STATE TO ASK FEDS FOR $100 MIL TO DELIVER BROADBAND TO RURAL WEST TOWNS

By Michael Norton
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 13, 2009……State officials are prepared to formally apply for $100 million in federal stimulus funds to finance a western Massachusetts broadband network that they say will create more than 3,000 jobs.

The Massachusetts Broadband Institute voted Wednesday to apply for $100 million in funds from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for the design and construction of what’s being called a “middle mile” of fiberoptic infrastructure to assist 43 unserved and underserved western Massachusetts towns.

If approved, the funds would facilitate broadband connections with 10 public safety facilities, 20 hospitals and health facilities, as well as community colleges and career centers, institute director Sharon Gillett told the News Service Thursday afternoon.

Gillett said that within the area, which covers roughly a third of Massachusetts, private or non-profit Internet service providers would be able to, at cost, tap into the network through so-called last-mile access that would deliver broadband for the first time to residents, businesses, schools, libraries, police stations and town halls.

Asked about the likelihood that Massachusetts would receive the funds, Gillett said, “I think it’s very high. This is exactly the amount that we should be entitled to [based on population]. Aside from entitlement, we have a really compelling proposal. It is based on a very real need.”

Gillett described the middle mile as a fiberoptic ring that would circle the region, which covers Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties. She said industry officials during a July 21 meeting had expressed interest in also submitting grant applications under the Rural Utility Service’s broadband program.

The state’s application also seeks $5 million for a mapping project to more precisely outline broadband penetration in Massachusetts. Gillett said underserved communities are defined as those where 50 to 90 percent of residents do not have access to broadband and unserved communities as those where more than 90 percent have no access.

State officials estimate the initiative will create 1,360 construction jobs and 1,680 jobs that are spun off by the economic activity broadband is expected to trigger. The project area covers 1,591 square miles where 20,337 households and 5,750 businesses are located.

According to a map of the project area, the unserved communities are Hawley, Monterey, Savoy and Wendell. Underserved communities include Florida, Rowe, Heath, Colrain and Leyden, all along the Vermont border, as well as places like Hancock, Lanesborough, Alford and Egremont, which are situated on the New York border. Many of the underserved areas run south from the Vermont border in western Massachusetts, through communities like Plainfield, Worthington, Becket and Otis and to the Connecticut border and towns like Sandisfield and Tolland.

Noting a role for government to invest in an area where industry has been reluctant to due to lower population counts, Gillett said, “Those people still need their broadband just like the rest of us.”

The middle mile project plan includes $25 million in state funds and complements a $4.3 million project, conducted with the Massachusetts Highway Department, to deploy fiberoptic equipment along a 55-mile segment of the Interstate 91 corridor in western Massachusetts.

Gillett said Friday’s federal application deadline has been extended but the state’s plan is “ready to go.” The state expects to hear about the fate of its application in November.