New state broadband funding won’t benefit local municipalities

Date: 3/13/2015

GREATER SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Charlie Baker’s pledge of funding to build broadband out in Western Massachusetts will not have a direct impact on East Longmeadow, Longmeadow or Wilbraham.

Baker announced on Feb. 18 his administration would commit up to $50 million worth of capital funding to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) and also touted the move during a recent visit to the Pioneer Valley at the Associated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield’s Outlook 2015.

“Providing high-speed broadband access to all cities and towns is not only a matter of basic fairness, but it is an essential part of building stronger communities and a stronger economy,” Baker said in his February announcement. “It’s time that we connect cities and towns throughout Massachusetts to the high-speed broadband service that is critical in today’s digital world.”

The state, however, determined that the aforementioned local communities, which have benefitted from MBI initiatives in the past, did not fit the criteria to be considered “underserved,” a distinction necessary to qualify for this latest round of funding.

“The $50 million in state funds are primarily going to go to the western-Western Massachusetts and northwestern and central Massachusetts communities that are still using dial up or have much less broadband options,” Wilbraham Information Technology Director Nathan DeLong said. “Cities and towns like Wilbraham will have to take it upon themselves to make changes to their situations, if they feel that the current options are lacking.”

DeLong explained the MBI reached out to the town in December 2014 to discuss expansion of the fiber network it installed in municipal buildings, which he said improved costs and speed related to interdepartmental connectivity. While the MBI originally listed Wilbraham as an underserved duopoly served by Verizon DSL and Charter Communications cable, the town was ultimately deemed ineligible for the new funding.

According to a Dec. 11, 2014 email from Sharon Ferry, business manager for WesternMA Connect, a planning partner of the MBI, to the town, Wilbraham was initially invited to a Dec. 18, 2014 meeting to discuss broadband expansion because MBI data showed the town was less than 96 percent served by cable.

“Earlier this week, MBI staff had the opportunity to meet with Charter, your cable provider,” she wrote. “Charter believes that service is available to 96 percent or more households in your town.”

Wilbraham Public Access Director Anthony Aube followed up with Charter Communications regarding the level of service in town and received an email response from government liaison Thomas Cohan, who said, “I believe we have close to 100 percent coverage in Wilbraham.”

Despite not qualifying as an underserved community, DeLong said the town is continuing to explore options to improve its broadband situation and offer more options to the town.

He explained that new FCC classifications for broadband – 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download by 3Mbps upload – Verizon’s DSL in Wilbraham would most likely no longer be defined as broadband.

“This puts Wilbraham in the situation of relying nearly 100 percent on Charter for high-speed broadband, which to give them credit, is just about at the 60Mbps baseline,” he said, adding many businesses and residents have outdated modems that only receive service with speeds up to 30Mbps.

At the May 2014 Annual Town Meeting, residents approved the establishment of a municipal light plant, which would allow the town to sell, among other things, Internet access. However, the town’s Broadband Advisory Committee, of which DeLong is a member, remains in the early preparation stages and no plan to offer a town-sanctioned alternative to broadband exists.

The Broadband Advisory Committee did not respond to a request for an update on its progress as of press time.

Longmeadow IT Director Kevin Warenda said while his community would not benefit from the new MBI funding, “by leveraging the MBI network, we have already reaped the benefits.”

Longmeadow was featured in the MBI’s September-October 2014 newsletter for its utilization of the MassBroadband123 network, which enabled students and teachers to utilize enhanced fiber optic broadband Internet in the classroom.

East Longmeadow IT Director Ryan Quimby explained his community’s municipal government has maintained its own fiber optic network for a decade.

“It was installed by our DPW and funded by an outside vendor who needed to run a fiber line through town,” he said. “We ran to every major municipal building, including water and wastewater pumping stations.”

He added that East Longmeadow does not qualify as an underserved community because it receives services through Charter and Verizon.

Selectman John Flynn, the point of contact for the MBI in Hampden, did not respond to a request for comment on possible impacts of new funding as of press time.