A co-located cellular communications tower at the municipal complex in Brick Township. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Brick officials unanimously approved a measure that will allow Dish Wireless, a relatively new entrant into the mobile communications market, to place antennas at the existing cell phone tower at town hall.
Dish Wireless is owned by Dish Networks, best known for its satellite television service. The company, however, is beginning to delve into the wireless data market under the Boost Infinite postpaid brand and the Boost Mobile prepaid brand. Dish is building out its own private 5G network that will cover more than 70 percent of the United States, with service falling back onto AT&T and Verizon networks when an in-house signal is not available.
By the end of last year, the company had already clawed its way to the top-end of the wireless market, becoming the fourth-largest carrier in the nation.
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In Brick, the company will pay $44,000 per year to lease space on the tower under a five-year contract. Unless the vendor terminates the agreement after the first five-year term, the contract will automatically renew for four additional five-year terms, making the agreement effectively a 25-year pact.
Between each term, the rent will rise by 2.75 percent, or the amount of an established consumer price index – whichever is higher – as an escalator.
Currently, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile occupy space on the tower. Space for a third tenant, long-expected to be Dish, was created in 2022 when the township removed an old storage shed which freed up ground space required for the new antenna array.
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