PSC pushes for FCC investigation of cell phone coverage

Over the past few months, your Mississippi Public Service Commission traveled to every corner of the state, including areas of Lauderdale County such as Collinsville, Toomsuba, Wolf Springs, Daleville, Marion, Meridian, among others, to locate areas of poor cell phone coverage and slow internet data speeds. The results in too many parts of Lauderdale County showed us that there is a lot of room for improvement.

The purpose of these tests was to challenge coverage maps that were submitted by a number of cell phone companies to the Federal Communications Commission. On a tight timeline and an aggressive travel schedule, the PSC submitted nearly 30,000 challenges based on our testing around the state.

Our mission is to prove that the maps are inaccurate. If we are successful, this could mean millions of federal dollars to either build new cell towers or upgrade existing towers to help fill the coverage gaps.

With the challenges submitted by Mississippi and other states, the FCC received nearly 31 million challenges saying the coverage maps are wrong. Because of this overwhelming evidence, your PSC was successful in getting the FCC to open an investigation into the validity of the maps.

This could be a game changer for Mississippi in terms of economic development, public safety, and the simple convenience of talking with your family and friends. We will keep you updated on this because service is our middle name!

Ryan Brown

Deputy commissioner at the Mississippi Public Service Commission. He can be contacted at ryan.brown@psc.state.ms.us or 601-961-5430.