Keen, NY – Verizon to Extend Cell Phone Service in Adirondacks.

Keene, NY – Verizon has agreed to extend cell phone service to the Adirondack High Peaks hamlets of Keene and Keene Valley.

Keene supervisor William Ferebee says Verizon will lease two existing tall structures for cell towers. The additions won’t add cell phone service to the Northway in the area, but will add service along winding mountain highway Route 73 from North Hudson to Keene to Lake Placid.

Ferebee said the cell service will be a boon to searchers called upon to find lost hikers in the High Peaks.

Verizon Wireless spokesman John O’Malley said the company is still working to obtain lease agreements for eleven tower locations planned along the Northway from exit 28 past exit 35, where cell-phone service is generally non-existent.

Meanwhile, Adirondack county emergency officials have continued to move forward on seeking sites for additional towers in towns and villages. [ap]