The Five Town Cable Cable Advisory Committee voted to send a letter to state Attorney General Maura Healey urging her to take legal action to reverse a decision made last month by the FCC that local access channels say would devastate their funding.
By the end of the summer, service is expected to be extended to the Mason Library and the town water department, known as the Great Barrington Fire District, on East Street.
Those who run the county's three access channels say the new rules, which would severely impact their revenue streams, would likely put them out of business and deprive the public of valuable programming available nowhere else.
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.
"There can be no truly open internet without net neutrality. To believe otherwise is to be captive to special interest power brokers."
-- Former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
The Worthington Broadband Committee and municipal light board will present residents with at least two possible options for bringing broadband internet to the town.
"Due to the severity of the conditions predicted for tomorrow's storm, we are asking that all residents avoid non-essential travel and if they must travel, to be cautious."
-- Great Barrington Police Chief William Walsh
The towns of Sandisfield, New Marlborough, Monterey and Tolland decided to share the pain by hiring an attorney who helped them navigate a legal pathway that would allow the towns to bid out the construction of a fiber optic network and sign a 15-year contract with a service provider to operate it.
The town of Alford recently learned that the Massachusetts Broadband Institute will give it $270,000 and also reimburse it for half the cost of getting its utility poles surveyed.
“We are charting a new course that recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the un-served towns in Western Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Broadband Institute will therefore be moving to a more flexible approach.”
-- Peter Larkin, new chair of Massachusetts Broadband Institute
The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce has compiled the schedule of construction work on the Main Street Reconstruction Project for the week of Monday, August 17 through Friday, August 21.
The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce weekly construction schedule for work along Main Street in Great Barrington, from St. James Place to Cottage Street through the village downtown.
“We have been working nonstop at the scene throughout the night, and have made very good progress in restoring service for our customers."
-- Verizon spokesperson Phil Santoro