Brookhaven approves Verizon deal to expand Fios access townwide

Brookhaven took a major step toward ending years of broadband frustration on the North Shore, voting 7-0 to approve a tentative Verizon franchise that could bring Fios service to about 38% of the town.

The deal, approved April 16 by the Brookhaven Town Board, would let Verizon New York, Inc. build and operate a townwide high-speed fiber-optic network in the areas covered by the agreement. Those neighborhoods are concentrated mostly along the North Shore, where Verizon laid cable years ago but never finished the fiber-optic buildout that would have brought full service to homes and businesses.

For residents who have long relied on Optimum as the dominant option, the agreement could reshape monthly internet and television bills as well as service quality. The franchise is nonexclusive, opening the door to a second cable provider in parts of Brookhaven and giving customers in covered areas more leverage over prices, speeds and reliability. Verizon has said it wants to offer competitive cable service in areas where it already provides Fios broadband.

The town’s scale makes the vote especially significant. Brookhaven, the largest town in Suffolk County, had an estimated population of 492,759 and 166,521 households in 2024, according to Census Bureau QuickFacts. Census estimates show 94.4% of households reported a broadband subscription, underscoring how many families, students and home businesses depend on a stable internet connection every day.

Supervisor Dan Panico said town officials had believed Verizon had no interest in operating in Brookhaven and called the opportunity a long time coming. The town first discussed the deal with Verizon in March, and a Brookhaven legal notice said the public hearing on the proposed franchise was held April 16 at 5:30 p.m. at Brookhaven Town Hall in Farmingville. Copies of the franchise application and agreement were available at the Town Clerk’s office in Farmingville.

Construction cannot begin yet. The franchise still needs approval from the New York State Public Service Commission, and one local report said that review could take about 60 to 120 days, depending on complexity. If state regulators sign off, the buildout could bring faster internet, more competition and new Fios cable TV service to parts of Brookhaven that have waited years for Verizon to complete the network already started there. Verizon also said it intended to donate a public access channel for the town’s public information office, adding a civic-media piece to a deal that could affect both household bills and local television service.