PURCELLVILLE, Va. June 4, 2018 — Over the last few days, residents and businesses may have experienced interruptions with cellular service in Town. After a weekend of storm activity, which significantly impacted progress, efforts are continuing today to relocate the cellular antennas from the Maple Avenue Water Tower to the temporary on-site tower. The relocation of the cellular antennas is necessary prior to beginning the renovation and painting of the interior and exterior of the water tower. This elevated tank provides 200,000 gallons of storage to meet the water demands of the community. In addition to the work being completed, an antenna corral is being installed. This corral will enable future repairs and maintenance to be completed without having to relocate the antennas.
It is important to note, each of the carriers utilize their own contractors to complete this antenna relocation process.
Staff has been in contact with AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile for status updates. Specifically:
- AT&T expects to have their relocation completed this afternoon.
- A representative from Verizon Wireless indicated that any recent interruptions experienced with their service was due to a fiber connection issue at the cell tower site and was not associated with the relocation of the antennas. We understand that this will be repaired prior to their antenna relocation.
- Work begins today for Verizon Wireless. They expect an expedient final cut-over of their service on either Thursday, June 7 or Friday, June 8 with a potential interruption to service from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
- T-Mobile is currently scheduled to begin their changeover process Friday, June 8. They have indicated that their service will never be completely down during this process as they will adjust service sector by sector.
- The carriers to not expect any degradation of service while located on the temporary tower.
- The relocation schedule may change in the event of unforeseen circumstances or inclement weather.
- The Town has requested that the carriers reach out to their customers to provide information with regard to potential outages.
If possible, please report any service issues directly to your carrier, via:
- AT&T: AT&T Wireless Contact Info
- Verizon: Twitter at @VZWSupport, Facebook Messenger at www.facebook.com/Verizon; Verizon Support Services
- T-Mobile: T-Mobile Contact Info
