Improving Cell Phone Service Throughout The Golden Triangle

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley is on a mission to improve cell phone signals in rural areas.

On Thursday, Presley held a task force meeting with first responders in Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties to get feedback.

Making a phone call on your cell phone seems may seem like an easy thing to do, but in some parts of Oktibbeha County, it can actually be hard due to the lack of cell service.

“We pretty well have got service in most of the county, but we have some areas that are very weak especially in the western end of the county because it’s a ridge that runs down from about Maben to Sturgis,” said Kirk Rosenhan, Oktibbhea County Fire Coordinator.

Rosenhan said poor cell phone service has been an issue in parts of Oktibbeha County for a while now.

He believes weak service can hinder his department and residents in the event that there’s an emergency situation.

“Obviously from the residential standpoint, especially if you have a metal roof on your house, you can’t get a call out and that is a problem when you’re calling for help,” said Rosenhan.

“If you were involved in an accident and you’re trying to get medical attention or something and you don’t have any cell service, then there’s a problem,” said Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney.

This public safety concern is now sparking a change.

According to a map by the Federal Communications Commission, high speed internet is available just about everywhere in the state, meaning there are no dead zones in Lowndes or Oktibbeha counties.

However, Presley said those maps are wrong.

“Mississippians pay our cell phone bill and we expect that phone to work,” said Presley. “What we’re asking, and what the sheriffs and volunteer fireman are willing to help us with is to document these areas so that we can show the areas that lack cellular telephone service in these two counties, and we can report that to the Federal Communications Commission.”

Presley is now asking first responders and residents to use the FCC Speed test App on their phones to help document the dead zones or lack of service in these areas.

“How the app works is wherever deputies or a sheriff for instance is sitting and they see they have no cellular telephone signal or very little signal, they can run a test on the smart phone app and as they do that it will show the download speed, the upload speed and collect all of the data about how that phone works in that particular area, including the latitude and longitude,” Presley explained. “It’s a snapshot in time of where you are and how your phone is performing, and this is going to give evidence about how the service is in these particular areas in these counties.”

Presley is asking everyone to send in their results from the speed test by November 15th.