Poor service in Marcy, NY area - plans to improve?

[DPBuley]

I live in Marcy, NY (zip code 13403). This municipality is home to about 10,000 residents, several retail and commercial businesses, a university (SUNY Poly), a large power distribution facility (New York Power Authority) and was recently selected by large multi-national corporations (GE, AMS) to be the site of a nano-technology center and manufacturing hub which is slated to bring thousands of high-income jobs and more residents to the area.

A few years ago, Verizon leased (or built?) a tower site near the corner of River Road and Cavanaugh Road here in Marcy. The addition of this tower boosted 4G LTE service along the River Road business corridor but left the majority of the rest of the town with little to no connectivity. When I say connectivity, I mean voice and data. Service in residential and commercial areas north and east of this tower is significantly reduced, to the point where placing and receiving calls is nearly impossible and makes reliance upon a cellular phone for ANY type of communication impossible - literally. I will say that there are flashes of 4G and 3G service in these areas - just enough to get your hopes up or make a quick call - then the service disappears for hours at a time and 1X connections with little to no data throughput are the norm.

I know that weather, terrain and user demand can all effect the signal one gets on his or her phone, and all or most of those factors are at play here in Marcy. I don't know what the exact issue is in Marcy and points northward, but I can tell you that a strategically placed tower in northern Marcy would benefit thousands of people, a burgeoning Polytechnic school, a microchip commercialization center and a large statewide power distribution facility. In addition, a new tower would benefit significantly the bordering towns of Trenton and Deerfield, both just north of the Utica metropolitan area and often considered the "gateway" to the famed Adirondack mountain region.

Other metro areas south of Marcy have outstanding, crisp and reliable 4G service. Areas like the City of Utica and Town of New Hartford are flush with signal and rarely, if ever, a hiccup in full-strength service. I suppose this message is more of a plea than a question. Please Verizon, PLEASE build out into the north Marcy and Trenton region of this county (Oneida). I know complaints have been made before by other Marcy residents and students - this certainly isn't the first. I am sincerely hoping that Verizon will read this and be responsive to the pleas of its numerous, somewhat happy-even-in-the-face-of-terrible-service customers. Verizon has always been good to the greater Mohawk Valley region, placing new towers up in short order in New Hartford and south Marcy in response to similar complaints. Please Verizon, look into this. I would be happy to lead the charge in any way I can.