"LOWELL -- Once again, Verizon's message to Lowell has come through loud and clear: There will be no widespread installation of FiOS in the city.
Residents and business owners have long yearned for Verizon to run its fiberoptic cables through Lowell -- breaking Comcast's local monopoly on cable and high-speed internet and driving down prices. Verizon won't budge on FiOS, but it is willing to offer an alternative"
"The company is in negotiations with the city to install 50 small cells -- essentially miniature cell towers -- throughout Lowell. The canisters, which would be mounted on stop lights and utility poles, would boost wireless internet and cell phone service to Verizon customers.
They are also the precursor to 5G, a technology that Verizon is banking will be the internet of the future.
The catch, however, is money. When Verizon proposed installing one small cell canister in Gage Park a year ago, they offered to pay Lowell $6,000 per year for the right, City Manager Kevin Murphy said. Now that the company is proposing 50 canisters, it's offering around $1,700 per year for the entire lot."
"The installation of 50 small cells in Lowell would be one of Verizon's biggest current investments in Massachusetts, Allen said. He said he had "personally put (his) neck on the line, saying 'I believe in the city of Lowell'" in order to convince his superiors to move forward with the project.
That act of faith should be repaid, he suggested, through a prompt approval process for the small cell canisters."
Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_30835217/verizon-talks-lowell-fios-cells#ixzz4aVb34HFg