5G service may be coming to Algonac

Jackie Smith
Times Herald

Access to 5G wireless may be on its way to mobile customers of at least one network provider in Algonac, with a new deal enabling the company to install the necessary infrastructure.

Algonac City Council members authorized an agreement with New Cingular PCS LLC, a subsidiary of AT&T, earlier this month that would allow the provider to attach wireless installations on public structures. Despite officials signing off on the idea, however, AT&T would still have to get additional approval with each installation.

“The agreement permits them a non-exclusive lease to attach wireless installations on public structures in Algonac. Each location will require a permit and a site plan,” City Manager Denice Gerstenberg said in an email on Thursday.

Denice Gerstenberg, Algonac city manager, began the job in 2017 and lives in neighboring Clay Township.

Gerstenberg said Cingular Wireless approached the city about the arrangement, and if officials didn’t like a proposed location under the agreement, that permit could be rejected.

As of this week, no materials for any site plan or permit had been submitted.

In a memo to council members Sept. 17, Gerstenberg wrote part of the permit process includes a state license agreement for the city to approve. The city would receive $20 annually for a location on an existing pole and $125 annually for a new pole in addition to a permit application fee.

It’s a three-year agreement that renews automatically unless terminated in writing.

Gerstenberg also noted benefits of 5G in her memo, including efficient connectivity for consumers and business, adding, “Super-connected autonomous cars, smart communities, immersive education — they all will rely on 5G. 5G is set to be as much as 100 times faster than 4G.”

In a statement, Algonac Mayor Terry Stoneburner called 5G networks an investment in the future — something that was “just starting to take off.”

“It also is expected to be more reliable,” she said. “I know many people in our area that have experienced connection challenges, especially along the St. Clair River and near Algonac State Park. In addition, with more and more people working out of their home offices, faster and more reliable service could mean new business opportunities for our community.”

Terry Stoneburner

5G coming anywhere else?

Some officials in other St. Clair County communities weren’t sure if major wireless companies were installing in the area. Port Huron City Manager James Freed noted networks may be upgrading equipment on existing infrastructure and wouldn’t always need to come to local boards or councils for access to public structures.

According to Consumers Report this week, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon were expanding their 5G networks for cellular customers, although the latter was the only to reportedly include a service launch in Michigan.

Regional Verizon spokesman David Weissman said late Thursday the network has 5G services live in 13 cities and announced it was coming to 30 by the end of 2019. Although not all of those cities have been named, he said they’re focusing initially on urban or “high-pedestrian areas.”

In Michigan elsewhere, he said Verizon is continuing to invest in small-cell technology — calling back to the “wireless network of old” with cell towers every several miles. As more people used 4G devices, he said it’s helped eliminate congestion. But he added, “It’s also a necessary element of 5G.”

Weissman said Verizon also regularly works with local governments, whether it’s 4G or 5G.

Verizon signals, particularly, had been a source of regular headaches for cellular users up and down the St. Clair County waterfront over the last few years after the carrier originally complied with a federal order to turn its cell strength down because of interaction with Canadian towers. Officials have since said the company was able to turn signal strength back up after working with Canadian carriers.

After all the confusion with mobile connectivity, St. Clair County Commissioner Bill Gratopp, who spearheaded much of the response to Verizon concerns and lives in Algonac, said the potentiality for 5G was "absolutely fantastic."

Messages to media representatives with AT&T, as well as Sprint and T-Mobile weren’t immediately returned by Friday morning.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.