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massachusetts broadband institute
Content tagged with "massachusetts broadband institute"
Community Broadband Bits 2 - Wired West Podcast
In our second podcast, we have interviewed Monica Webb with the Wired West Initiative in rural western Massachusetts. Like our first podcast, this should be an excellent resource for those who are still in the early stages of community broadband and seeking ideas or inspiration.
We continue to be interested in your feedback and suggestions for the show - please e-mail us or leave a comment below. Also, feel free to suggest other guests, topics, or questions you want us to address.
This show is fifteen minutes long and can be played below on this page or you can subscribe via iTunes or via a different tool using this feed. You can download the Mp3 file directly from here.
Read the transcript of this episode here.
Find more episodes in our podcast index.
Thanks to Fit and the Conniptions for the music.
Leverett, Massachusetts, Ponders Community-Owned Network
Leverett, Massachusetts, is one step closer to a community owned FTTH network. The town of 2,000 will have weekly public information meetings until the Annual Town Meeting scheduled for April 28, 2012. If the required $3.6 million funding is approved at the meeting, the city will issue a Request For Proposals to build the network.
The 1 gig network is slated to be an aerial build, except where existing utilities are underground, in which instances, fiber cable will also be placed underground. Leverett plans to use a $40,0000 planning grant, obtained from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, to hire G4S Technology to design the last mile fiber-optic network to connect to MBI's stimulus-funded middle mile. The middle mile project is scheduled to be completed in June, 2013, and Leverett plans to be ready to connect soon after. The goal is to have every home connected with fiber by 2014.
Whereas most communities explicitly choose not to use tax revenue to pay for a community network, Leverett's present plan is for a slight increase in local taxes to assist in the financing. The town will borrow the amount necessary to build the network and pay it back over 20 years using a combination of tax revenue and revenues from the new broadband service. Peter d'Errico, Chair of the MBI Grant Broadband Committee observes that homeowners' net spending figures will decline once the system is in place. From the article:
A town survey concluded a municipal network could offer better Internet and phone service at far cheaper rates than private providers, he said.
"It will be a little more on their tax bill and a lot less on their Internet bill, so overall they will be pay less," d'Errico said.