MILFORD – U.S. Cellular announced that it recently completed construction of an additional cell site in Milford. The site will increase U.S. Cellular’s coverage and network capacity in the town of Milford and Old Town and along Routes 2 and 43. The new site complements U.S. Cellular’s statewide network of more than 250 towers, the company said.

The new tower was built by U.S. Cellular with support from the federal Universal Service Fund, which the company said faces the threat of drastic cuts at the hands of the Federal Communications Commission.

“This part of Maine lacked quality wireless service,” said John E. Rooney, president and CEO of U.S. Cellular. “As a result, we identified the community as a priority for the support the company receives through the Universal Service Fund. People everywhere depend on their cell phones to meet critical safety and business needs and the Universal Service Fund allows us to expand our service to Maine’s rural communities.”

U.S. Cellular said it has led the effort to preserve federal support for rural wireless development through Connecting Rural America (www.connectingruralamerica.org), a grass-roots coalition of concerned citizens, community leaders and elected officials working for equality in wireless telecommunications. Its goal is to provide rural communities with the same access to technology as their urban counterparts.