Cell Phone Service On Nantucket Remains Awful During The Summer. One Carrier Is Planning Upgrades.

It was another terrible summer for cellular phone service on Nantucket, with the usual epidemic of dropped calls, unreliable signals, and apps and web pages that won’t load. But help could be on the way - at least for AT&T customers.

The major cellular carrier is planning a series of network infrastructure investments in several locations around the island to provide better coverage. In legal notices posted in the Inquirer and Mirror in recent weeks, AT&T disclosed that it plans to replace or install new wireless antennas on Dave Street, Union Street, Vesper Lane, and Polpis Road, among others. In some cases, AT&T will replace the existing utility pole with a taller one, going from 24 feet to 37 or 38 feet.

“We are continuing to invest in our network infrastructure on Nantucket to help residents, visitors and first responders stay connected year-round,” an AT&T spokesperson told the Current in response to an inquiry about the legal notices. “The projects scheduled would replace existing equipment with updated small-cell technology designed to provide better coverage and capacity while supporting future network technologies.”

The island’s cellular phone coverage, or lack thereof, has been a source of frustration on Nantucket for years, especially during the summer months. Things got so bad that in 2025, Massachusetts legislators representing the Cape and Islands sent a letter to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, urging the nation’s major cellular carriers to improve coverage in the region, citing public safety fears and potential economic impacts.

Town officials have said in the past that the problem is a combination of increased seasonal population and the lack of communications infrastructure on the island. Nantucket has only one true, large-scale cell phone tower which the major carriers use, located at Eel Point. There are some smaller antenna towers, as well as the water towers, but most of the island relies upon a distributed antenna system, or DAS, which is made up of small antennas installed at the top of telephone poles.

“The volume they can handle is not the same volume as a big antenna site that you see off island,” Nantucket Deputy Police Chief Charles Gibson told the Current several years ago for a story about the island’s cell phone service. Gibson handles the department’s communications system and has worked with the major cellular service carriers on the island. “Cellular providers on Nantucket, they will not invest in Nantucket for two months out of the year like they would do with Boston or New York City. It’s not going to happen. They try to find that happy medium and they hold their breath. Nantucket doesn’t have the infrastructure to support 50,000 people in one place at one time.”

The cost of the planned upgrades on Nantucket is not being shared by AT&T.

“While we are not disclosing costs associated with individual projects, they are part of our broader, ongoing investment in Massachusetts,” the AT&T spokesperson said. “From 2021 through 2025, we’ve invested nearly $775 million in our wireless network across the Commonwealth to improve reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance.”