PACIFIC COUNTY – In recent months cellular phone companies such as Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular have honed in on the Long Beach Peninsula and other areas of south Pacific County as possible areas to install a variety of cellular structures.

Currently, U.S. Cellular has proposed to construct “a cellular facility including a 250-foot self-supported lattice tower, antennas, and equipment on a ridge top” at 4404 East 67th Place in Long Beach.

In the last 90 days alone, Cellco Partnership, LLC (doing business as Verizon Wireless) has proposed placement of 80- to 250-foot towers at several sites: 4109 SR 101 in Ilwaco, E-Line Road at mile post 30.5 on Highway 101 in Naselle, 18110 Highway 103 in Long Beach, and Highway 101 near mile marker 18 in Long Beach. On Aug. 29, they proposed placement of a tower at 2209 Cranberry Road in Long Beach and near 227th Place, west of Birch Place in Long Beach.

Most cell towers cost between $75,000 and $200,000 to build, with the average being about $100,000, according to Steel in the Air, a consulting firm.

According to Paul Bean of Tetra Tech, Inc., a contractor for Verizon, radio frequency engineers typically test areas to find where a company’s coverage is weak.

“Data competition is the main reason for an influx in towers,” Bean explains. “One phone company will feature phones with music downloads, another features photos… All of this creates technology changes, which means they have to install different types of antennas. [Cell phone companies] don’t have a whole lot of cell coverage [on the Peninsula] and they want to meet their consumers’ needs. The company cannot sell their phones if they don’t provide coverage in that area.”

“We also want to create public awareness,” Bean continues. “We are really trying to focus on if there are historic properties in the area that Verizon needs to be aware of and make sure we don’t impose on any of them.”

Archaeologist Lorna Billat of EarthTouch Inc., an environmental management and consulting company hired by U.S. Cellular, says rural areas are typically a popular choice for cell tower placement, often by request of customers.

Mobiledia, a cellular phone resource Web site, shows that the closest reception towers for any Peninsula or bay resident are two in Ilwaco – one just west of Highway 101 near Black Lake and another on the north side of North Head Road, shortly before the connection with Willows Road. Beyond that, many cell phones likely rely on towers in Astoria, Warrenton, South Bend, Raymond, north of the Nemah junction or a tower north of Naselle.

Contacts for Verizon representatives were requested at the time of interview, but were not provided.

U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless request that citizens comment on how the proposed structures may affect the area’s historical aspects. Comments for U.S. Cellular can be sent to EarthTouch, Inc. attn: H. Lumpp, 3135 N. Fairfield Rd., Layton, UT 84041. Comments for Verizon Wireless may be sent to Tetra Tech, Inc. c/o Paul Bean, 19803 North Creek Parkway, Bothell, WA 98011.