Broadband access extended to 9 Western Mass. communities
Westborough — The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) and Comcast have reached an agreement that will extend broadband access in nine municipalities in western and north central Massachusetts, a project which is estimated to deliver broadband connectivity to 1,089 new residences and businesses and will bring the overall coverage level in each town to 96 percent or above. The grant will provide up to $4 million in state funds to reimburse partial project costs for Comcast, which has existing networks in each of the towns, to construct broadband internet extensions to additional homes and businesses.
The construction of the broadband extensions in Buckland, Conway, Chester, Hardwick, Huntington, Montague, Northfield, Pelham, and Shelburne is estimated to be completed within two years from the start of the project. The public/private partnership will extend high-speed internet service to unserved residents at speeds that meet or exceed the FCC’s definition of broadband service through a hybrid fiber/coaxial cable network.
New customers in each town will pay the same monthly rates as their neighbors in already served sections of those communities and will have access to the same comprehensive suite of video, broadband, and voice services as well as home security and automation options. Construction of the expansion will be fully covered by the Commonwealth and Comcast.
To establish the Broadband Extensions Program, MBI worked closely with the western Massachusetts legislative delegation to address broadband gaps in communities with only partial broadband service. The Legislature enacted two pieces of legislation: Chapter 198 of the Acts of 2014, which provided MBI with the authorization to enact a grant program to address the challenge; and Chapter 257 of the Acts of 2014 (the 2014 Information Technology Bond Bill), which provided MBI with access to state bond authorization for Last Mile projects, including the Broadband Extensions program.
–E.E.
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Baker Administration expands core competencies to combat opioid epidemic
Boston — The Baker-Polito Administration, in partnership with the state’s Advanced Practice Registered Nursing (APRN) programs and professional organizations, physician assistant programs, the Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants, the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and all affiliated community health centers, has agreed to expand the reach and use of the pioneering core competencies established previously for the prevention and management of prescription drug misuse.
This set of cross-institutional core competencies will ensure that advanced practice nurses, physician assistants and community health center employees educated in the Commonwealth receive enhanced training in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention strategies regarding prescription drug misuse.
This first-in-the-nation partnership has been expanded with the establishment of cross-institutional core competencies for the prevention and management of prescription drug misuse that will reach the approximately 2,000 enrolled APRN students, 900 enrolled physician assistant students, and the 50 community health centers representing the organizational membership of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.
The agreement follows similar partnerships with the Commonwealth’s three dental schools, Massachusetts Dental Society, the Commonwealth’s four medical schools and the Massachusetts Medical Society on sets of groundbreaking medical and dental education core competencies for the prevention and management of prescription drug misuse. Practitioner training about addiction and safe prescribing practices was a key strategy recommendation of the opioid working group.
–E.E.
