Verizon service activated on Oak Ridge tower

Improvements are targeted for the N.C. 68/150 corridor; some customers said their service is still poor by CHRIS BURRITT

OAK RIDGE – Verizon said last week its cell phone service has gone live on the new communications tower at Oak Ridge Military Academy. Even so, some customers said their service hasn’t improved.

Phillip Moore lives a mile from the tower, but said he noticed “no difference” in his service. “I guess you have to be in the shopping center to use it,” he wrote in a post on the Northwest Observer’s Facebook page last week.

On the other hand, some customers were excited by a noticeable improvement in service.

“Yesssss,” Shelby Kline posted on Facebook. “I was in Oak Ridge Commons yesterday, and my phone with Verizon service was able to actually send a text message from the parking lot.”

The examples of continued poor and improved service reflect the boundaries of the signal from the cell phone tower, according to Verizon spokesman Andrew Testa. It’s aimed at the commercial district around N.C. 68 and 150 and nearby residential areas around Case Ridge Road, Marion Gibson Way and Zack Road, Testa wrote in an email earlier this week.

The site provides Verizon’s 4G LTE and 5G Ultra Wideband service, its fastest and highest-capacity 5G service, he said. He urged customers to make sure their phones are updated ...continued on p. 22