I don’t know how we arrived at a place where we thought everyone would support democracy because it was an intellectually superior form of government. All of human history contradicts that notion.
The precise territory to be wired is not set in stone, but it will likely be confined to both sides of Main Street from Castle and Bridge streets to the Berkshire Bank and Lee Bank buildings. The wiring of Railroad Street will likely be coordinated with the new pavement and sidewalks it will be receiving in the spring.
Monterey has been notified of the receipt of a grant from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute as part of the Last Mile broadband initiative to help communities and companies wire towns, but the town cannot access the funds because they were contingent on Charter-Spectrum being the provider.
Town manager Jennifer Tabakin said the impacted area will include Castle Street, Railroad Street and both sides of Main Street from Castle Street to Elm Street.
The opinion of Berkshire County experts ranges from skepticism to staunch opposition to the repeal of net neutrality, which is the principle that internet service providers must treat all data on the internet in the same manner and not charge different rates based content or platform.
"I think Great Barrington needs to have a more robust business community than it currently does. Great Barrington needs to become that small town that, besides great food and culture, is also a very interesting place to set up your business and that's the missing piece."
-- Tim Newman, WiredWest spokesperson who would move his business to Great Barrington if affordable high-speed communications were available
Charlie Flynn, who chairs both the town Technology Committee and the Board of Selectmen, said the committee is meeting on Thursday (April 6) at 5 p.m. in Town Hall and the selectmen are slated to decide on a plan on Monday, April 10, at their regular meeting.
After decades of living in the slow lane of dial-up, DSL and rickety satellite connections, Egremont now has more than one company vying for the right to slake the town's thirst for the modern age.
