For all of the city’s efforts since 2017 to improve cell coverage in Palm Coast, reliability is still a serious problem, and a deficit of needed towers still looms.
Only 14 to 15 percent of the city’s land mass is getting fully reliable coverage. Less than 35 percent of the city is getting fair to mediocre coverage. More than half of city residents have unreliable coverage. You might still be able to make a call and have a fitful conversation, but other data-heavy apps on the phone would not function effectively.
That’s the summary analysis from Diamond Communications, the company the city hired in 2017 to study coverage and implement plans to improve it, including the building of new towers. The analysis was drawn in large part from crowdsource data that aggregates the results from many sources, including users of At&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. The analysis was presented to the council on Tuesday by Diamond’s Tony Sabatino, Daniel Turnpaugh, Domonic Bouloy and Rob Leonard.
“Many people at home probably use some kind of a cable connector and therefore have the advantage of WiFi within their dwelling units,” Mayor David Alfin said. “But this is different. This is if you were outside in your front yard and you were far enough away from the WiFi so it wouldn’t work: 50 percent of our folks might not have reliable coverage in their backyard.”
The analysis did not indicate to what extent–if any–first responders such as law enforcement and firefighters experience blackouts when they go into certain areas, or buildings. The mayor wants that analysis in coming weeks.
The proportion of poorly served areas of the city includes undeveloped lands and lands where the city would not build anyway, so the proportion of residents getting full coverage is somewhat higher. Conversely, as the mayor noted, “we do support the best trail system and kayaking areas probably anywhere in the region, if not the state. I want to make sure that none of our folks that are using any of our amenities are left to unsafe without some available coverage to call for emergency assistance, should they need it.”
Overall, cell coverage in Palm Coast remains generally poorer than where it ought to be, especially compared to, say, Kissimmee, considered by Diamond a “best in class city.”
Reliable coverage is what it implies: your reception doesn’t fail, whether you’re outside, in a car, or in a building. It becomes unreliable when the cell is taken into a building.
They showed maps of the city color-coded to reflect good and bad coverage. The map looked like one of those NOAA maps showing global heat, but for Palm Coast, with the darker-orange, redder and blacker zones signifying poor coverage. Most of the city is still in those darker hues.
Diamond knows where additional cell towers need to be placed. But “I don’t believe there’s any on the horizon for right now,” City Attorney Neysa Borkert said. So any improvements from new towers may be a way off.
The city had an arrangement with Diamond that grant the company regulatory leeway to build towers, at its expense, and profit from most of the revenue generated from those towers. Palm Coast gets revenue from permitting fees and some of the revenue from carriers. As land values increase, the company is raising its rental rates with carriers, which in turn would generate more money in its revenue-sharing arrangement with Palm Coast.
“What we’re doing across the country is we’re working with developers today to include wireless and telecommunications into the community in the planning group,” a Diamond official told the council. “It’s one thing I recommend to you as you start building up the western portion [of Palm Coast]. Figure out how you incorporate it in the community from day one, so when you’re doing sewers, water, streets, power, also start considering telecommunications.”
Council member Nick Klufas was more curious about what could be done in the nearer future. Diamond officials’ answer was more general. “Over the next couple of years we have some opportunities and we know where sites need to be,” one of the Diamond officials said.
As for satellite communications and a future with tens of thousands of satellites circling the planet: that’s much further ahead, Diamond officials say. For now satellite communications tend to be delayed, capacity is still an issue, so satellites cannot effectively compete with ground-based towers.
But those towers need actual land where a tower wouldn’t unecessarily clash with the surrounding community, “vertical real estate” where they can rise, they need to be connected to fiberoptics and power. Line of sight is useful but not essential. The signal can bounce and go through walls within a radius of about 2.1 miles, serving some 3,000 people. That’s the ratio Diamonds says is necessary to cover an urban population.
Doing the math, that means Palm Coast’s population of 100,000 needs 33 sites. It has nowhere near that number. Diamond built five since 2017, with two more in the pipeline.
The site must also comply with health guidelines to limit energy levels. There have been concerns about the radiofrequency waves cell towers emit. Diamond officials say they comply with guidelines from the Federal Communications Commission, with information from the American Cancer Society.
