Cellphone service provider T-Mobile is looking to improve its service in Bayfield with a new tower to be built in the spring.

The tower will go before the La Plata County Planning Commission on Jan. 8, and construction should start several months after the company receives approval, said Mark Wilson, a national external affairs manager for the company.

The tower may be built on Red Hawk Circle, and it would also improve service along U.S. Highway 160, he said.

The 120-foot-high tower would help address inadequate voice and data service that T-Mobile customers currently experience in the area, according to documents submitted to the county.

The facility would also provide more capacity for three other carriers to co-locate equipment on the site.

mshinn@durangoherald.com