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Date: 9/4/2015
CHICOPEE – Could Chicopee have municipal broadband that would compete with the services offered by Charter Communications? A feasibility study announced on Aug. 27 could give the answer.
Mayor Richard Kos and Jeff Cady, the general manager of Chicopee Electric Light Department, explained the city could offer broadband service through a fiber optic system to subscribers.
The system Kos and Cady are considering, if it proves feasible, would provide Internet connections 50 times faster in most locations than currently available in the city for both downloads and uploads.
Kos called the proposed service “a viable alternative” to the current broadband and DLS offerings.
One additional benefit would be to the Chicopee River Business Park on East Main Street, Kos said. High-speed municipal Internet service would be an attraction to high tech businesses considering locating there.
Michael Vedovelli, director of Community Development, said such a service would “set Chicopee apart” from other communities.
If Chicopee does develop its own high speed broadband, it will be the first city in Western Massachusetts to do so and one of the few in New England, Kos said.
Cady said such a network would be “much superior to anything in the city.” He added the delivery of Internet service is “not that much different than electric service.”
The study should take five months, Cady said. It will judge the potential demand, look at the engineering works that would have to be completed and determine if such a service would be financially viable.
Kos said that as part of the city’s study, local officials would be going to Chattanooga, TN, to study its municipal broadband service and network.
The project has been in development since last year when Kos met with city councilor to discuss it. That conversation was followed by several others this spring with department heads about the possibilities.
In April the city joined the collaborative Next Century Cities, a nationwide group that supports broadband investment for community development and Chicopee Electric Light Commission approved the request for proposal for feasibility study.
In July, Cady and Cable Commissioner Joel McAuliffe attended “Exploring the Telecom Opportunity at your Municipal Light Plant” at Harvard University, which showed the successes municipally owned Internet service providers that are conducted through electric light plants. The same month, Magellan Advisors won the bid to conduct the feasibility study.