But the society position on RF waves isn’t conclusive: “At this time,” the society states, “there’s no strong evidence that exposure to RF waves from cell phone towers causes any noticeable health effects. However, this does not mean that the RF waves from cell phone towers have been proven to be absolutely safe. Most expert organizations agree that more research is needed to help clarify this, especially for any possible long-term effects.”
PeachesMcGee says
Put this blame where it needs to be, directly on the city commission. They are routinely against any type of technology upgrades. They have voted down towers and electric charging stations.
Soon, we’ll be in the dark ages. Just like Bunnell and Flagler county.
Marvin Clegg says
Actually, in touring the county several times through past years with both Verizon and ATT identical cellphones, as a test, Palm Coast was behind Bunnell in average coverage, and Palm Coast, earlier this year, had completely dead spots in highly developed commercial “downtown” areas with Verizon that surprised me, compared to the “dark age” areas of Bunnell and the unincorporated county, which had coverage that same day. I would suggest that the good citizens of Palm Coast are being short-changed by their utility companies, consultants, or staff that should be delivering far better service to an area with many people who may be less self-sufficient than some of the older-established areas of Flagler more accustomed to wildfires, hurricanes, etc.
I continue to push for a citizens’ committee, county-wide, to help commissioners see how Flagler County residents, as a WHOLE COMMUNITY, are being treated by the various utilities in storm prep, buildouts, coverage areas, etc. Those of us living further westward do appreciate the work county commissioners and staff have done with Charter and others, in the past year or so, towards putting federal dollars to work in order to bring broadband to agri-business areas of Flagler.
I also continue to point out that as 5G and other higher frequency wireless services grow, the number of closer-spaced towers needed will grow due to shorter range. This could actually be good to encourage shorter, less offensive/visible towers to be utilized. Existing buildings, poles, bridges, etc., could be the site of closer ‘cells’ rather than relying upon the tired approach of maxing out space on the few taller towers that exist now, resulting in uneven service areas with gaps that are dangerous from a public safety standpoint. Mayor Alfin is correct that we can’t rely upon home wifi to do the job of true community cell service, but that is exactly what the big cellular companies seem to be doing: shedding the load off onto the other companies selling you home internet service, while the cellular companies quite possibly oversell their product on an insufficient network. It is not as simple as blaming the NIMBIES (not in my back yard) — a fresh approach needs to be taken in recognition of changing technology and our leaders need to educate themselves in order to cut through the noise thrown at them by vested interests.
The Sour Kraut says
Everyone wants cell coverage, but nobody wants to see cell towers. We can’t have both.
Webbman says
The report showed palm coast needs a tower for every 3 square miles or 3000 users to have qualty service.
Businesses along I 95 will continue to miss out on people passing by our town.
No plan was provided to support all our new neighbors moving here in the next 5 years.
Sad.
palmcoaster says
The new plan presented by Diamond is to address developers to include towers on their plans…So new buyers will happily have their best cell service already included in their new communities built…That for us current residents resolve our problem as our connection here in Clubhouse Drive is just fine and the golfers playing across the street do not complain of any lack of reception and they are busy loving their play! No special exception to our residential zoning for any health risking nuisance 5G tower installation! Leave our residential zonings as we bought on it, residential. PSP city parcels are not for profiteering.
C’mon man says
They can put a tower in my backyard if it helps my service
DAve says
You want better cell service, fire the city commissioners and the county commissioners. If not, go ahead and live in the dark ages, because your cell service is not going to get any better. Some fyi: While the typical coverage radius of a cell tower is 1 to 3 miles and in dense urban environments, a cell tower usually reaches 0.25 miles to 1 mile before handing off a user’s connection to another nearby cell site. Plus an average cellular tower allows about 30 simultaneous users for voice calls and 60 for 4G data. 4G towers were designed to support approximately 6,500 devices per square mile, whereas 5G can support upwards of 1 million devices in the same area. So when your city or county blocks a new tower, well say goodby to a stable service platform.
