The Massachusetts Broadband Institute on Wednesday night outlined its vision for "connecting the unconnected" and fielded questions from more than 40 residents during a public meeting at Nessacus Regional Middle School.
"Ultimately, this is to encourage economic growth," said MBI director Judy Dumont. "This wasn’t a ‘nice to have’ for the region -- this was a basic resource that didn’t exist."
Dumont said that with the state and federal government’s $71.6 million investment, progress was well under way to create MassBroadband 123, a 1,338-mile fiber-optic network that would serve 123 unserved and underserved communities throughout Western Massachusetts.
Currently, 13 Berkshire County towns -- Windsor, Savoy, Florida, Peru, Washington, Becket, Tyringham, Sandisfield, New Marlborough, Mount Washington, Alford, Hancock and New Ashford -- have no broadband access, while another 10 only have "limited" access to broadband.
A completed broadband infrastructure would allow greater bandwidth for Internet, television and telephone services, allowing for resource-heavy applications such as telemedicine, video conferencing and home security.
The fiber-optic cables, Dumont added, would be strung across 30,000 to 35,000 existing utility poles across the region, with initial utility pole surveys beginning as early as October.
After the state completes environmental assessments, installing the cable can begin immediately. "We’ve already got a golden highway we can string our cable on," said Dumont.
"Community anchor" locations such as public safety buildings, community colleges, town halls and hospitals would be given first priority for the fiber-optic cables. Residences and businesses would need to go through independent Internet service providers such as Verizon to complete "the last mile" and connect them to the broadband network.
Currently, many underserved communities have been considered too far away from providers’ networks to justify the connection. Dumont said that 98 percent of all households in the network will be within three miles of a utility pole.
"It’s like the electrification of rural America -- the government had to come in," Dumont said. She told residents that while MBI is conducting as much planning and surveying as possible, "the project is not done, but it is real -- and it is under way."
Yet while residents seemed impressed by the concrete timeframe, many others expressed concern that local Internet service providers would "cherry-pick" which areas would eventually get connected to the improved service.
"I think a lot of us aren’t sure how the public and private sectors are going to work together," said Mount Washington resident Jim Lovejoy. "This whole thing can fall down."
Dumont said that MBI would use ‘economic incentives’ and other means to encourage providers to offer services to residents in remote locations.
Bob Lichter, of Alford, referred to a recent clash between the Lenox Select Board and Time Warner Cable, which attempted to charge a resident $12,000 for cable installation because his house was a half-mile from the nearest subscriber.
"What is there to ensure that there isn’t a repeat?" Lichter said.
"If somebody is 10 miles down a dirt road, they might [not provide service]," Dumont responded. "But for 98 percent of people, they will be connected ... our job is to connect the unconnected."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): David Pepose
Quelle/Source: The Berkshire Eagle, 22.09.2010
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