New Internet Option Coming To Point Pleasant

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — After years of discussions, conversations and lobbying the company, Verizon will be bringing its Fios fiber optic internet and cable service to Point Pleasant, borough officials announced.

Mayor Robert Sabosik announced Verizon's move at Monday's Borough Council meeting, and said not only has Verizon made a commitment to bring Fios to the borough, they’ve also already started to put in their fiber optic cable and infrastructure.

Verizon representatives told borough officials the company has started to build Fios infrastructure at Verizon's Point Pleasant switch.

The work will be done in two large phases, the company told officials: east of the Point Pleasant Canal and south of Route 88, where the switch exists, and that includes the southeast portion of Point Pleasant, then later in 2026, phase 2 will be the rest of Point Pleasant, with the area east of the canal and north of Route 88 plus the area west of the canal.

"Phase two will also cover the northeastern portion of neighboring Brick Township," he said.

The work is anticipated to take up to a year to complete, "possibly two if they run into any material, manpower or weather issues," Sabosik said.

"As I already said, they have already begun and while we expect them to keep to the plan that they’ve relayed to us, we anticipate them doing work sporadically in various parts of town as they see fit," the mayor said.

There have been crews out around Burnt Tavern Road, and officials said residents should expect to see them around town at full force, "most likely come the spring."

"I’d also like to mention that this isn’t just good for Point Borough, even though we are their main focal point," Sabosik said. "By putting their infrastructure here it makes it that much easier for them to service neighboring Point Beach and Bay Head as well. This is very exciting news and will be a benefit to our residents by giving them more choices for their cable and internet needs.”

Borough Administrator Frank Pannucci said the town officials consistently get asked about bringing in other cable firms to compete with Xfinity.

"Like the other utilities, we have no local control over them except to pester their representatives," Pannucci said. "Mayor Sabosik and the Borough Council at every opportunity, most often in person at government conventions and seminars, have been pitching for Verizon to invest in Point Borough for years now. Finally they got the commitment."

The company had started laying infrastructure for Fios about 10 years ago in parts of Brick, but stopped for reasons that have never fully been explained.

Verizon has had crews out around Burnt Tavern Road "so expect to see them around town at full force most likely come the spring," Sabosik said.

The addition of Fios "potentially means better cable and internet service whether you choose to keep Xfinity/Comcast or choose to move onto Verizon Fios when the time comes," Sabosik said. "Competition is what built our country and giving our residents options will strengthen them as consumers."