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Verizon wins approval for fifth set of cell antennas in East Boston; some residents wonder when it will all end
By adamg on Wed, 10/09/2024 - 3:29pm
Verizon cell zones in East Boston; new zone in green.
The Zoning Board of Appeal yesterday approved plans by Verizon to install 20 new cell antennas in four clusters atop an apartment building at 319-327 Chelsea St. in East Boston.
At a hearing yesterday, a company attorney said the new antenna system, the fifth such in East Boston, would help the company meet the "now high and growing demand" in the neighborhood, in part by providing additional cell access, in part by offloading some of the calls now routed through antennas on Orleans Street.
A member of the Maverick-Central Neighborhood Association, however, questioned the need for the antennas, asking when enough is enough.
She said a Verizon rep had said at an association meeting that the new antennas would provide redundancy should the neighboring antenna system go down. "If this one goes down, then we go into number 6 and if that one goes down then we go onto number 7 and on and on," she said, calling East Boston "a small little town, and the Chelsea/Bremen area "a small little part of East Boston."
The board voted unanimously to approve the new antennas, which needed board approval because they were closer to the building's edge - right on it, in fact - than allowed by the lot's zoning. As part of their approval, board members asked the company to look at moving the antennas as far away from the edge of the building as possible and to paint or shield them in the same color as the building to minimize their appearance.
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Comments
Let me answer this.
And I bet these are the same people who have Verizon Wireless and call customer service to complain when the internet is slow.
Hate to break it to this neighborhood association, but it's needed. Wireless Mobile communication is here to say and with faster speeds, you need better density on towers. It's just how "5G" works. Without it, you'll get 1998-era cable modem speeds during peak usage.
And these towers aren't just used for mobile phones, they are used by every device that uses the mobile network. Watches, iPads, in-car navigation, laptop computers, ATA devices, and on and on and on.
Let's do some math here. I'm in Chelsea so I am using this just as an example of how quickly this expands.
Between my roommate and I, we have 15 devices that use the mobile network. I live in a 3 unit building. So we're at 45 devices for just our building. Assuming everyone on my street has the same amount of devices and all live in 3 unit buildings at 25 on my block, so we're at 1125 devices for just one block. If we did my entire street, there are 10 blocks, so now we're at 11,250 devices for one single street. That's a lot of devices. Average cell phone tower can do 10-15k devices at one time.
See where I am going with this? Yes not everyone has Verizon Wireless, but its to illustrate how dependant we are on mobile devices now.
Secondly, I am having siding put on my home. I have an old Verizon landline box on the side of my building. Its never been used in the 15ish years I've lived here and just want to rip it off the side of my house. So as a test, I called Verizon (not wireless) and tried to order a landline just to see if they would sell me one. They won't. They attempted to sell me a ATA device where it's basically a box that you connect your old landline phone to that uses the Verizon Wireless mobile network.
My point: Verizon is moving away from landlines (and did so years ago at this point), how else are people supposed to get service? String and tin cans? The tower is needed to support all the new devices.
Shut up and do what I want!
I demand my phone to work perfectly, everywhere, but don't you dare install ugly antennas or those "5G" mind-control sticks.
I demand clean, carbon free electricity but windmills are an abomination and solar panels must never replace trees.
There must never, ever, be a problem with electric or gas service to my house but substations and CNG stations are basically bombs so they better not be anywhere close to me!
Global warming is an existential threat to humanity and we need to give up gasoline NOW! But unlike everyone else I need to drive so I'll raise hell if gas sells above $3/gallon. I'd switch to an EV but only if it was cheap, there was chargers every 50', and it didn't require more icky power lines. See points #2 & #3.
Housing and History are critical important. So we need to build 1000x more housing units without affecting the way anything looks since I moved to Boston. Oh, and developers are bad so don't let them make money. If you pass a law saying, "Developers and investors are bad and can't make money" the problem will be solved. It's that simple.
I want everyone to think I care deeply about Social Justice as it's defined in my head. No follow up questions.
/S
So if a company wants to
So if a company wants to build something that makes them money, and (some) people are using it, nobody in the neighborhood has a right to question it?
5G equipment is turning telephone poles in my neighborhood into giant overhead datacenters with massive looming server racks and whining cooling fans. Would you want one of those outside your bedroom window? Is it possible to provide equivalent cell service in a less obtrusive way, or should Verizon be able to do whatever is easiest and cheapest with no government oversight?
Whatever, my friend
I've never seen or heard any street-side 5G equipment make lots of noise. (Or any noise.) They aren't installing a "datacenter" a street corners.
You have every right to complain and argue against the installation but don't complain when cell service sucks. Most people are far angry about lack of reliable coverage vs a 4' box with a streetlight and antenna on the corner.
Citation Needed
I've seen plenty of telephone poles with signal extenders/antennae. Please provide documentation of these "giant overhead datacenters with massive looming server racks". Or do you just not like the idea of anything new in your line of sight?
All of my devices except my
All of my devices except my actual phone aren't using cell service. They're on wi-fi which gets data from my home Internet, which for most people would be Comcast cable or Verizon fiber.
Great!
The area in green, especially by Wood Island T station, is a total dead zone. I bet you could find people who would argue against electricity at a EB neighborhood association meeting.
No…
…..comment.
Hey...
...only I can do that
I have no cell coverage down
I have no cell coverage down at the Forest Hills tracks all the way down the pit through Green. Is this true for all Verizon and, or some, or all of their MVNOs?
T-Mobile® works fine on that
T-Mobile® works fine on that stretch when I'm riding the Orange Line @Frelmont. Is it a commuter rail issue?
Thanks. Can’t speak to the CR
Thanks for confirming that. I see folks on their phone at FH, but never asked who their carrier is.
Can’t speak to the CR, I ride the OL. (I don’t remember if I had a signal during the first long OL shut down when I shared in the comfy CR luxury.)
Seems like it must be my MVNO. I should provide them feedback about that gap in coverage.
Hopefully 911 works- may the galaxy forbid the need.
Same with AT&T
It has been a problem for years and I've always wondered whether it was just my service, but that's at least two major providers that are evidently flaky along that section of trench.
The map shows that three of
The map shows that three of the five existing antenna clusters are at Logan, so I'd call this the second one in EB. Charlestown and the North End already have at least that many.
The sign says the building is
The sign says the building is luxury . It looks sad.
ken yoo hear mee now ?
ken yoo hear mee now ?