Shark Attacks Prompt Calls for Better Beach Phone Service
BOSTON — Following two shark attacks over the summer on Cape Cod, one of them fatal, officials are searching for ways to improve phone service along isolated shorelines.
Witnesses to the attacks reported shoddy cellphone service as they tried to dial 911.
Local officials are expected to discuss the possibilities of expanded phone service to area beaches as they meet to address the attacks, including Saturday's which was the first deadly shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936.
Cape Cod National Seashore superintendent Brian Carlstrom says officials will take a look at several options, including lobbying service providers to build more cellphone towers closer to the beaches to boost service.
Truro Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer says the town is making moves to install emergency call boxes at its beaches before next summer.
Eastham Town Administrator Jacqueline Beebe says some communities are exploring the possibility of installing pay phones at beaches.