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Date: 2/16/2022
GOSHEN – The initial subscription period for the town’s new fiber optic broadband network is underway.
According to Wayne Glaser, vice-chair of the Select Board, there have been 450 enrollments for the service. The network has been divided into three fiber service areas, or FSAs. Progress on the network is documented on the town website through bar graphs, charts, maps and text.
The effort to bring reliable internet to the town began about half-a-decade ago. “We started in 2017,” Glaser said, “the same as in all these towns.”
The effort to provide internet connectivity to small towns in the Bay State began in 2008, when a push for statewide internet access triggered the creation of the Mass. Broadband Institute (MBI). One of MBI’s significant achievements was Broadband123, a 1,200-mile fiber optic network that extended connection capabilities into many small towns, to enable service to schools and libraries. MBI is currently assisting 53 towns in setting up networks. To this point, $58 million has been invested in the program.
“We’re putting fiber on poles,” Glaser said. “39 miles.”
Information on the town’s website shows construction of the network is 99 percent complete. Wire and fiber optic cable installation, fiber optic enclosures, and fusion splicing are finished. Work scheduled for last week included testing in FSA3 and in a central network hut, and installations to customer homes in FSA1. The areas in Goshen covered by each FSA are documented in maps on the town website.
More than 250 customer installations are complete. 184,126 feet of metal wire are installed, along with 388,412 feet of fiber optic cable. Trenching and other excavation work in all three FSAs has been suspended until warmer weather thaws the ground. The town has about 600 homes, according to the Technology Collaborative, making it a middling size network.
Whip City Fiber offers 1 gigabit speeds, upload and download, with rates affected by a subscriber’s equipment and online activities. The basic charge for internet service is $85/month. Calling services, with internet, add $14.99/month, while calling alone is $54.95 monthly.
Telephone service over the internet is not the same as a landline. Calls made through the Goshen network will travel over the internet, rather than over telephone lines. Calls are sent via Voice Internet Operating Protocol (VOIP) technology, so the service is not suitable for emergency medical lines.
Westfield Gas & Electric, according to information from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, is currently assisting 20 towns building fiber optic and Wi-Fi networks. Goshen received a grant of $770,000 in October 2017, with later grants bringing the total state support to $1,479,783. Towns typically pay the majority of the cost of installing a network.
Residents who sign up with Whip City Fiber, the division of Westfield Gas & Electric that set up and will operate Goshen’s system, receive a town subsidy for installation costs. According to town policy, residents receive free installation if they commit before the end of February. The subsidy, up to $4,000, applies only to hook-ups accomplished before March 31. A minimum commitment of six months is required.
Residents sign up for service in Goshen at whipcityfiber.com/goshen. For help signing up call customer service at 485-1251. Technical support is reachable at 485-1204.
Those who paid an initial deposit to Wired West may seek a refund at wiredwest.net/campaign/refunds.