Agenda - Council - 02/09/1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Washington County Commission and Planning Commission December 21, 1998 Page 3 The cellular mobile phone system operates on a specific set of channels set aside by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). The faltering of spurious signals is very tightly controlled. Cellular telephones operate within a strictly regulated set of allotted frequencies between 824 and 894 megahertz. Formerly these channels were allocated to certain "UHF" television frequencies. AirTouch is currently operating well over 1,000 cellular base stations around the country with no case of unresolved television or radio interference reported. The Cellular Grid. Cellular service provides subscribers with office-quality phone service by developing a grid of antennas arranged in a geographically hexagonal pattern. Each hexagon is a "cell" created by an antenna, which serves as the link between the customer and the system while the customer is within that particular cell. Each cell can only handle a finite number of calls as any one time. As the number of customers increases, the grid must be changed to handle the increasing number of calls. This usually means that more cells need to be created within the same geographical area, resulting in a new grid pattern of smaller cells. Search Area Criteria. The area in which cellular coverage is needed largely defines the required antenna height. We have been working for several months to locate an antenna site in this area to solve cellular phone service coverage needs. At the present time, owners of cellular phones are unable to use their phones in Ramsey and the surrounding areas, and digital service is unavailable in areas near the proposed site. As a result, static as well as lost connections or "dropped calls" are a problem for subscribers in this area, and callers cannot take advantage of the call clarity and privacy features available with digital signals. The proposed site is designed to solve these very problems. Many factors go into choosing a location for a cell site. These include zoning and land use compatibility, market factors, technical considerations, cellular grid, landowner willingness to sell or lease, land forms or topography of the surrounding area and accessibility to roads. Taken together, all of these factors create a narrow search area for a location of the cell site. In many of the outer suburban and ex-urban areas around the Twin Cities, AirTouch is building its towers at the maximum height allowable without FAA obstruction marking. As you may know, towers which are 200 feet or taller must be painted red and white and marked with red beacons or white strobes. To avoid this visual impact,-AirTouch has kept the heights of such towers to a maximum height of 199 feet. For example, we have obtained approvals for 199-foot towers in northern Washington County (near the eastern boundary of the license area) and in the city of Farmington (near the southern boundary) in the last several months.