They’re even considering using membership donations to purchase and give away iPhones through AT&T Wireless to lure T-Mobile customers out of their contracts.
The strategy is meant to chip away at the company’s hillside customer base and erode the premise on which an increasing number of wireless providers are encroaching into residential neighborhoods — to shore up “dead spots” for their customers.
“If nothing else, our goal has to be to erode [T-Mobile’s] customer base,” said John McMahon, an organizer for the action group.
He recently erected a large opposition banner that covers nearly half his home’s facade, which would be directly in front of the planned wireless antenna and underground equipment on the 500 block of Cumberland Road.
Residents in the area have been calling on the City Council and City Attorney’s Office for weeks now to fight T-Mobile on a federally approved application to install the so-called “micro-cell site” in the public right-of-way.
Beyond the aesthetic implications to their historic neighborhood, opponents said they are concerned about the potential health impacts of radio waves that would emanate from the wireless equipment.
They also see the T-Mobile application as a bellwether fight. The Federal Communications Act of 1996 stipulates that once access to an area is granted to one telecommunications company, rivals must be given equal consideration, meaning more antennas could follow.
“The reality is, the first bite is the biggest bite, and that just happens to be T-Mobile,” McMahon said.
