New Marlborough – In the first stages of a campaign to modernize communications in Western Massachusetts, Wired West, the initiative to create a broadband, high-speed fiber-optic network in rural western Masssachusetts – much as rural electrification brought electricity to households in the 1930s – voters in three of the 32 towns comprising the Wired West consortium have have approved borrowing funds to support the network.
In the region’s first three town meetings – Cummington, Plainfield and Shutesbury – voters overwhelmingly approved warrant articles authorizing town borrowing to support a regional broadband network.
Meanwhile, in Mill River on Saturday, May 2, 57 people attended a Wired West information session in the Mill River Town Hall organized by Wired West co-founder and New Marlborough resident Tim Newman. On May 4, voters in New Marlborough were to have considered a measure to fund the town’s portion of the fiber optic network but it is likely the vote will be postponed until the requisite 40 percent of town residents have signed up for the service.
At the Mill River information meeting, Newman explained that the fiber optic network would connect individual homes and businesses to a high speed communications infrastructure whose framework has been provided by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute. At stake now is the so-called last mile that connects the trunk fibre optic lines to individual users.
Newman pointed out that the fibre optic network would provide a high level of service that has become an essential component of modern living. Communications giants such as Verizon and the cable firms such as Time Warner have not been willing to invest in this high level of service for rural communities. With the Wired West fiber optic connection the full range of Internet connectivity would be available to customers.
The Wired West network would provide homeowners with email and Internet access that would offer whatever films, programs and news are available online. Such connectivity is now considered an essential feature of a home – or business.
“I just made an offer on a house in New Marlborough,” observed Nicholas Emery of Great Barrington during the information meeting, “but now I find that Internet access through Verizon’s DSL is not available. Satellite Internet service is too slow.
“I may have to retract my offer,” he added reluctantly. “It’s almost a deal killer.”
The nonprofit Wired West cooperative would be managed by representatives of each town, and while the initial cost to the town would be high, subscriber fees would pay for maintenance and upgrades. The network would take two years to build out, Newman said.
The audience was generally supportive but some expressed concern that the complexity of the subject made its promotion difficult and thought that many in town would need more information to be well informed about its advantages.