BIG LOU says
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) admits no 5G safety studies have been conducted or funded by the agency or telecom industry, and that none are planned.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/5g-emf-radiofrequency-radiation-health-risks-exposure-humans-cola/
THERE ARE TWO NEW [30 days ago] 5G MASTS ERRECTED ON THE CELL TOWER @ THE 50 YD LINE BEHIND THE FPC HIGH SCHOOL. THIS A 47 FT HIGH POLE. GO LOOK FOR YOURSELVES AND DECIDE IF YOU WOULD WANT ONE OF YOUR LOVED ONES WITHIN 200 FT AFTER YOU READ THIS ARTICLE BY RF.KENNDY Jr’s ORGANIZATION CHILDRENS HEALTHDEFENSE.
“One of the procedural requirements of the 1996 FEDERAL TCA is that local governments must ask the applicant telecommunications company to prove that there’s a gap in call service and that the new installations that it’s applying for are the least intrusive means to fill that gap.” ………………….
Sharp Rise in Small Cells After 5G Rollout: A Concern for Microwave Syndrome and Ways to Prevent (theepochtimes.com)
Denali says
If you really believe anything that comes out of RFK Jrs. mouth or the Epoch Times, you are beyond salvation. The man is an affront to his family and humanity as well as being a compulsive liar. As for the ‘Times’; this article says it all: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/technology/epoch-times-influence-falun-gong.html
Bruno says
Instead of listening to what someone told you the FCC said, why don’t you go directly to http://www.FCC.gov and see for yourself?
Dan says
Big Lou definitely knows what he’s talking about. Are you a parent of a child at FPC? The FCC guidelines for microwave/radio frequency radiation haven’t been updated since 1996. They were a joke to begin with. No fully informed parent is going to go to bat for having A cell tower right on top of their kids heads at school all day long. I’ve talked to a few teachers and students at FPC… They don’t even know there’s a cell tower on school campus. I’ve read peer reviewed, published studies that prove detrimental biological effects from this technology. At the very least, we can do better than putting a tower on top of a school. I’ve done electromagnetic, frequency, mitigation work for almost 10 years. I’ve spoken with many physicians, neurologists and neurosurgeons included, and there are many who are seeing increases of effects from cell phone and cell tower radiation… Calcium deposits on the cranium, cerebral, spinal fluid leaks, An increase in gliomas like no one has ever seen before, and so much more. This tower on top of a high school has got to go
Stretchem says
So where’s the hold up? Is it Diamond, who has to build the towers at their expense but get to keep a bulk of the proceeds? Is it the city not providing the land to build the towers on? Is it the carriers not able to effectively get their bandwidth to the towers?
But no report is needed to know that Palm Coast is unequivocably one of the worst coverage areas in the country with a hundred thousand plus citizens.
Thank you Kluless for your fine leadership, and, what was it called? Fibernet? That prehistoric garbage you so vehemently promised will transform public telecommunications in Palm Coast to equally clueless voters. Stick to your Winblows programming.
Brad W says
The City has city-owned land available and sites are already designated per the Wireless Master Plan. There are two problems. One is carriers not wanting to lease space and erect their own towers. The second is residents opposing every tower going up. One is desperately needed in Palm Harbor. The golf course land is the site. Their is a tower in the works but residents there on Clubhouse Drive are pushing back on it.
Fibernet was way before Klufas. I agree that a City-wide fiber network is beneficial. I understood the concept but never agreed with the City being an Internet provider. It has paid for itself since it provides Internet services to City operations and the City sells service to the schools. With ATT and MetroNet fiber expansions it will continue to be just what it is now probably.
palmcoaster says
Brad W , former city employee on record, if you want a 5G cell tower ignoring the near future effects in your children health’s be our guess and request one in Matanzas Woods by former Matanzas Golf Course and lets see the support of all your neighbors for that! Our reception in and around the PH Golf Course is fine and in case you forgot we already won the battle against the first one planned there : https://flaglerlive.com/palm-harbor-cell-tower-killed/ and we are fighting the same way the second location, halted until now, just in case you forgot! This tower not to serve us but others along Colbert Lane. They and you need your own!
Denali says
Why is it I can drive from Anchorage, AK to Fairbanks; 300 miles through the Alaska Range and not drop a call but I drive down Belle Terre and when I get to Palm Coast Parkway I most always lose coverage? Can you hear me now? ? ?
Guitar hero says
No doubt! When I moved from Alaska, having had no issues with wireless coverage or poor data transmissions anywhere in the state, including miles above the Arctic Circle, in prudohe Bay, And all through Denali national Park, to Citrus county FL ..
