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Bridging the Digital Divide |
Expanded Focus of Western MA Broadband ForumDate: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 The upcoming Western MA Broadband Forum has recently taken on even greater importance. We encourage you to take part in this event and participate in planning for the future of your community and the region. As originally envisioned, the Western MA Broadband Forum will review the activities to be undertaken through the existing federal broadband mapping and planning grant by the MBI, in conjunction with their regional planning agency partners and with the support of local municipalities like yours. The Forum will have a greater focus on future plans and directions of the broadband efforts in western Massachusetts. The MBI, WesternMA Connect, application partners and various stakeholders were disappointed by the recent news that the western Massachusetts applications for Round I of federal broadband funding were not successful. With the experience garnered through the first application and with the release of revised program guidelines, the MBI will continue its work and seek federal funds from the second round. The MBI will also focus its efforts on the best deployment strategies using state resources. New MBI Director Judy Dumont will review the current activities of the MBI and will moderate a discussion of future opportunities. The purpose of this forum is to establish a framework of collaboration with municipal decision-makers and local broadband advocates for the goal of facilitating broadband deployment in our region. We look forward to seeing you at the WesternMA Broadband Forum. Pre-registration by February 1st is appreciated.
Massachusetts Broadband Institute is a division of MTC |
