STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — —Cutting-edge 4G LTE cellular service could be in place in parts of Routt County by the end of the year.
AT&T/New Cingular Wireless is in the process of gaining approval for nine new cell towers in the area. Conditional use permits for three of the 100-foot towers were approved by the Routt County Planning Commission last week. Three more will come before the commission next month.
Steamboat Springs attorney Cari Hermacinski, who is acting as an agent for AT&T, said the wireless service provider hopes to have six of the towers completed before the end of the year. Until permits are approved for the seventh and eighth sites, AT&T might seek permission to use temporary cell towers called COWs (cell on wheels) to create a local network robust enough to launch 4G LTE service. A ninth tower would be on national forest land, Hermacinski said.
4G LTE service offers data download and upload speeds significantly faster than existing 3G networks.
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