Verizon Set to Switch Service to New North County Tower
 The new cell tower in early February shortly after it was erected. It replaces to older ones that collapsed on March 30, 2014. |
Update 10 a.m. on April 18: Verizon has completed its transfer to the new permanent tower on the Western Summit.
"The cutover from our temporary tower to the new permanent one is now complete," executive director for Network for Verizon Wireless Rich Enright said in a statement. "The process went according to plan and the Verizon Network Team will closely monitor it to ensure everything continues to work properly."
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Verizon customers should be back to normal on Saturday morning once its service is switched to the new tower.
Mayor Richard Alcombright, in a statement released on Facebook and to media, said customers will see a disruption in service beginning at 6 a.m. on Saturday as the new antenna goes online.
North County communications were disrupted just over a year ago when high winds took down two radio towers on top of the Western Summit.
Described as a "catastrophic failure" at the time, the collapse cut emergency communications as well as cell service for Verizon and other wireless providers. The loss was a particular blow to North County, coming just two days after the closure of North Adams Regional Hospital.
Corydon Thurston, principal of North Adams Tower Co., received local permitting last June to install a single 195-foot tower to replace the the two older 150-foot and 160-foot towers that fell. The new tower will be supported with rock anchors drilled 35 feet for each leg, and be installed in-between the two older ones.
The tower was installed more than two months ago but the weather had delayed the inspection process. Antennae were installed over the past couple weeks.
The city will send out a Code Red alert to remind citizens of the disruption or if it goes longer than the expected 2 to 4 hours.
"Further notification will come as other vendors cut over to the permanent tower," said the mayor.
Tags: cell service, cell tower, communications,
