T-Mobile is in the middle of a cell tower drama in Weston, a town in Fairfield County Connecticut, that is only a 45-minute drive from New York City. The issue is a cell tower on the municipal campus on Norfield Road. The tower was purchased by the town at the end of 2024, and new leases were proposed to T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. According to First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor, "straightforward negotiations" resulted in the two carriers signing up to use the tower,
T-Mobile decides to be a lone wolf
AT&T agreed to pay $85,000, and Verizon signed off on a $94,000 lease that includes "modest increases" both will pay over the coming years. The two carriers agreed to make the payments retroactive to when the Town took over ownership of the tower. T-Mobile, on the other hand, rejected the Town's offer of $88,200 for the first year of the lease. The company came back with a counteroffer of $30,251.76 which the town failed to agree to.
The cell tower at the center of the dispute between Weston and T-Mobile. | Image credit-Weston Today
T-Mobile informed the Town that it was going to remove its equipment from Weston and discontinue service there. Talking about T-Mobile, First Selectwoman Nestor said, "So far, they have been unwilling to move from that offer." Additionally, T-Mobile has failed to pay any rent for its share of the tower since Weston took over in December. That upset Nestor since revenues from leasing the tower cover some of the expenses that taxpayers bear for maintaining it, operating the emergency dispatch center, and funding the Town's general administration.
The First Selectwoman stated, "This tower is a Town-owned asset. And it’s only fair that the companies using it pay something that reflects its value. Accepting significantly less would not be in the best interest of Weston taxpayers."
Weston subscribers are reportedly still being charged their monthly contract rates by T-Mobile
Weston Today, an online daily hyper-local newspaper, spoke with T-Mobile technical support earlier this month and was told that the wireless provider was "up and running," with "no outages." However, the online newspaper said that it had been contacted by T-Mobile subscribers in the area who were wondering why they no longer had a signal from T-Mobile.
Is T-Mobile being too harsh?
Yes. The company has enough cash to pay for the tower.
50%
No. It has every right to turn down the deal.
50%
Commenting on the situation in Weston, T-Mobile said, "Our priority is keeping customers in Weston and across Connecticut connected. While we are no longer maintaining the site on Route 57 due to changes in the lease proposed by the Town of Weston, service in the community continues, and nearby sites have been optimized." It isn't known how many of the carrier's subscribers have been able to stay connected due to optimization.
"T-Mobile has maintained its original rental offer and has not indicated a willingness to increase it. T-Mobile currently occupies the highest position on the tower—a typically desirable location. Rather than increase its offer, T-Mobile notified the Town that it intends to decommission its equipment (i. e., remove its equipment from the tower and equipment building and cease providing cell service)."
-First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor, Weston, CT.
T-Mobile says it will continue to service the community using a 185-foot tower owned by the Town of Weston at another location. With this site operating, T-Mobile subscribers in Weston are trying to get by with only one bar of connectivity on their phones allowing them to send and receive texts. However, these subscribers aren't always able to make or take phone calls. One T-Mobile customer in Weston was able to get a refund after contacting the Better Business Bureau. Interestingly, T-Mobile's coverage map still shows coverage in Weston.
T-Mobile has enough money to sign the lease
First Selectwoman Nestor points out that "According to public filings, for the calendar year ended 12/31/2024, T-Mobile USA’s gross revenues were $81.4 billion with a gross profit of $51.747 billion. A rent increase of $57,948 per year does not appear to be excessive for a huge publicly-traded conglomerate." Nestor believes that T-Mobile's decision to decommission its part of the tower is being done to "create fear and anxiety among Weston residents in order to create pressure on the Town to capitulate in the negotiations and to intimidate a small town."
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