One of the country’s major cellphone carriers is suing Chilmark over the select board’s denial of a proposal to put small wireless antennas on utility poles in town.
Verizon Wireless filed a lawsuit in federal court on March 16 against the town and the select board, arguing that the board exceeded its authority when it rejected the company’s request in January.
Cell service in the up-Island community has been a major concern since fall 2025, when several residents said the lack of signal raised safety issuess. Many people no longer have landlines, and have no reliable way to make calls due to the poor coverage.
The select board has met with Verizon and American Tower Company several times, and has been seeking a way to improve service. Verizon had proposed to install 14 small cells on privately-owned utility poles, primarily along Middle Road and North Road.
The select board was more interested in a larger cell tower that could help the town, instead of installing infrastructure on more than a dozen poles, and denied Verizon’s request 3-0 at the Jan. 20 meeting.
Verizon is now arguing that the board should have considered the application more thoroughly, and said the board never made any site-specific findings about any issues with the equipment.
“The Town has no regulations or written policies establishing standards for the Board’s review of applications to attach wireless equipment on utility poles in Town rights of way,” Verizon wrote in the 20-page suit. “The board did not purport to apply any standards in deliberating on and deciding the Application.”
Verizon also accused the town of using the denial as a way to pressure Verizon into remaining on the current cell infrastructure in town, which belongs to American Tower Company.
“The Town has unreasonably discriminated against Verizon because it has denied Verizon the right to attach its Small Cells to utility poles in the Town right of way but allowed ATC to attach its DAS equipment to utility poles in the Town rights of way,” Verizon wrote in the suit.
The wireless company is asking a judge to annul the board’s decision and direct the board to allow Verizon to install the new small cells.
The town has not yet responded to the complaint in court. Chilmark town administrator Tim Carroll said Friday that the town intends to respond but declined to comment because the board had not been able to meet since it had been served.
This article appears in April 3, 2026.
Will all phone companies be able to use the new equipment. I thought I read in an earlier article that the new equipment would only benefit Verizon customers. If it will make service better for all customers then Chilmark is wrong and should allow the improvements.
It’s only for Verizon
I have Verizon and often in Chilmark I couldn’t make or receive calls. I’m 75. If I’d had an emergency it could have been a serious problem. Please make calls in Chilmark available for ALL customers.
I agree with the town in that we should not rest until at least the big three carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) have adequate reception up island. If it means taking one at a time and in this case letting Verizon do their thing and then worrying about the other 2 so be it. I don’t know the details of this case, but if Verizon is somehow blocking out the other 2 by following through with this proposal then I’m all for denying them. A cell tower that covers all the bases sure does seem to make the most sense. May as well make the most of the hilly terrain Chilmark was blessed with and slap a tower up on Peaked Hill, call it a day, and we can all move on with our lives in the 21st Century!
In the meetings Verizon admitted their new system will not improve signal. Their equipment is lower on the poles than the existing system.
It serves only Verizon customers.
The selectboard’s decision was correct.
There is no reason the entire island is not covered in cell phone service. None. Just get it done. It is not safe, it is not socially conducive and it is antediluvian.
All over the Cape additional new cell towers are being built, so don’t get why cell companies are reluctant to fully cover the Island. People of all ages depend on reliable cell services for a long list of reasons, especially when first responders are urgently needed. All cell carriers need to get on board with properly serving the Vineyard like everywhere else.
One might reflect that perhaps there should be one shared tower for all the major carriers to use and not a half dozen different ones. How about minimizing unnecessary blight? Where are all my wind farm opponents? Do the right thing Verizon.
Verizon should be sued for not providing fios service to the island. Im a Verizon dsl customer.
Chilmark Select Board will lose this lawsuit and the taxpayers will fund it. They do not have the legal authority to make decisions about competition in the cellphone marketplace. There is no “Antitrust Bylaw” in town, obviously. Federal government regulates telecommunications and competition in our country. Not towns, mercifully. As usual, the Chilmark Select Board just does what it wants, state and federal law notwithstanding.
You are correct in that the FCC has regulations on telecommunication infrastructure. However you fail to mention that the local governments ABSOLUTELY have a saying on the zoning, construction logistics etc. The town is not interfering with fair market practices. What would happen if all utility companies started building their own infrastructure? Separate water/sewer lines for each provider? Separate power lines for each electrical provider? The infrastructure is already set up for Verizon to join other providers through a third party provider. Why would they choose not to?