Cell Phone Service Coming Soon to Boston Tunnels

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

6:15 am on November 23, 2006 | Category: Business, Telecom Services, Wireless, Cellular, Regulation

After years of haggling, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority has finally reached a deal with America’s four leading wireless carriers to provide cellular phone service within Boston’s Big Dig tunnels.

Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Sprint Nextel have agreed to split the cost of installing the underground wireless technology. Each carrier will contribute a lump sum of $1.57 million, plus $140,000 per year for network maintenance.

Massachusetts state Senator, Michael Morrissey, who co-chairs the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, expressed satisfaction with the settlement, saying that he had gotten “tired of listening to the complaints” over the past several years, and noting that the service was long overdue.

A spokeswoman from Cingular Wireless, meanwhile, commented that “providing wireless coverage in the Big Dig tunnel is very important to our customers — not only for safety, but for convenience. We are very glad that the process is moving along.”

If all goes according to plan, the tunnels should have complete underground cellular coverage by the summer of next year.