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Date: 9/13/2023
HAMPDEN — Roughly 40 Hampden residents attended an information session on the town’s plan to build a municipal fiber optic broadband system. Hampden Board of Selectmen member Craig Rivest led the session.
Rivest called fiber-optic technology, “a pathway to rapid, dependable connectivity.” Residents would not be required to sign up for the network, but Rivest said “everyone benefits” from the service.
Town Administrator Bob Markel agreed. He commented that “it’s in everyone’s interest” to build the network because it gives residents a choice in what company provides their internet and increases competition among providers. He noted that Spectrum, which is the sole cable TV provider in town, and Disney have recently been battling over a new carriage agreement, resulting in Disney pulling its channels from the cable platform. If Hampden had its own internet provider, customers in such a situation could choose to switch to another service that still offers those channels.
The town has partnered with Whip City Fiber, an internet service provider operated by Westfield Gas & Electric, which is owned by the municipality.
How it works
Internet service requires a conversation between electronic devices and the signal source, with data sent in both directions. Rivest said that while Spectrum averages 300-500 megabits per second sent to customer devices, the speed of data from devices to the source is just 10-20 megabits per second.
He explained that cable-based internet service providers, such as Spectrum and Xfinity, send and receive data through coaxial cables. He said upload speeds along those cables are limited, whereas signal travels along fiber optic wires at the speed of light. Whip City Fiber Account and Sales Manager Brian Sullivan said this means fiber optic connections can send and receive data at 10 gigabits per second, with the capacity to expand as future needs increase.
Rather than receiving programming from the same company that provides internet, the town-owned fiber optic network would be a “vehicle” for streaming programming, Rivest said. Users would have to sign up for one or more streaming services, such as Philo, Hulu, or SlingTV, to receive programs. Many platforms offer local stations, which are also broadcast for free and can be received with the use of an antenna.
If a customer does not have a smart TV, they would also need to purchase a device to make their TV capable of streaming content.
Cost and rollout
Up to this point, the town has used grant funding to explore adopting a town-run network. If Hampden moves forward with the network, the infrastructure will cost an estimated $8.5 million, for which the town would seek a bond. The cost of the internet service per customer, including their share of the infrastructure, would be $85 per month, although there are discounts for seniors and low-income residents. Of that monthly bill, $28 would go to Whip City Fiber for administration and maintenance costs. The remainder would be put into an enterprise fund to pay off the town’s debt in connection with the build-out. After the 20-year bond is paid off, the town’s portion of the bill paid by customers would be revenue. Whip City Fiber Director of Customer Service and Sales Caitrin Ferriter said that the higher the take rate, the sooner the bond can be paid down.
Of the 1,980 potential customers in Hampden, 50% of them would have to sign up for the fiber optic network to make the system self-sustaining. Unless that take rate is met, the enterprise fund would need to be subsidized by the town’s budget to keep the system running.
Whip City Fiber has broken up the town into nine service areas. Rivest said the network would be installed in the service areas with the highest take rate first. This would ensure that the take rate would be highest when the town goes out to bond for the full amount of the installation cost.
Resident asked if the cost would be tiered for customers who do not need the full 10-gigabit speed. Rivest explained that it would be more work for Whip City Fiber to “throttle down” the speed and therefore cost more money, rather than less.
Hampden’s network
“It’s not Whip City Fiber’s network,” Sullivan said. “It’s Hampden’s network.” Whip City Fiber Marketing and Communications Manager Lisa Stowe said that rather than paying a large corporation, people would be supporting their town when they paid their bill.
Rivest said Hampden would set the rates through a committee once the system is up and running. The contract with Whip City Fiber would be renegotiated after 10 years, but because the company is municipally owned and does not answer to shareholders, the representatives said the company does not need to raise rates consistently.
Stowe said the Whip City Fiber is “customer first” and guaranteed people would not experience frustrating customer service issues that many in the crowd mentioned having with their current service provider. One member of the Fiber Optic Committee said there would be “a lot of hand holding” to help new customers.
When it comes to servicing downed lines and addressing outages, Catrin said technicians take their trucks home to Westfield, Springfield and Palmer. If an outage happens, one of these technicians will answer the service call.
Ferriter said that Whip City Fiber wants to build trust with the community and will be conducting public outreach to answer questions about the network.
Someone asked how Spectrum might react once customers are siphoned away to the town’s network. No one could say whether Spectrum might raise rates for their remaining customers. Stowe shared that when Westfield customers first began signing up for the municipal fiber optic system, Comcast, which had a cable contract with the town, took out a billboard and advertisements to attract customers back. It did not work, she said.
Next steps
The infrastructure would be attached to the same poles that carry overhead power and cable lines. In areas that have underground utility infrastructure, Whip City Fiber would install the lines underground. Currently, the company is working with National Grid and Verizon to negotiate the usage of their utility poles. Next, the town would move into the “make ready” phase, during which they would install any needed poles and the fiber optic lines.
One resident said their relatives in Westfield “love their service” and asked how soon it would be ready in Hampden. Sullivan said it would take about three years for the network to be installed and customers to begin using their service.
The crowd laughed when one person commented, “I got here late because I couldn’t get on the internet with Spectrum.”
The evening’s presentation is available on the town’s website, hampdenma.gov. More informational sessions will be conducted before the Oct. 30 fall Town Meeting when the town will ask for a bond anticipation approval, the next step in the process.