EXCLUSIVE: Lakewood Township officials meet with Verizon executives as service issues continue to plague the Town, including emergency services [VIDEO & PHOTOS]

After numerous reports on TLS and a significant uptick in customer complaints about Verizon service in the Lakewood vicinity,

Lakewood Mayor Ray Coles, Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein, Township Manager Patrick Donnelly and the director of Lakewood Police IT Department held a meeting with Verizon representatives to discuss the ongoing issues and efforts being made by the company to resolve them.

The company representatives were very apologetic, saying that they are aware of the situation and understand how difficult and frustrating it is to have cellphone service that does not work properly. 

The Verizon reps said that they recently identified two instances of external forces interfering with Verizon communications.

In the first case, a local resident had bought and installed a repeater, also known as an extender, and then installed it improperly. Whereas a properly installed repeater would amplify a network’s coverage in a specific area, due to the way it was installed, the device was simply garbling the radio waves and creating “noise” which was blocking Verizon’s towers from properly “hearing” data and call information being sent to them. Additionally, due to the improper installation of the repeater, the home in which the extender was placed was actually unsafe for its inhabitants. Verizon sent technicians to speak with the homeowner to correct the problem. 

In a second instance, a local religious institution was using communication devices during services which also sent out garbled messages which interfered with Verizon’s. Engineers from Verizon were dispatched to speak with the leaders of the religious institution to explain the problem and to teach them how to keep the problem from continuing. 

The Verizon representatives went on to explain how Lakewood’s high concentration of 3G phone users is severely impacting network coverage in the area. As Verizon’s network continues to morph from a majority of users being on 3G phones to customers being on 4G phones, the infrastructure for 3G phones is simply unable to accommodate the high numbers of 3G users. Because the infrastructure is no longer made to service 3G phones, the entire network lags. 

The Verizon representatives said that recent campaigns they held lowered the number of 3G phone users by about 1,000, but that there remains an additional 3,700 people continuing to use 3G. The Township officials and Verizon reps then discussed future campaigns to switch more people to 4G, and how best to implement such a campaign. 

LPD’s IT director, Dan Brower, told the Verizon officials that as of late July, police officers were having difficulty communicating with each other, a problem that the representatives said was extremely concerning and troubling to them. They said that Verizon was in the process of setting up a recently installed tower and is also working on installing a second new tower as well. These fixes, they say, should resolve almost all of the ongoing issues by lowering the information load each tower has to bear, but that this process can take a little time to get those towers working to their full capacities. They explained that after installing a new tower, engineers need to analyze from which direction most communications are coming from and then set the tower’s antennas accordingly. 

Committeeman Lichtenstein told the Verizon reps that they will work with any cellphone company to ensure that the police department and local residents can make use of their cellphones, and pointed out that, so far, Verizon was the only company to have met with Township officials. 

In concluding the almost 2-hour meeting, Mayor Coles, Committeeman Lichtenstein, Mr. Brower, and the Verizon officials agreed to stay in contact with regards to the upgrades the company is making in Lakewood and to discuss any further issues with Verizon service in Lakewood.  

       

This content, and any other content on TLS, may not be republished or reproduced without prior permission from TLS. Copying or reproducing our content is both against the law and against Halacha. To inquire about using our content, including videos or photos, email us at [email protected].

Stay up to date with our news alerts by following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

**Click here to join over 20,000 receiving our Whatsapp Status updates!**

**Click here to join the official TLS WhatsApp Community!**

Got a news tip? Email us at [email protected], Text 415-857-2667, or WhatsApp 609-661-8668.

27 COMMENTS

    • I will only switch if I could get a qwerty keyboard. The 4G phones that are available now are too difficult for arthritic fingers to press and takes too long to text a message.
      A big thank you to Mayor Coles for staying on top of the situation!

  1. The close by to Lakewood company Verizon store in Howell should warn customers about issues in Lakewood. instead they play dumb, sell a phone & service only to have it terminated within the allowable 14 days. a waste of both parties time! if this happens to anyone contact the “ win back dept. “ at AT&T if u left and you will be offered a super deal to return.

  2. I will only switch if I could get a qwerty keyboard. The 4G phones that are available now are too difficult for arthritic fingers to press and takes too long to text a message.
    A big thank you to Mayor Coles for staying on top of the situation!