Where I have had a constant, daily battle with poor wireless coverage, and data transmission dead spots, spanning large popular areas.😳And that’s having tried all three major carriers, using the latest iPhone on their top-tier plan! Which would be frustrating on its own, but, considering that I work as a gig delivery driver from my phone.. it’s caused daily added stress, missed delivery opportunities, Missed communications from clients, negatively affecting my metrics with the gig companies, as well My daily revenue/income..!Thanks for the place to vent about it. Lol
Oh, and I can also add that I’ve lived in four other states in the union as well. Where there was also no issues that were out of the ordinary..
TR says
IMO, some technology is ruining this country. People are so obsessed about doing everything on their phones anywhere in this country that they forgot how to communicate and interact with each other. I for one use my phone as a phone by calling someone, receive a call from someone and sometimes text. The rest of my tech skills are done at home with emails and searching things on the computer. (oh yea making comments on here, LOL) Maybe if technology wouldn’t have to do what people should be doing on their own, cars wouldn’t cost so much and people would pay more attention on driving them, people under 25 years old would know how to give back change at the store, Look up things in a book to do a report just to name a few things.
Skibum says
While you make a valid point about the over-reliance on technology for many people, particularly younger ones, please remember that cell phone access isn’t just a luxury or for the millions of teens who want to connect to their social media while on the move. It is reliable access wherever you go that connects you to 911 so first responders can get to you quickly in an emergency. It is that same access that allows drivers to see where there is traffic congestion and accidents so they can reroute their travels to avoid problems, and to know the current status and direction of storms nearby. Not everyone has in-car navigation that will tell drivers these things, and even some who do prefer to rely on Google or Siri on their phones instead of the car’s built-in and paid subscription nav services. So don’t ignore the many necessary functions that cell phones provide… that is IF you can connect and get a signal, because nothing works if you are in one of the many cell phone dead signal areas around Palm Coast.
The Truth says
The cell phone coverage in this City is pathetic, plain and simple. Our leaders (looking at you Klufas) who spoke about this time and time again claiming they want to work hard to improve this have done absolutely nothing. I have no clue what we are paying Diamond Communications for as they’ve provided nearly zero improvements since 2017. I would actually go as far as saying things are only getting worse. Regardless of your provider, there are dead spots all around this city. As we continue to grow, this gets worse and worse as our limited number of towers cannot handle the capacity of the increased number of users.
Perhaps our city leaders can take this more seriously and do something about this before worrying about approving more developments.
TheMarklar says
Doesn’t help if Diamond builds towers then the carrier does not put anything on them. As far as I know T-Mobile had an opportunity to use the tower by Heroes Memorial Park but did not want to dish out the $$$. Maybe I am wrong but I seem to remember that being the case. Anybody can confirm or deny?
Celia M Pugliese says
Totally agree with BIG LOU. All Along Colbert Lane I understand they have bad reception but us here along Clubhouse Drive with a good reliable carrier like Verizon (not el cheapo) and others as good, we are fine. Then why Mr. Klufas wants to approve a tower in #7 Clubhouse drive to serve G Heaven and Palm Coast Plantation? Just install one in your G. Heaven to serve you all or anywhere along the edges of Graham Swamp in Colbert Lane and do not try to stick it to us in #7 Clubhouse Drive in a residential zone that requires an especial exception to zoning and surrounded of residents with children and elderly to be exposed to damaging radio waves. Our attorney fought the first location successfully at 150 ft from BIG LOU’s house in Covington Park inside the Palm Harbor Golf Course in 2021 and to serve Colbert Lane, please read the link inside the editorial of our Attorney Brent Spain letter to Holland in 2021.: https://flaglerlive.com/palm-harbor-cell-tower-killed/#gsc.tab=0 Get one 5G 150 ft tower of your own in your GH or PC Plantation area. IIf Grand Heaven resident councilman Klufas resident needs one have it there if all your members agree. Mr, Klufas also you want to preserve Colbert lane from commercial development given the high value of homes there, as shown in the September 5 meeting contesting Pointieri’s defense of commercial sites and also vote 5G Towers sticking them elsewhere to serve you? Plan one by you and see how happily your neighbors will receive the plan please, so your lack of reception will be solved! These 5G towers will be obsolete soon with the new Earthlink satellite technology and they will leave those inactivated towers no longer used as an eyesore thumb sticking around us…like the old ATT phone service boxes along Clubhouse Drive and the whole city no longer used and not taken away. The health risk to our residents with these 5G towers too close to our homes is an undeniable fact still in discussion by the powers that be given greed. Just like the long time and all the lives that took cigarette nicotine , asbestos, DDT and gas and AVGAS lead now recognized by FDA and other agencies. Nor City or any other entity like the microscopic local Regional Chamber of Commerce supporting the incorrect location of these towers when too close to homes, will be exempted of the liability imposed if these towers installed at an unsafe distance from residents. Why our Palm Coast city officials entertain this issue without proper intention and wording in their original wireless to keep this towers away from our homes at safe distance? Other cities are fighting to safeguard residents health from 5G why not Palm Coast?: https://ehtrust.org/usa-city-ordinances-to-limit-and-control-wireless-facilities-small-cells-in-rights-of-ways/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/5g-towers-dewey-beach/2021/07/11/455e3866-e0f4-11eb-9f54-7eee10b5fcd2_story.html .
