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Date: 9/8/2020
BLANDFORD – The free Wi-Fi hot spot set up for residents at Blandford Town Hall will be extended through the end of 2020, the Baker-Polito administration announced recently. The program was originally slated to end Sept. 1. The free wireless hotspot program delivers public high-speed internet connections to residents and students in unserved Massachusetts towns, in response to the COVID-19 public health pandemic.
The sites were connected with the active support of several regional internet service providers (ISPs), including AccessPlus, Crocker Communications, and Westfield Gas+Electric (WG+E).
Blandford Town Administrator Joshua Garcia said the town had installed a 5G network at Town Hall with the help of Whip City Fiber through the earlier grant from the state.
Garcia said the Wi-Fi at the Town Hall is pressed up against the front window, and projects into the parking lot. He said people may access it from their cars, or from park benches while the Town Hall remains closed to the public. “There are a lot of people using it. People drive up or sit to access it,” Garcia said
Blandford also has its own hot spots in the parking lots outside of the post office and the Porter Memorial Library. Garcia said although they are not 5G, they do provide access to some internet for residents.
Blandford is in the process of connecting to broadband with the help of Westfield Gas & Electric, and has chosen Whip City Fiber as its ISP. Garcia said construction to connect residences will begin soon, with a target timeline for hookup at the end of the calendar year or beginning of 2021.
Garcia said the recent storms have set everybody back. He also said that the Blandford Municipal Light Board will be holding a public meeting later in September, to update residents on the progress of the construction, and to give them the opportunity to sign up for Whip City Fiber.