Daily Reporter Staff

Law enforcement officials, like many individuals today, depend on cell phones to keep in contact with others. But if this form of communication is not supported adequately by cell phone towers and other related-infrastructure, which occurs in some rural areas yet today, individuals may find themselves placed at a disadvantage.

"With technology, the cell phone has evolved into the item it is now, which is pretty hard to work without due to people having accessibility -- especially in this day and age, when fuel is a high premium," Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow said. "It used to be if you (a law enforcement officer) received a phone call, you'd have to drive back into the office or stop by and use somebody's phone to return a phone call. But now when (cell-phone toting) deputies get a request for something, they can call in where they're at, thus saving a lot of time and miles."

But a recent vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to cap the Universal Service Fund (USF) has temporarily frozen federal support for rural wireless development. The USF fund, which was created by Congress in 1996 as part of an overhaul of the nation's communications legislation, has an eye toward making sure all Americans have equal telecom access. It's designed specifically to provide service in "rural and high-cost" areas.

But the FCC placed a temporary hold on the subsidy program that paid out nearly $1.2 billion to cell phone companies, funding earmarked for the building of new rural towers and other infrastructure.

Connecting Rural America (CRA), a self-described grassroots coalition of advocacy groups with the goal of "protecting and expanding funding for rural wireless infrastructure development," is supported by wireless service carrier U.S. Cellular. Krukow, whose department has a contract with U.S. Cellular for cell phone coverage, is among those who signed onto the group's Web site seeking assistance. In response to his submission, the Clay County sheriff recently received a letter from John Rooney, the president and CEO of U.S. Cellular.

Rooney's letter, in part, states: "That the FCC made this decision, despite the work of our Connecting Rural America coalition and months of vocal opposition from thousands of Americans like you, is deeply disappointing. In 2007, more than 4,000 residents filed comments with the FCC, and more than 3,000 people contacted their members of Congress to oppose a cap on wireless infrastructure development. We are concerned that the FCC simply doesn't understand the need for additional and improved wireless coverage in rural America."

Rooney's letter further warns, "Unfortunately, the FCC is now considering proposals that would further compromise federal support for wireless development. Any move made by the FCC at this stage will also threaten public safety and business development resources in rural areas across the country. The proposals currently under consideration by the FCC involve complex regulatory issues. However, the bottom line is this: The proposal most likely to be adopted would cut funding to wireless carriers by 50 percent. This will result in the cancellation or delay of thousands of new cell towers that wireless carriers would build in rural America with federal USF support. For U.S. Cellular alone, literally hundreds of new cell sites across the country would be cancelled or delayed. And cutting the fund in half would save consumers just 17 cents a month -- about the cost of a teacup of gasoline."

Krukow, meanwhile, who acknowledged cell phones were used by the department's deputies before he was named sheriff in 2001, also indicated he had cell phones placed in Spencer Police Department vehicles when he served as interim chief in 1998. While cell phone coverage has gotten better in some rural parts of the state, he suggested "there's a lot of area in Iowa where you have a lot of hills and whatnot where that coverage is not good yet."

"Now, we have gotten a lot better here in Clay County with the number of cell towers," the sheriff continued. "But now that they've (the FCC) capped that, there are a lot of areas in the country, I've talked with other sheriffs where they still have problems. So, it really comes down to public safety. ... It's so crucial to have communication out here. And now, with the technology that we have in the communications center, where there's GPS in cell phones, let's say you were driving out in the country and had an accident and there wasn't enough cell phone coverage out there, you can call 9-1-1 and if it was at night or you were in an area you were not familiar with, you could reach us by 9-1-1 possibly -- but we couldn't triangulate to find you. Last year there was an incident where we had a farm accident out in the county and had it not been for the tower coverage we had in that particular area, we could not have located the victim or the caller. ... We were very fortunate because there are areas where we don't have that coverage."

"With the FCC's capping these towers for now, I hope it won't be a permanent thing or where it cripples the industry for our rural areas," Krukow added. "...I just hope overall it doesn't hurt public safety."

The FCC, meanwhile, is considering proposals for "long-term reform," which could result in a 50 percent cut in existing USF funding dedicated to building new cell towers.