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Assurances on Broadband access
The Berkshire Eagle
June 20, 2009

GREAT BARRINGTON -- Before a large and often emotional crowd, the director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute spent two hours on Friday afternoon fielding questions on the lack of broadband access in the Berkshires, and outlining the organization's plans to tap into a pool of federal economic stimulus money to expand that technology here.

Speaking at the Berkshire South Regional Community Center, MBI Director Sharon Gillett said the organization's first priority was to make sure that every community in Western Massachusetts has access to broadband technology.

"Reaching everyone is our first mandate," Gillett said, adding that the kinds of access that residents want is "the next step." MBI's goal, "is to build a fiber backbone that will cover all of Western Massachusetts," Gillett said. "If we can get [broadband] into every town center it will make it easier for companies to come in." Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government has appropriated $7.2 billion nationwide to promote high-speed Internet, or broadband, Gillett said. The majority of the funding will be used to increase broadband access in rural, unserved, and underserved areas. About $4 million of the stimulus funding is available for infrastructure.

"We hope there will be technical funding in the stimulus money," Gillett said.

According to WesternMA Connect, this area's broadband advocacy group, five of the nine communities in the four counties of Western Massachusetts that have no access to broadband technology are located in Berkshire County. Three of those towns, Alford, Mount Washington, and Tyringham, are located in South County. The others are Peru and Savoy.

Judging by the questions and comments posed by the roughly 140 people in attendance, several other communities in the Berkshires have limited access to broadband service. Representatives of Time Warner Cable's division in Albany, N.Y., and Comcast also attended the meeting, but did not speak.

Several people expressed frustration at the lack of broadband access in South County, particularly for public safety reasons.

"It we can build roads and foundations there's no reason why we can't have broadband access here," said Charles Flynn, the chairman of the Southern Berkshire Technology Committee.

In response, Don Dubendorf, chairman of WesternMA Connect's board of directors, urged those in attendance to be patient. He said if the MBI can succeed in bringing a broadband connection to each town's seat of government, access to individual residents will follow.

"I know the impatience is there," Dubendorf said. "But we're doing the best that we can right now. We have to get as much federal money as we can. That's the key piece of the work that you have to be patient with." Tim Newman, of Southfield, who is also a member of the Southern Berkshire Technology Committee, said access to Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service or cable television doesn't mean that residents of this area have "21st century broadband." He asked if MBI planned to have broadband companies agree to a minimum of conditions that define the services they can provide.

Dubendorf said the first step is having an infrastructure "backbone" in place.

"If you get the price levels and don't have a backbone that doesn't work," he said.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick created the MBI when he signed the state Broadband Act last August. The Broadband Act gives the MBI the authority to invest up to $40 million of state bond funds in necessary and long-lived infrastructure assets, such as conduits, fiber-optic cable, and wireless towers, according to a comprehensive broadband plan that the MBI is charged with designing and executing.

The first step of the plan is assessing existing broadband availability, which is currently under way, Gillett said. Once this process is complete, Gillett said MBI will apply for a portion of the federal economic stimulus funding, which is available to every state.

"Our job is to go out and compete for as much as possible for Massachusetts," she said.

Gillett said residents can assist MBI by compiling accurate data about broadband through a survey on the organization's Web site, while town officials should review bylaws to see if those ordinances need to be changed of modified for wireless technology.

"If a scenic ridge is more important, don't complain if you don't have broadband," Gillett said. "That's your choice." To reach Tony Dobrowolski: TDobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com (413) 496-6224