A public hearing on a plan to increase the height of a Verizon communications tower in Vineyard Haven was closed Thursday after the MVC received written testimony from Island arborists.
Verizon Wireless wants to raise its communication tower in Vineyard Haven from 77 to about 130 feet out of concern for trees that could block sightlines.
Cell phone coverage in Chilmark and Aquinnah will get a boost, this time for Verizon customers, after the major carrier signed on to use the digital antenna system (DAS) in the up-Island towns.
Chilmark executive secretary Tim Carroll said on Wednesday that testing is in its final stages, and that full Verizon Wireless service could be available as soon as June 1 or July 1 at the latest. AT&T signed on to the DAS system as a carrier last year.
Verizon’s proposal to build a cell phone tower to improve service in West Tisbury came before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week, sparking a long discussion and volumes of correspondence protesting the location of the tower near Tisbury Great Pond.
The company has proposed installing an 80-foot tower on a 50-square-foot piece of land on New Lane in West Tisbury, and has identified three potential locations for the tower. Two of the sites are in the inland zone of the coastal district of critical planning concern.
The Edgartown planning board criticized wireless phone companies Tuesday night for claiming space on the North street telephone tower.
"When is enough enough? When do we get to say enough is enough?" asked planning board chairman Norman Rankow of representatives from AT&T Wireless.
The standoff took place during a public hearing for AT&T's request to replace three antennas, add six cables and install an air conditioner and radio equipment at the North street tower site - one of only two in Edgartown.
In concert with their colleagues on the mainland, six striking Verizon wireline workers picketed yesterday outside the telephone company office on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Vineyard Haven.
Attention, Verizon customers: Would you like to get better cell reception in Chilmark and Aquinnah? If so, Chilmark executive secretary Tim Carroll is urging you to write to Verizon Wireless representatives, asking why the company won't join the newly operational Distributed Antenna System (DAS), which will greatly improve wireless service for certain carriers in the area. AT&T has elected to participate; Verizon has not.
