Estero
Hundreds of neighbors have been frustrated by phone connectivity issues in Estero and other neighboring communities along Corkscrew Road, mostly revolving around Verizon and AT&T.
Concerned citizens — concerned — on cell phone service.
“Really, I would probably classify it as brutal service,” said Cindy Childs from The Preserve in Corkscrew.
“I can’t take cell phone calls here anymore,” said KJ Moses, president of Bella Terra, a community cooperative resident Natalie Stephen described as “where cell phones go to die.”
People in this area are sick and tired of “can you hear me?” For the past month, their calls, texts and web searches have been decreasing, unless they are connected to Wi-Fi at home. Connected to WiFi. Neighbors want to know what the problem is and if someone—at this point, anyone—is going to fix it.
They’ve called their carriers—Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T—but residents say all carriers have had the same response: “Don’t blame us!”
“It’s just … it’s not right,” the boys said. “Something is wrong, it needs to be addressed. Be it the carrier or the mayor or the village, it needs attention. Because $340 a month for 10% coverage? the end.”
“If we don’t get these calls, all our companies should give us credit for every day we can’t use our phones,” said another neighbor.
Whose job is it to solve the problem? Estero manager Steve Sarkozy’s village acknowledges the problem but says the carrier is to blame. WINK News called and emailed everyone. Neither Verizon nor T-Mobile responded, but AT&T issued a brief statement saying technicians completed equipment repairs at a cell site in early January, which may have affected service to some customers in the area. But, “at this time, the wireless network in the area is operating normally.”
Neighbors aren’t just fed up; They are scared.
“People who can’t keep in touch with loved ones, possibly [may] Not able to contact emergency services,” Moses said.
“The biggest concern is that if there’s an emergency, a lot of people worry that if they need to call a loved one or emergency services, they won’t be able to,” said Valerie Sims of Bella Terra.
“Our only communication is through cell phones,” said another neighbor. “And if there’s an emergency, how do we get hold of the EMTs or whoever is needed? The fire department? Who? right And that’s the point I see; The main point.”
