Town hears telecom companies' analysis of island' coverage gaps and next steps

American Tower and Crown Castle told the Kiawah Island Town Council that existing tower heights and concealment rules limit carriers' ability to broaden coverage along the island's shoreline and certain residential pockets.

Daniel Vincent, the town's planner, introduced a staff video inventory of seven island telecom assets and said the presentations would help the town "gain a clear understanding of the existing cellular coverage challenges and explore potential strategies." Mark Landers, a sales account manager for American Tower, walked the council through an analysis of coverage maps that use crowd‑sourced device data to show where LTE service is weak. Dave Yanni, American Tower's technical sales manager, said the company uses Ookla and other datasets showing which areas register poor throughput and drop calls; he framed coverage gaps as a function of tower height, capacity and the locations carriers elect to collocate.

American Tower staff identified two target areas of persistent weakness: the coastline south of Ossbury Point and residential neighborhoods near Falcon Point and Osprey, where several towers are under 100 feet and provide limited propagation. "None of [the shorter existing assets] provide a similar coverage benefit" as the 159‑foot monopole at the Quail Island site, the presenter said, which is why carriers see limited benefit from collocating on sub‑100‑foot structures.

Kimberly Adams, Crown Castle's external affairs manager, urged the council to modernize local ordinance language so that towns can better accommodate new technology and equipment. Adams said older, concealed structures limit what equipment can be added and that some towers may need to be rebuilt or replaced to provide adequate coverage for customers and emergency services. "It's the height and the concealment clause that definitely makes it a challenge to modernize," she said.

Council members pressed staff and the companies on options. Speakers discussed whether raising existing towers to the ordinance cap (120 feet was cited as a common allowance) would meaningfully improve beach coverage and whether small‑cell distributed networks—while technologically feasible—would be hindered by the island's tree cover and the need for fiber backhaul. Council members also flagged public‑safety implications: FirstNet (an AT&T service) and responders can be affected when coverage gaps exist during high‑demand events, such as the Fourth of July or large races.

What happens next: staff and council members said they will continue working with the carriers and tower owners to identify candidate sites and consider ordinance amendments that clarify concealment, height thresholds and deployment processes. The council asked staff to bring carrier representatives back for a focused follow‑up and to coordinate possible policy changes that could make the island more attractive to infrastructure investment.

Ending: Council members emphasized balancing aesthetic and environmental concerns with public‑safety and service improvements as they consider ordinance changes and potential site analyses.