Company withdraws app. to put up 13 cell towers in La Crosse … for now

Mobilitie says it will reintroduce plan for 75-foot towers “as soon as possible.”

A company has withdrawn its proposal to put up 13 cell towers on La Crosse’s public right-of-way.

That news came before Monday’s public meeting on the issue at city hall.

The asterisk, however, is California-based Mobilitie plans to reintroduce the plan to put up the 75-foot towers “as soon as possible.”

The company said the reasoning behind withdrawing the plan was to hear from the public. If its plan is to listen to the public at the meeting – around 100 people – then it heard mostly of concerned citizens.

Mobilitie permitting manager Jay Wendt said at the meeting the towers – to be used by Sprint customers – are needed as data usage is expected to climb 650 percent by 2019.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse executive director of facilities Doug Pearson said it was just a cost-cutting opportunity.

“We currently have cellular leases for AT&T and Verizon,” Pearson said, noting Sprint had walked away from similar negotiations with the school. “This is just another means at providing a market share without having to pay for the leases.”

Along with the public, city council members also seemed skeptical about the idea.