More Capital Region communities worry about lack of decent cell coverage

Since 13 Investigates reported on Tuesday about a group of neighbors in Stony Creek, Warren County who said a bad cell signal puts their lives in jeopardy, people from several places have reached out to us with similar issues. That includes people in Vermont, Rensselaer County, Colonie and Stillwater.

Tom Rinaldi, the emergency manager in Stillwater, said he’s been watching providers let landline infrastructure break down – without putting reliable cell coverage in its place.

Rinaldi has worked at the Stillwater Fire District for 55 years. He says cell signal is a constant issue for people living in parts of Saratoga County, and landlines aren’t cutting it, because Verizon isn’t maintaining the copper infrastructure.

This comes in the wake of the death of Kaylin Gillis. She was shot and killed in April. Her friends could not immediately get a signal to call for help, said investigators.

State Senator Dan Stec has been pushing for better signal since before Gillis died. He told NewsChannel 13 we’re now dependent on cell phones, which is a problem when there’s no coverage.

After our interview, Stec’s office sent constituents a survey about coverage in their communities.

Meantime, Rinaldi says it’s very difficult to get a message to anyone with the providers, so they can actually fix the issue.

NewsChannel 13 reached out to Verizon on Wednesday afternoon. They said they would send a response as soon as possible.