Joel Hawksley / For The Post / jh295407@ohiou.edu

Employees Jacob Randall and Grant Pelligra assist customer Michelle Corrigan at the new Verizon Store on Court St.

The Verizon Wireless Network has come to Athens, but the answers to the question “Can you hear me now?” still vary.

The company launched service for 46 cellular towers in the month of July, said Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Laura Merritt. 

The towers will cover all of Athens County and parts of Jackson, Vinton, and Meigs Counties.

Two Verizon retailers have also recently opened. While the stores are not owned by Verizon Wireless, they sell Verizon phones and contracts.  

One store is located on North Court Street. It is owned by Cellular Central Inc., a premium retailer for Verizon that owns 30 Verizon stores in Ohio, said Derric Matz, District Manager for Verizon Wireless, Cellular Central Inc.

The other store is locally owned and located at University Mall, 1000 E. State St.

They are emphasizing their local ownership, he said. That store opened in July and already has more than 500 new customers, said Mickey Cozart, co-owner of the business.

Some Verizon customers said they still had reception problems.

Freshman and Verizon customer Justin Szihk said he sometimes gets disconnected when he calls home.

The dropped calls and reception problems could be because the signal cannot go into certain buildings, Merritt said.

“When our network team recognizes those issues, they look to see where there are opportunities where they can strengthen that signal.”     

Building the tower involved more than just the construction.

Verizon had to work with the Federal Communications Commission to get a license to operate in the region. They also had to get permission of city council to install a tower on top of the Athens City Parking Garage, said Jim Sands, D-At Large.  

Council voted on an ordinance April 9, 2007 that allows Verizon to lease the space for $1,700 per month, said Debbie Walker, clerk of council.

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