Fours years after creating the WiredWest telecommunications coop to bring broadband to rural communities in Western Mass, 23 towns have signaled they’re ready to move forward with a regional fiber-optic network. Over the last several months, 23 WiredWest communities have passed bond authorizations totaling $36 million for their towns’ portions of costs to build a [...]
After creating a telecommunications coop to bring broadband to rural communities in Western Mass, and completing four years of planning, WiredWest member towns have signaled they’re ready to move forward with a regional fiber-optic network. Over the last two months, 22 WiredWest communities have passed bond authorizations totaling $34.5 million for their towns’ portions of [...]
Sixteen towns have passed bond authorization votes so far, totalling $26 million, which would qualify towns participating in a regional network to an additional $14 million in state funding through the Massachusetts Broadband Institute. Bond authorization votes require a 2/3rds majority to pass. The 16 towns that have passed it, have recorded votes well above [...]
Adding to previous affirmative WiredWest town bond authorization votes in six towns--Shutesbury, Cummington, Plainfield, West Stockbridge, Blandford and Windsor, are ten more towns that also passed with overwhelming majorities. Voters approved warrant articles authorizing borrowing for a broadband network at Town Meetings in Egremont, Colrain, and Washington, followed by Monterey and Becket on May 8th and 9th - [...]
In the first nine town meetings voting on a warrant article to authorize town borrowing to support a regional broadband network, the articles were approved overwhelmingly. In one town, even unanimously. Cummington went first on Friday night, followed by Plainfield and then Shutesbury on Saturday, and West Stockbridge, Blandford and Windsor on Monday. Egremont and Colrain followed [...]
This op-ed by Steve Nelson, WiredWest's Governance Chair, appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on April 15, 2015 For those of us in Western Mass. who have been without high-speed Internet service for far too long, our moment of truth is now at hand. A years-long effort to solve this problem will succeed or fail during town [...]
Thirty-two of WiredWest’s member towns are working to create a regional fiber broadband network to deliver high-speed internet, digital phone, TV and other services to homes and businesses. The network, estimated to cost $79 million, will be constructed by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, which will contribute about 40% of the funding for the network and oversee its construction. WiredWest will [...]
WiredWest Executive Committee members Monica Webb and Steve Nelson interviewed about the project on WGBY’s Connecting Point.
Video of the August 13, 2011 official formation of the WiredWest Cooperative.
Local residents, businesspeople, educators, legislators and community leaders talk about the challenges for Western Massachusetts of inadequate broadband – and the possibilities that a state-of-the-art fiber-to-the-home network would offer.