Celebrating Telecommunications Progress for Western Mass

Yesterday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Governor Deval Patrick, Senator John Kerry, and Congressmen John Olver and Richard Neal came to Greenfield Community College to celebrate the state’s $45.4 million federal stimulus award to expand broadband access in western and north central Massachusetts.

The award, along with allocated state funds, will be used by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute to build a robust, fiber-optic wholesale network that reaches the center of 123 communities, and connects Western Massachusetts community anchor institutions – town halls, fire stations, schools and libraries to the network.

The event was attended by local and state legislators, broadband advocates and members of the media. Three members of the WiredWest Steering Committee were invited to attend the event and used the opportunity to thank our state and federal legislators and the MBI for their leadership and diligence in working to ensure Massachusetts is able to build a robust, future-proof telecommunications backbone for our region. Of course, we also worked to advance the WiredWest cause – the critical need to extend the middle mile connectivity into a last-mile, fiber-optic network to ensure that every home and business that wants service can be connected.

It was reassuring to hear politicians at every level reinforce the fundamental importance of universal broadband. According to U.S. Commerce Secretary Locke, “Every American has the right to the economic, educational and social benefits of broadband,” and “people should be able to share knowledge and exchange information regardless of who they are or where they live.”

In addition, the involvement of government in the provision of critical rural broadband infrastructure – both for middle and potentially last mile as well – was expressed. Secretary Locke stated, “Just like the federal government finances highways and local governments fund the building of local roads, the government is funding the internet highway – and local governments, non-profits and private companies provide local access.”

Overall, it was a great event that clearly demonstrated widespread recognition of the necessity of high-speed connectivity for all citizens, students, businesses, governments and public safety agencies in order for them to survive and thrive in the 21^st century. At WiredWest, we’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and doing our part to make this vision a reality.

How the Stimulus Money For Massachusetts Broadband Helps WiredWest

Exciting news!

Governor Patrick and members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation announced yesterday the Commonwealth has been awarded $45.4 million in federal stimulus funding to expand broadband access.

The federal grant funding will be supplemented by $26.2 million in matching funds from the Commonwealth, bringing the total investment in the project to $71.6 million. This will enable a robust middle-mile network to be built by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) in Western and North-Central Massachusetts that will serve 123 communities. This wholesale network will bring MBI’s high-capacity fiber to the center of every town and connect Western Massachusetts community anchor institutions – town halls, fire stations and libraries – to the network. Even more importantly, it will provide the link to Wired West’s proposed last-mile network, enabling Wired West to extend fiber-optic connectivity to all of our homes, businesses and institutions in Western Massachusetts that desperately want service.

“We are pleased the MBI received the grant, because it’s a giant step towards drastically improved connectivity for the region, and directly enables the mission of WiredWest,” said Monica Webb, WiredWest spokeswoman. “Essentially, the State is bringing high-bandwidth connectivity into key points in our region, and WiredWest would extend outward from there.”

The lack of connectivity has been of particular concern for businesses and the regional economy, and as a result, businesspeople are particularly anxious to see the results of the MBI’s middle mile, and WiredWest’s last mile fiber connectivity. Doug Trumbull, Oscar-winning filmmaker and visual effects pioneer, works out of New Marlborough and is a great example of the potential economic impact fiber to the home would have for our region, “I am working on advanced motion picture Virtual Set technology that could help our area attract sophisticated producers. I am severely limited in what can be accomplished in terms of hiring people, doing advanced production, and living up to my own expectations of cutting edge work.”

Indeed, WiredWest believes fiber-optic connectivity is the most critical initiative to enable businesses of all sizes in our region, including home-based businesses, to survive and thrive in the 21^st century economy. To that end, the WiredWest network pledges to bring connectivity to all homes and businesses that want it in our participating towns.