Lakewood Ranch residents frustrated by cell coverage

It's the Lakewood Ranch shuffle.

You start at one side of your home with zero bars on your cellphone, and hold it high as you walk toward the other side, keeping your eyes locked on the bar.

A half bar ... a full bar ... no bars.

You try the windows in the living room, then the kitchen, the bedroom, outside.

It’s a common problem.

Whenever East County resident Gloria Schroeck visits friends in Lakewood Ranch, she doesn’t plan to use her cellphone.

At her friend Alan Roth’s house in Summerfield, she goes outside to receive her text messages — and even that’s not totally reliable. She usually can get one bar.

“It’s not too good,” she said of cell service in the area.

Roth, a longtime Lakewood Ranch resident and supervisor on the Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 1 board, said he hears the complaints multiple times a week. Many residents are hoping coverage in the area improves, particularly with technological advances.

“People are frustrated because they live in a big-deal community and they don’t have what’s now considered the most basic service,” Roth said. “There’s no excuse for that.”

Eight years ago, Vertex Development tried to erect a cellular communications tower near Lakewood Ranch, at the River Club Golf Course. The Manatee County Commission denied its application for the project in December 2009 and the county ultimately won a subsequent lawsuit to prevent it from being built.

At that time, people opposed the towers primarily because of their appearance and concerns regarding health risks. Other locations in the area, including in Palm Aire and at Summerfield Park in Lakewood Ranch, were discussed at that time, as well, but none garnered public support.

Now, some residents say cellphones have become so important in our culture that the towers should be built.

Heidi Schild, a Central Park resident, is one of them.

“I think they need it,” Schild said of adding cellular communication towers. “This area is just getting bigger. The population is exploding here and they have to support it. It’s the way of the future. Everybody is using their cellphone or some kind of device. It’s more necessary than not.”

In Phase 1 Lakewood Ranch, which includes Greenbrook, Summerfield/Riverwalk, Country Club and Edgewater, community development district boards have been researching small cell technology for about a year. Unlike a traditional 150-foot monopole tower, the newest in technology can be attached to buildings, light poles or other structures and used to boost cell coverage and provide capacity where there are gaps in coverage.

Communications infrastructure company USA CRAN (formerly USA Groups) presented a proposal to install small cell technology throughout Lakewood Ranch in December 2016. After hiring a consultant and going through a formal proposal process, Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority now is under negotiations with the company regarding installation of small cell technology on district common areas or rights of way.

“I barely get service inside my home and there are lots of dropped calls. It’s the neighborhood. It’s all over Lakewood Ranch.”

According to new state legislation, the districts can’t prohibit the use of public right of way for small cell, so the IDA hopes to control the aesthetics of cell technology and would like to provide appropriate locations.

“We’re trying to be part of the solution by making our properties available,” IDA Executive Director Anne Ross said. “We don’t want more than necessary, but we want enough that it is effective.”

Edgewater resident Jay Schwartz said he’s glad there has been progress, but he is frustrated by the slow pace. He began a petition drive, which he calls the Coalition for ExCELLent Service & Safety, about two years ago, to show support for improved cellular service in the area.

“I barely get service inside my home and there are lots of dropped calls,” said Schwartz, who is concerned about reception in emergency medical situations, in particular. “It’s the neighborhood. It’s all over Lakewood Ranch.”

Lakewood Ranch’s Cassie Palkovich has had AT&T service for 20 years and the quality of service in this area has long been a point of frustration for her. She purchased a MicroCell network extender from her provider.

“Prior to that I couldn’t even send a text message from my house,” she said.

She worries her children — Emily, 18; Justin, 15; and Carly, 20 — may find themselves with a broken down vehicle, for example, and won’t be able to call for help.

“Any improvement (in service) would be good in my opinion,” she said. “It’s interesting. We went to Alaska for a cruise (in June 2014). We were in the middle of nowhere on a river and didn’t see another soul and we got five bars (of cell service).”

Not everyone has trouble. Jim Venable, who has lived in Central Park for three years, says his Verizon service has been good. He gets good reception when he’s outside, and when he’s inside, he connects to his Wi-Fi to avoid using data.

“I haven’t had any real problems with it,” he said.

Schild now uses the Wi-Fi calling inside her home, but the calls drop if she walks outside to the driveway. Before Wi-Fi, she could not get service indoors.

“It’s a frustration and inconvenience,” said Schild, who uses Sprint. “I know when I do get a call when I’m home or in my neighborhood, there’s a high likelihood it’s going to drop or it will be choppy and I can’t hear.”

Roger Highton, of Summerfield, has used various cell providers over the years, and currently has Verizon. He said connecting to Wi-Fi in the home makes a big difference, however, cell service is lacking overall.

“Pretty much the cell service in the area is nonexistent, or really really bad,” he said. “We’ve tried all different sorts of cell providers.”

His major concern now is being able to connect with emergency services or others if the power goes out following a hurricane, for example.

“To be honest, with the advent of technology, there’s only one fix and that’s to put some decent towers somewhere,” he said.