites all connected with each other. As I have stated though, they could hop the mtn at AppGap and get back into the Champlain Valley and make a connection there. Who knows what'll happen.
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