RANCHO SANTA FE — After two years of planning, the Ranch’s Wireless Master Plan is becoming a reality. Construction began in March to develop a wireless communication system across Rancho Santa Fe that will provide the best service with the least visual impact to the unique landscape of the Covenant.

ExteNet (formerly known as ClearLinx), the engineering and installation company hired for the project, gave the Association an update of the work in progress at the June 19 meeting. “We’ve laid several miles of fiber optic lines,” Jeff Frye, spokesman for ExteNet said. “We have 42 locations where we’ve placed nodes and we still have six unused locations.”

One of the advantages of the ExteNet fiber optic system is its ability to service multiple wireless service providers from a single location, according to Frye. This will allow multiple providers to offer competitive cellular service throughout Rancho Santa Fe without creating unsightly distractions along the roadways.

What often happens in communities is that many single provider systems each place nodes in locations and the result is an eyesore. This was a potential problem the Ranch faced in the past. “Historically, in 2003, Sprint wanted to put cellular nodes in,” Ron Merino, project manager, told the board. “This opened up a Pandora’s Box.”

Many other carriers wanted to do the same, so a Wireless Master Plan was designed to remedy this — only 48 nodes will be required within the Covenant and the fiber optic system will support all the major cellular phone providers and can even support broadband Internet access if a third-party vendor chooses to participate.

“Ninety-nine percent of the calls I receive from members of the community are the same: When will service be ready? Can I get broadband? And will my carrier carry it?” Merino said.

Frye told the Association the network should be completed by August, but there still are a few problems to overcome. Several nodes were to be placed on five existing utility poles but SDG&E has restrictions that prohibit the placement of these nodes. “Our attorneys are in negotiation with SDG&E to get this resolved,” Frye said. If negotiations fail, ExteNet still has the option of adding five poles to place the nodes, pending approval from the Association board of directors.

Two wireless carriers, Sprint and Nextel, are signed up to participate in the system, which has the capacity to hold up to eight carriers. “The last to the table is Verizon, but that’s because they were the first to start placing cell posts in the area,” Frye said. “But we are in negotiations with them now.”

The Wireless Master Plan was adopted by the Association board of directors pursuant to the adopted county wireless ordinance. The county issued the CEQA Notice of Exemption for the Wireless Master Plan in December 2007, and ExteNet obtained the necessary encroachment permits from the county in early 2008.

Addario, in one of her last duties as Association president, thanked Merino and Frye for the update. “This has been a long time coming and will be a great service,” she said.