Celebrating Telecommunications Progress for Western Mass

Yesterday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Governor Deval Patrick, Senator John Kerry, and Congressmen John Olver and Richard Neal came to Greenfield Community College to celebrate the state’s $45.4 million federal stimulus award to expand broadband access in western and north central Massachusetts.

The award, along with allocated state funds, will be used by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute to build a robust, fiber-optic wholesale network that reaches the center of 123 communities, and connects Western Massachusetts community anchor institutions – town halls, fire stations, schools and libraries to the network.

The event was attended by local and state legislators, broadband advocates and members of the media. Three members of the WiredWest Steering Committee were invited to attend the event and used the opportunity to thank our state and federal legislators and the MBI for their leadership and diligence in working to ensure Massachusetts is able to build a robust, future-proof telecommunications backbone for our region. Of course, we also worked to advance the WiredWest cause – the critical need to extend the middle mile connectivity into a last-mile, fiber-optic network to ensure that every home and business that wants service can be connected.

It was reassuring to hear politicians at every level reinforce the fundamental importance of universal broadband. According to U.S. Commerce Secretary Locke, “Every American has the right to the economic, educational and social benefits of broadband,” and “people should be able to share knowledge and exchange information regardless of who they are or where they live.”

In addition, the involvement of government in the provision of critical rural broadband infrastructure – both for middle and potentially last mile as well – was expressed. Secretary Locke stated, “Just like the federal government finances highways and local governments fund the building of local roads, the government is funding the internet highway – and local governments, non-profits and private companies provide local access.”

Overall, it was a great event that clearly demonstrated widespread recognition of the necessity of high-speed connectivity for all citizens, students, businesses, governments and public safety agencies in order for them to survive and thrive in the 21^st century. At WiredWest, we’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and doing our part to make this vision a reality.