As of Monday the Shaw and Blackhawk communities will officially be the only place in Louisiana without phone service.

The south Concordia Parish area consisting of about 100 households, has shared the title with Mink, in Natchitoches Parish, for sometime, but the phones now ring in Mink.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco will make the $700,000 BellSouth project official Monday when she calls the residents of the heavily forested area.

Shaw’s residents will have to keep waiting, but not for too much longer, said Bill Robertson, executive assistant to commissioner Foster Campbell with the Public Service Commission.

One Centennial Wireless tower is up in the community, and construction is under way on the second. Both towers have to be operational for residents to receive service, Robertson said.

The second tower should be complete within about 30 days, and Robertson is anticipating a ceremony making it official in mid-March.

The PSC ordered Centennial to provide cell phone service to the area last May in conjunction with a PSC decision to grant the company access to the Federal Universal Service Fund that finances telephone service in rural areas.

The area is one of the last in the nation to receive some sort of phone service.

Shaw residents have been able to get spotty cell phone service for sometime but have to use the old analog, bag phones, for good reception.

The nearest landline phone is about 13 miles away.

In addition to the 50 to 100 permanent residents, thousands of hunters use the area seasonally.

Original estimates were for the phones to be working by January, but Robertson said he was always cautious when quoting completion dates.

Centennial had to receive the proper environmental permits before starting the towers.