"You can drive about anywhere in New Hampshire and find dead spots where you drop calls," he told the Science, Technology and Energy Committee. "Many communities have spotty service. It's inconsistent. This exists in Cheshire County. This exists in the North Country."
The legislation, which has passed the N.H. Senate, would allow a municipality or service provider to apply to the state for matching grant funds to improve cellphone service.
Such improvements are needed by public safety, health care, education and business, the Democratic senator said.
Telecommunication companies would use the grant money to build cell towers to reduce the number of areas where service is lacking, such as in the Cheshire County town of Nelson, where calls tend to drop when one leaves Highway 9, Kahn said.
Also in the county, there are towns where law enforcement officers have trouble reaching people after they make 911 calls, he said.
Potential residents consider cellphone coverage before moving to an area.
"A Realtor told me they had someone interested in buying a property but decided not to after they pulled out a cellphone and couldn't complete a call," Kahn said. "In our efforts constantly to attract people to New Hampshire, one of the drawbacks is comparatively poor cell coverage."
Senate Bill 395 would expand an existing broadband grant program administered through the N.H. Department of Business and Economic Affairs, which has access to $220 million in federal infrastructure and COVID-19 relief money.
The N.H. Municipal Association supports the bill, which passed the Senate on a voice vote on Feb. 3. It requires House passage and the governor's signature before going into effect.
"Throughout our state are cellular deserts where service is lacking — and not just in rural areas," the association said in a newsletter. "In a time when 85 percent of Americans own a cell phone and 70 percent of 911 emergency calls are made using a cell phone, wireless coverage is a priority."
Owen Smith, president of AT&T Northeast, said the bill could help with the goal of ensuring wireless connectivity statewide.
He said that since 2016, wireless data traffic has increased by 207 percent.
About half the population of New Hampshire are in households that don't have a landline and depend solely on wireless communications.
Grants to promote wireless infrastructure could be awarded through a competitive procedure that would include a challenge process with a question-and-answer dialogue, he said.
He explained why this financial assistance is important.
"There are areas, and maybe Nelson is one of them, where the return on investment is not there and AT&T is going to put a very low priority on that versus getting more capacity in Manchester or Boston," Smith said.
Teresa Rosenberger, a representative of US Cellular, said in brief written testimony that her company is supportive of the legislation in concept.
© 2022 The Keene Sentinel (Keene, N.H.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
