by Larry Parnass - The Berkshire Eagle Read full story NORTHAMPTON — Rather than build and run a sprawling regional broadband system, a nonprofit cooperative now seeks to fill a narrower but critical role for towns fighting to obtain fast internet connections. WiredWest leaders made this case Saturday to municipal officials from across Western Massachusetts: [...]
Published as a My Turn article in the Greenfield : The Greenfield Recorder, David Dvore, My Turn/Dvore: Where is the broadband?, January 23, 2017 What happens when you put lawyers and politicians in charge of a project that requires business and technical expertise? MBI, Massachusetts Broadband Institute, was created in 2008 by emergency legislation that allocated [...]
With the start of the new year, we want to thank your supporters and share with you our new plans for moving forward in 2017. As you may know, in late 2015 Governor Baker placed a ‘pause’ on all state Last Mile Broadband projects. In May 2016 the Baker Administration lifted the ‘pause’ and named [...]
MBI was initially funded and created by emergency legistlation in 2008 with a mandate to bring broadband internet service to all 45 unserved communities. Instead, they spent $80M building the MB123 middle mile to 123 communities which they claimed would attract private companies to finish the last mile. It never did and now is a hindrance to [...]
An anonymous admirer of WiredWest nominated us for the 2016 1Berkshire award for Growing/Advancing the Berkshire Economy. We made it to the finals. WiredWest didn't win, but we were one of 5 finalists. Steve Nelson attended the ceremony to receive the award on behalf on WiredWest. An unexpected recognition of our work.
The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University is a public policy institute whose mission is to explore and understand cyberspace. Read the Center’s just-released long-researched case study on WiredWest. WiredWest: a Cooperative of Municipalities Forms to Build a Fiber Optic Network. Western Massachusetts Towns Create a New Model for Last-Mile Connectivity, but a [...]
Read the Report It recently became clear that a rational, data driven analysis comparing the financial impacts of regionalization with towns going it alone was needed for all involved. Only with such a comparison could towns make informed, eyes wide open, decisions on how best to proceed with bringing broadband to their citizens. And this [...]
Tim Newman (WiredWest Spokesperson and Delegate from New Marlborough) and Bob Labrie (WiredWest Executive Committee, Treasurer and Delegate from Goshen) are interviewed for this piece that showcases the efforts small towns are making to bring high speed internet to rural America. Click here for a link to the story and accompanying transcript. While cable companies [...]
Notes from May 10, 2016 meeting between Governor Baker and invitees from Western Mass ATTENDEES: Baker Administration and state officials: Governor Baker, Lt. Governor Polito, Secretary Jay Ash, Carolyn Kirk, (Deputy Secretary of Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development), Sean Cronin (Senior Deputy Commissioner of Division of Local Services [part of DOR]), Peter Larkin (MBI), [...]
