Metro Cell Phone Service Deadline Pushed Back

Metro got a break this week on its Congressional deadline to install cellphone service system-wide: A continuing resolution pushed the due date from March 30 to Sept. 30, The Washington Examiner reported.

But don't get your hopes up, as Metro has said that system-wide service will not happen until December 2015.

Among other requirements to continue receiving $150 million in federal funding each year, Metro is supposed to offer cell phone service throughout the transit system.

Metro's 20 busiest stations were wired for Internet service in 2009, but many tunnels between stations and many stations still do not have cell phone or Internet service capabilities. Currently AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have mixed levels of service throughout the system.

In October, Metro General Manager Richard Sarles asked Congress for an extension from March 2013 to December 2015 to meet the service requirements. Sarles told Congressional leaders that system safety repairs have taken precedence over cell phone service installation, according to The Washington Post.

Fast forward to March and now Metro's problems with a bankrupt contractor could further delay the timeline, according to The Examiner.

The Examiner reports: "Metro partnered with a group of wireless carriers to get the service installed, but the contractor for that job—Powerwave Technologies Inc.—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January and has stopped work on the project."

“Despite PowerWave’s bankruptcy filing, the carriers remain focused on the work to install the equipment needed to deploy the system in the tunnels for our customers as quickly as possible,” said Verizon spokeswoman Melanie Ortel, who spoke on behalf of the carrier group in an email to the Wall Street Journal in February.

The issue will come up again when the latest Congressional continuing resolution ends on Sept. 30.