In response to several recent letters raising concerns about the quality of Internet and cell phone service in Ocala/Marion County, three residents wrote to Ocala-News.com to share their thoughts on the matter.
“I live in the northwest of the city. I swear cell towers will be shut down after 7pm. It’s almost impossible to get anything up. It takes me an hour to try and look at a house for sale. It took me an hour now. The service is terrible. Yes, build multi-million dollar gas stations, car washes, giant buildings and homes, and let’s leave the internet alone. Oh yeah, nobody here knows how to time streetlights either. You can sit at one for 15 minutes before it ever changes. This city is growing and is one of the worst cities that is so backward. I don’t think this city will ever come into this century,” said Ocala resident Regina Pickett.
“I asked a customer service provider if they had any complaints about Verizon’s cellular service and was surprised when they said ‘a lot of them.’ I’ve had Total Wireless changed from Verizon to Total for a few years. But lately the internet connectivity hasn’t been up to par with cellular data. My mechanic who I spoke to today said he has Verizon and knows several other people who have cellular service with them and are also having issues with the have connection. My cell tower (Verizon) is less than a quarter mile from where I live. It’s 2023 and we still can’t get decent phone service out here in the woods. We can send a man to the moon and have him talk to someone here on earth, but I can’t get quality cell phone service. This is extremely frustrating. I think we should all get together and demand our money back from Verizon every time our phones don’t work. But they don’t care as long as they are the leading mobile operator in the country, which, by the way, doesn’t necessarily mean satisfaction with the service. After all, this isn’t 1997. We deserve better. If they can’t give us decent coverage with 4G, how can they expect any of us to upgrade to 5G? Let’s fix this now before we get left behind when 5G is the only option available,” says Pamela VanVliet of Silver Springs.
“I live in Dunnellon and we are also having trouble finding the internet signal. I read a letter from one of the Ocala residents saying they are having internet problems and it is true that many residents are having internet signal problems. Sometimes I have to leave my home, go past the sidewalk, and be far from my home to get an internet signal. The people of Ocala need the government to do something about this situation. Ocala is growing and needs the government to take action in this situation. I appreciate someone raising this issue,” said Sonia Marrero, Dunnellon resident.
