Reprinted from the Berkshire Eagle By Larry Parnass, lparnass@berkshireeagle.com "Productive." "Optimistic." After a year in the deep freeze, relations between state officials and broadband activists in Western Massachusetts appear to be thawing. Leaders of WiredWest used the words above to describe their meeting last week with Carolyn Kirk, the state's deputy secretary of housing and [...]
Who is WiredWest? Massachusetts laws allow towns to own and operate utility companies called Municipal Light Plants (MLPs). WiredWest is a Cooperative of town MLPs joining together for operational efficiencies and cost savings. The coop is governed by delegates from the member towns for the purpose of delivering high quality broadband service to all residents [...]
Reprinted from The Recorder By DIANE BRONCACCIO , Recorder Staff Thursday, March 30, 2017 Local officials say they hope the state’s revised broadband policy will break the gridlock on which the internet build-out for unserved towns has stalled over the last two years. “This new grant program is a huge step forward for last-mile broadband,” said [...]
Bob Labrie and Tim Newman answer questions about WiredWest's Regional Broadband Solution on WGBY's Connecting Point.
Generally, MLP's are required to pay into a deprecation reserve account 3% of the replaceable assets per year. We have been figuring this into our financial model for towns and it turns out to be a significant component of cost. Recent communications (below) reveal that Telecom MLP's formed to deliver internet service are not required [...]
By law, the MLP may be governed by either a group of elected individuals (a Light Plant Board) or the Select Board, itself. Because new WiredWest MLPs will primarily be acting as cooperative members and are unlikely to take significant actions independently, it may be most efficient for the Select Board to govern directly. However, The [...]
On February, 16, 2017 the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) held an open meeting to hear from MBI town designees and local Select board members about their thoughts regarding the results of the Private Provider RFP. The meeting took place at the Worthington, Massachusetts Town Hall. Select board members and designees wishing to speak were asked [...]
WiredWest Delegates, At the Board meeting on February 4, 2017 in Becket, the WiredWest Board passed two resolutions for approval by member town Select Boards. These resolutions were already forwarded to delegates who were in attendance at the meeting. If you were not in attendance, the intention is for you to present these to your [...]
By Larry Parnass, Reprinted from The Berkshire Eagle WORTHINGTON — Broadband advocates from Berkshire County and beyond pressed Thursday for the Massachusetts Broadband Institute to free up funding, speed decision-making and support regional solutions to a problem they say impairs civic life. Their sometimes sharply worded remarks took frequent aim at the MBI itself, saying [...]
By JIM LEVULIS, WAMC - Original post on WAMC.org http://cpa.ds.npr.org/wamc/audio/2017/01/wiredwestweb.mp3 Efforts to bring broadband internet to underserved areas of rural, western Massachusetts have been ongoing for more than a decade. Now the regional cooperative WiredWest has a new proposal. It comes after Governor Charlie Baker’s administration shook up and reviewed the efforts of the [...]