$45M to go to western Mass. broadband project

The Massachusetts Broadband Institute has qualified for $45.4 million in federal stimulus money that will be used to run roughly 1,300 miles of fiber-optic cable in western and north-central Massachusetts.

The fiber-optic network is an essential part of efforts by state and local officials to deliver high-speed Internet access to 123 municipalities in regions that currently are not served or have limited service.

This past spring, dozens of towns in the region gave initial approval to plans to create “last-mile” residential Internet services in their communities; these plans were contingent on the federal money for the “middle-mile” fiber-optic network coming through.

The middle-mile network will connect hundreds of anchor institutions, such as town halls, police departments, schools, and colleges, according to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute.

To ensure completion of the project, the Broadband Institute is required to gather data about broadband availability in each of the state’s 351 cities and towns. Local officials are asked to fill out a survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/MBI_Communities_Survey.

For more information, contact Christine Hatch at (508) 870-0312, ext. 1620, or hatch@masstech.org.