Congresswoman reiterates call for improving cell phone service in rural regions
TUCSON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is welcoming a border communications summit that Arizona’s Government Information Technology Agency is holding today in Naco.
The summit comes two months after Giffords urged two communications companies to improve border-area cell phone service.
“The lack of reliable cell phone service is a persistent and critical problem in significant portions of Cochise County,” said Giffords. “It’s a problem that must be addressed and my hope is that the summit will help in that effort.”
Southeastern Arizona ranchers have told the congresswoman that poor cell phone coverage contributed to a delay in the search for Rob Krentz once he was reported missing and in the coordination of an immediate hunt for his killer, who was able to escape into Mexico. They have also said that they are frequently unable to reach law enforcement agencies to report drug smuggling and other illegal activity that plagues the area.
Krentz was murdered on March 27 as he checked water lines and fencing on land that his family has ranched for more than a century.
Giffords herself experienced the frustration of poor cell phone service on March 31, as she traveled to Apache, Ariz., for a community meeting with Krentz’s friends and neighbors. The congresswoman wanted to speak with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano before the meeting but was unable to do so.
The concerns of her constituents prompted Giffords to send letters to the heads of Verizon Wireless and AT&T on April 9. She asked for their “immediate assistance to fill this dangerous communications gap.”
“These companies have the technology to make life safer for Arizonans in this rural part of the state,” Giffords said at the time.
According to Arizona’s Government Information Technology Agency, the summit is aimed at assisting rural residents “in understanding their options when it comes to reliable cellular/radio communications.”
Giffords’ district director and the constituent services staff person from her Sierra Vista Office will represent the congresswoman at the summit.