I read this morning in the Lakeville Journal that the chosen few in the center of Salisbury, Connecticut can now use their cellphones! After at least five years of delays of many kinds (including the inexplicable) the long-awaited Salisbury celltower went live last Thursday.
Out here, up a dirt road, in the howling wilderness of Twin Lakes, the situation is not as rosy.
After I read the article in the Journal about the new Salisbury cell tower being live, I grabbed the cellphone I bought a couple of years ago contemplating this great moment and walked up and down Between the Lakes Road seeking a signal. Even though I got no “bars” within a quarter mile of my house in either direction, I did successfully make a call from the junction of Between the Lakes Road and Twin Lakes Road (that's the nearest hard surface road), and was able to continue the call as I walked all the way back to my front door. However, the call dropped as soon as I walked inside. Attempts to re-connect indoors were uniformly unsuccessful.
I decided it was unlikely that the decision-makers would have much interest in us folks out in Twin Lakes, so I called Cingular customer service to see if there was some kind of repeater or signal amplifier I could rig up on a pine tree that might get me cell service in my home. They recommended that I get a newer, more modern phone (why did this not really surprise me very much?), and I took their advice.
After dropping $400 on a very fancy new phone that does everything but eat lunch (and may that too if I can only figure out the right buttons to press), plus all the desirable accessories, I brought it home and tried it out. Unfortunately, the situation was no better, but I am scheduled to receive several rebates sooner or later.
Given the number of years it has taken to get a cell tower in Salisbury, I’ve concluded that there’s no hope at all for officially sanctioned cell service in Twin Lakes in my life time. In considering the private sector as an alternative source, I know that nearby Lime Rock Park provides excellent cell service in their area and beyond, but we sadly do not have a race track up here.
Does anyone have a solution to the problem we have in Twin Lakes?
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Has it really been five years?
4 years ago