Scott Masteller says
While we are talking about poor communications here in Palm Coast, what about over the air TV broadcasting? We are too far from Jacksonville or Orlando to get reliable digital service. Thus we are at the mercy of AT&T or Spectrum for local news and weather. Seems to me that Palm Coast could invest in a repeater broadcast station that would allow us to use roof mounted digital antennas thus enabling us to cut the cable. I would not object to paying a monthly fee to the city for such service.
Bri says
Who cares I have a landline that works great and a cell phone that works fine. I don’t know what everyone’s complaining about. Maybe they just all should move from Palm Coast. If they want big city with towers and cell phone service move to Jacksonville
Celia Pugliese says
Bri you are right on point…Same with us TV, Wifi and cell phone reception is fine. Then why they intend to sick a 150 ft tower 150 feet from our homes? Yeap to serve afluent gated communities off Colbert Lane…then install it there instead. Your suggestiong of those complainning of bad reception and wanting towers is excellent!
Danm says
Diamond needs to be investigated.
Denali says
For what? Oh, I know – for the same reason that Biden should be impeached. “We will know why when we uncover something” K. McCarthy, Sept 11, 2023.
Ed says
Kevin took a page out of Nancy Pelosi’s play book when she was referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“We have to pass the bill, so that you can find out what’s in it-away from the fog of the controversy.”(March 8 2010)
We all know how well that went.
Bruno says
What’s your beef with the ACA?
Banning pre-existing conditions from being excluded? Moving the insurable age for kids using their parents’ insurance from 18 to 26? Letting all poor people use Medicaid instead of only poor parents? The discounts on premiums for everyone making less than $59,000 a year?
I guess if you’re a health insurance salesman, I can see the downsides, less people to prey on.
Bruno says
What experts are you referring to?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6765906/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9806221/
It seems pretty conclusive that 5G isn’t a mind-control scheme, nor does it cause cancer.
The only confusion is people don’t know the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Or they see/hear the word “radiation” and they freak out.
JB says
Verizon has added 2 new tower sites and 2 new small cell sites in the city recently. The one at FPC just went live on the 15th. The other large site isn’t live yet and it’s next to Heroes Park. There’s a small cell pole in front of the Verizon store by Kohls that is now live. There will be a lot better service for Verizon in that area once the big tower site goes live. The problem is that Palm Coast charges $3,500 to the carriers any time upgrades or site work is done to any cell site in the city. Also if the carriers want to install towers, the old Karens come out of the woodwork and protest against them. They raised a big stink about the new small cell poles in Flagler Beach which Verizon won that battle but it took forever. We need better cell service. City officials need to stop making it so hard for the carriers to setup towers. Verizon wanted to put a small cell pole in front of Walmart at the intersection of Cypress Point and Cypress Edge but the city made it difficult to get approval so Verizon canceled the plan. We have Metronet digging up the whole city and that seems to be ok but no one wants to put up cell towers. It’s 2023 put the towers up. Stop taking years to get the process done. AT&T was supposed to put a new tower at the maintenance facility on Clubhouse Drive. That got shot down. AT&T was supposed to put a new tower at the Palm Coast Community Pool behind the school and it got shot down.