Western Massachusetts Broadband Expansion Moves Forward along with State Online Reporting Mandates

By Patrick Donges

Pittsfield, MA – Representative William "Smitty" Pignatelli, of the state's Fourth Berkshire District in southern Berkshire County, sent an advisory June 1 expressing his frustration with a new state mandate that FA-10 Firearms Transaction Forms, the document required to register a newly bought gun or report one lost or stolen, must now be filed online.

While he said the new system will hopefully improve the efficiency of the reporting process and save taxpayer money, he said it also does not take into consideration that most of Western Massachusetts lacks high-speed internet connectivity.

"It was another example of the state, whether it be the Department of Revenue or public safety, requiring our citizens to file information online without paying any recognition or having any knowledge that the areas of Western Massachusetts have no broadband capabilities whatsoever."

"The Department of Revenue requires small businesses to file their annual or quarterly taxes online. I spoke to a woman in Egremont for the last couple of years who still has dial-up."

"And I think it's also wrong to assume that every household has a computer. I just wanted to raise the awareness of the continued lack of broadband here in Western Mass."

Pignatelli has written a letter to state Department of Criminal Justice Information Services outlining his concerns and requesting further review of the policy.

The Massachusetts Broadband Institute, or MBI, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, is currently in the process of constructing the MassBroadband 123 fiber-optic network; approximately 1,100 miles of cable connecting over 300,000 residents and over 40,000 businesses in 123 communities. Jason Whittet is deputy director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute.

"Western Massachusetts is one of the hardest remaining places in the country to connect and when we looked at the solution we realized that what we needed to build was a robust, middle-mile, network that brings fiber closer to the communities."

The MBI was granted $40 million by the state upon its inception which was then used to secure over $45 million in federal stimulus funding for network construction. Here's Whittet.

"We anticipate that the 1-91 section will be operational later this fall and that we will complete the trunk later next year and then we'll be fully complete with the project by June 2013."

While the MBI network is an important step, it is a "middle-mile" network, and therefore not the final step towards solving connectivity issues in the Berkshires. Here's Pignatelli.

"That's just going to get it to the communities. The last-mile is how it's going to go from the town hall to my business or my home. So I still think we're a few years away from getting every household in Western Mass lit up."

Development of that "last mile" will be undertaken by Wired West, a partnership between local information technology professionals and municipal governments.

Last year 47 municipalities voted to become "charter towns" for the group by forming a "cooperative of municipal light plants" under state law created over 100 years ago to enable towns to generate their own electricity. The ability to offer telecommunication services was added to the statute in 1996.

The municipalities must pass votes at two Town Meetings with a 2/3 majority to establish municipal authority to join the cooperative. Monica Webb is the co-chair and spokesperson for Wired West.

"The votes this town meeting season are going very well. Every single town that has approached the vote has passed it; we have 22 towns that have passed their final vote with four more towns still to vote for their final vote and we also have 13 towns that have done their initial vote."

"What that means is when the cooperative forms in mid July we will have about a couple of dozen towns."

Once the cooperative is officially established, Wired West will start engineering and market studies before developing a plan for financing.

"Then we will able to go out and get the financing. We're hoping to do that this winter which would mean we could start construction next spring."

The extended fiber network is expected to be funded through the issuance of municipal bonds through Wired West, a feature Webb said was one reason the "municipal light plant" governance system was chosen.

On June 4, residents of the town of Peru passed their second vote to join the co-op by a vote of 34 to 4, leaving the towns of Florida, Plainfield and Wendell as the final three towns slated to cast their final votes on the matter this year.