  3. I find it hard to believe that a small repeater that can be bought in any store can adversely affect a highly sophisticated cell phone tower. And if that is indeed true that in itself is a problem.
    I haven’t had 3-g service in 7 years I only have 4G service I pay for 4G service so why don’t I have good service. this excuse only answers why 3-g users don’t have good service I believe most people complaining all have 4G service

  4. This entire report sounds like a pr show where Verizon spent everyone’s time espousing lousy excuses in lenghthy detail, all the while hoping that everyone will buy this as a semi valid excuse. Firstly there isn’t any excuses for a service so premium in price and costly as theirs. Secondly how on Earth can you buy that 2 private transponders,/repeaters were the culprit for an entire town (city) of bad service. Like really??!? C’mon how could u propogate that to an entire population and expect us to buy this Hook line and sinker. It’s simply an absurd reason to explain a years worth of bad service for an area a few square miles large. And my 520 dollar bill is due tommorow. Dishonesty and foot dragging is all we see. Two decade of marketing designed to have us believe their service is the gold standard in the industry has worked so well that despite their inferior product we continue to stay with them feeling and hoping the Cadillac will run again one day. We all need to get to our senses and switch out. They aren’t the best and they aren’t changing any time soon. Let’s all say to good marketing: fool me once fool me twice, but the buck will stop here. Thank you.

  5. Thank you to the Lakewood township!!

    In regards to VERIZON
    This is ‘top management’ and they are still telling baby stories and lies!!!!
    It’s unbeleivable !!!!

  6. I FORGET TO MENTION

    The real problem

    is Lakewood has so many 1-5 year olds that have old toy fone that are blocking the waves and destroying the verizon service in Lakewood!!!!!

  7. It’s important for Verizon to know that the reason people here are staying with their 3g phones isn’t soley because their need is limited to talk and text with no need for data. Rather a more accurate understanding is that that the strict kosher consumer recognizes that that there is a inherent problem with the current 4g devices as it stands. Strict kosher consumers vehemently oppose having a browser available on their phones. Although there have been some fine efforts to have the browser access restricted for these consumer, it still will remain a phone that can revert back to browser use should the fix be removed. Therefore, the true solution will come about when the manufacturer will produce a phone that is in every technical way limited to talk and text only, and not by means of any good working proxy-admistrator but rather as a default factory product. This will also add a great deal of relief to parents, school administration, teachers, and rabbis as well. Ultimately, a product as such will add true ease to cell phone users across the entire spectrum of the Jewish religious, God fearing population.
    This concept isn’t novel and is likely easy for a manufacturer to build, should the need be recognized and understood.
    I don’t stand alone in this quest and yearning but with many tens of thousands of like-minded religious individuals and others.
    If Verizon or any company can provide a device as such, they will truly be recognized as a company services the needs of it’s consumers. Much like general electric that has a full line of shabbos and Yom tov appliances and Coke that produces a Passover run of soda. They do it because they want to be a provider of what people need and Verizon can do the same.
    So as a recap the need is for a 4g device that is manufactured as a truly talk and text device with no other capabilities possible.
    I will add that the first company to truly provide such a product will earn the favor of a tromendous segment of the population, even more than they now believe. It’s good business too.
    So hey, take the challenge and create it, we know your listening!

  8. Aging infrastructure trying to support an oversaturated environment. Either Verizon goes backwards in their technology roadmap or the populus upgrades to current 4G equipment. Concerned in having to use a “smartphone”? Employ self control.

    • In theory you are right, “employ self control”, though in practice we are accustomed to add additional safeguards.
      It’s noteworthy that your name is “on the fence”, may I suggest you may be a candidate for extra safeguards.

      Additionally we don’t make up the rules and guidelines that guide us, rather we have senior sages that guide, and their direction we heed.

  9. In theory you are right, “employ self control”, though in practice we are accustomed to add additional safeguards.
    It’s noteworthy that your name is “on the fence”, may I suggest you may be a candidate for extra safeguards.

    Additionally we don’t make up the rules and guidelines that guide us, rather we have senior sages that guide, and their direction we heed.

  10. Ironic.

    If anyone should know about old infrastructures not being able to keep up with a growing population and not caring….it’s the township committee.

  11. its incredible that majority of verizon users have a problem because of 3700 3g users. Verizon should force them to upgrade and if the 3g users don’t want, let them get tags special phone with the service they offer.

  12. Wow, I remember when we rallied the residents to fight the installation of cell towers all over Lakewood for health concerns. To see the current 180, where we just can’t manage without our phones and we are begging the executives to install towers in our city is just so scary. Like the saying goes, be careful what you ask for you wish may be granted.

Comments are closed.