SCHUMER REVEALS VERIZON BREAKTHROUGH: UTICA & NEW HARTFORD ARE NOW IN CONTACT WITH COMPANY & A PLAN TO CONSTRUCT A NEW CELL TOWER IS IN THE WORKS; SENATOR SAYS ‘DEAD ZONE’ HAS PLAGUED RESIDENTS & BUSINESSES FOR YEARS, AND HE IS WATCHING LIKE A HAWK TO GET PROGRESS

One Of Utica’s Busiest Streets — Oneida Street — Has Been Plagued By A Verizon Dead Zone For A Very Long Time; Residents, Small Biz & Public Officials Have Complained BUT Nothing Was Changing; Senator Stood With Locals & Publicly Called On Verizon To Investigate & Fix The Problem – Now Construction Plans For New Tower Is In The Works

In April, Schumer Stood With A Baker, Pasta Shop Owner, Grocer, Hair Dresser, Dry Cleaner, Many Neighbors, Elected Officials & Public Safety Professionals To Make Case For Verizon To Fix This Dead Zone That Impacts A City Of 60,000 People & A Major Suburb

Schumer: Verizon Can Hear Us Now!

After standing side-by-side with local residents, small business owners, elected officials, and public safety professionals this past April to call on Verizon to fix the cell phone dead zone plaguing South Utica and New Hartford, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today revealed the company has heeded his calls and is officially taking steps to fix the mobile dead zone that stretches wide in the middle of Utica, impeding local residents from making calls, taking mobile payments and even risking public safety.

“After meeting with South Uticans and New Hartford residents at their wit’s end with a cell phone dead zone that’s seemingly unfixable, I turned up the volume on Verizon in hopes that they would get the message and fix this longstanding issue. I am proud to say: Verizon heard me loud and clear and is already taking action to investigate the problem, meet with local officials, and develop a plan to generate a solution,” said Senator Schumer. “Plans are in place to build a new cell tower to bring high-quality mobile service to Utica and New Hartford, and I will not stop fighting until this dead zone is fixed for our local residents, Ridgewood business owners and first responders once and for all.”

This past April, Schumer personally visited Oneida County, advocating for South Utica and New Hartford residents and small business owners, who were at their wit’s end after dealing with Verizon’s cellular dead zone, and called on the company to fix the issue immediately. More specifically, Schumer publicly called on Verizon to do three things: 1) investigate the problem 2) meet with local officials and 3) come up with a plan to fix the problem ASAP. Shortly after Schumer’s call to action, Verizon representatives engaged with the City of Utica, the Village of New Hartford, and Schumer’s staff to work on solving the issue.

The Village of New Hartford’s Board recently approved Verizon’s application to construct a new tower which will mitigate coverage issues for South Uticans, residents of New Hartford, and drivers traveling along Oneida Street. Verizon engineers have visited the area and the project has seen more progress in the past few weeks than in the previous few years on additional ways to address the mobile dead zone. Local leaders are hopeful that with the progress finally being made on the problem following Schumer’s advocacy that they and Verizon can continue to work together to finally bring high quality cellular service that the Utica area has long deserved.

“Thanks to Senator Schumer’s intervention, the Village of New Hartford and Verizon are making real progress towards a new cellular tower at the New Hartford Recreation Center. In recent months, the Village Board has fast-tracked approvals, Verizon engineers have conducted a site visit, and a Land Lease Agreement is imminent," said Village of New Hartford Mayor Donald J. Ryan. “While there is more to do, this new pace of progress will benefit our entire region. On behalf of the Village of New Hartford and members of our community, I would like to thank Senator Schumer for keeping his eye on the ball and the pressure on Verizon to make sure that dead zones in our community are identified and remedied."

“Senator Schumer sure does get results, and taking up the issue of our dead zone on Oneida street has been no exception. For years, pleas for help from community leaders, small business owners, and local residents mostly fell on deaf ears at Verizon,” said City of Utica Mayor Robert M. Palmieri. “Thanks to Senator Schumer, they sure can hear us now, and we have made more progress working towards a fix in the last few months than we ever have before. Ensuring wireless coverage is essential to improving quality of life for Utica residents and businesses, and I am grateful that we have a steadfast supporter like Senator Schumer leading the charge.”

According to Schumer, mobile dead zones are areas where there is no cellular signal, either because the signal is being blocked, the tower is too small for the area or because the cell phone tower is too far. Causes for these dead zones may vary. For example, cell phone signals are facilitated by a radio frequency (RF) signal via a towers transmit. If the RF signal is too far or is blocked by obstacles, then a cell phone dead zone is created. The most common culprits are cell phone tower distance, to topography like hills, mountains, ridges, and foliage because they can absorb or reflect the signal waves, but there are other reasons too, like in New York City, where skyscrapers can create dead zones.

A copy of Schumer’s original letter to Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg appears below:

Dear Mr. Vestberg,

I write today amid reports of a cell phone dead zone in a busy and bustling area of Utica and New Hartford New York that is causing major problems for residents, small businesses and public safety officials in Oneida County. In the City of Utica and Town of New Hartford, people are plagued with poor network performance, specifically a lack of service in areas covered by Verizon. The dead zone at issue extends primarily from the corner of Oneida Street and Higby Road to the corner of Oneida Street and Ballantyne Brae. The dead zone, at times, even stretches well into other parts of South Utica and New Hartford neighborhoods. Oneida Street is a high trafficked road by locals who routinely complain about dropping, or being entirely unable to place calls while driving through the dead zone. To make matters worse, located along the effected stretch of Oneida Street, there is residential housing, a community center, and several small businesses – a Grocery Store, a pasta shop, a bakery, an auto mechanic, a dry cleaner, and a preschool. The dead zone is of particular concern to the effected small business owners, whose livelihood is directly impacted by Verizon’s inability to provide service. Over many months, each of these folks has tried to seek Verizon’s help, but it hasn’t been easy.

Today, wireless connectivity is a necessity for residents and owning and operating a successful business depends on adequate and reliable mobile service. Quality wireless service has become an essential part of modern U.S. infrastructure, just like water, housing and clean air. Customers rely on the coverage maps advertised by the carriers to make their purchasing decisions. That is why it is critical that the maps provided in stores and on the carriers’ websites are accurate. Unfortunately, on the Verizon Wireless website, the stretch of Oneida Street effected by this dead zone is listed as having both 4G and 5G wireless connectivity. However, this wide dead zone across portions of Utica and New Hartford proves otherwise.  

In conversations with those effected by the Oneida Street dead zone, I learned that residents and small business owners have been complaining to Verizon for a very long time. These folks have practically begged Verizon to come and provide them with the service the pay for, and some of them have complained time and time again to no avail. For some reason, their complaints continue to fall on deaf ears. While I understand from the City of Utica and Town of New Hartford, that discussions with Verizon have been ongoing for years, no permanent solution to this issue is yet underway. Both the City of Utica and Town of New Hartford are ready and willing to work with Verizon to provide service to those effected by the Oneida Street dead zone. It is my hope that this letter will spur you to finally getting this issue resolved.

Again, I urge Verizon act now to meet with locals, investigate and fix the dead zone plaguing members of the Utica and New Hartford communities. I have every confidence that Verizon will take action to quickly and effectively provide service to those effected by this stressful and potentially dangerous dead zone. I thank you for your time, and I look forward to seeing this issue get the fix it deserves.

Sincerely,

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