MONTGOMERY – After Monday’s vote of 128 for a fiber optic network through Wired West and 103 against, falling short by 26 votes of the two-thirds majority needed, selectman Daniel Jacques ponders what’s next for the town’s search for broadband.
He said the Select Board will consider establishing a broadband committee to see what other options are available.
“I don’t think the board on its own will do it,” he said.
He said he would like to see an independent group of people serve on the committee.
“We need dedicated people to put in a lot of time,” he said.
The time pressure comes from the June 30, 2016 deadline for reimbursement from the state.
“There is a very serious uphill battle to reach those deadlines,” Jacques said. He said the estimated cost for the last mile broadband project in Montgomery is $1,510,000. Of that, the state would kick in $550,000. The town would have to borrow the remaining $960,000, which is the authorization they were seeking at Monday’s vote.
Jacques said the project started when the town voted almost unanimously in 2011 to form a Municipal Light Plan (MLP) for this purpose. An MLP is a citizen-owned, not-for-profit Utility Corporation. MLPs are authorized under MA General Law Chapter 164, Section 47C and certified by the MA Secretary of State to provide telecommunications, electricity and energy services. WiredWest is a cooperative of MLPs in 32 western Massachusetts towns, according to its website.
After researching different options for telecommunications, it became apparent to the Select Board that the cooperative would be the best option for the town, Jacques said.
“The cooperative model pays back the debt for the town through the revenue generated by the network,” he said, adding that not many private sector companies would do this because they couldn’t guarantee that it would be repaid.
Jacques, who is the WiredWest delegate for Montgomery, speculated that the reason they lost the vote was that some people weren’t entirely sold on the WiredWest model, and thought the private sector should provide the service. Others didn’t believe taxes should pay for it, and were skeptical the money would come back to the town. Others, he said, are happy with their DSL (digital subscriber line), or don’t go on the Internet at all.
Residents of Montgomery now have either DSL through Verizon, satellite, wireless, or dial-up access to the Internet. The DSL lines were made possible by equipment from Boston that was obsolete, and Verizon has said they have no plans to upgrade or replace them. Satellite and wireless are expensive, and not all residents have wireless coverage available to them. Comcast needs a minimum of fifteen houses per mile to meet its expenses, and does not cover the town
Even among the members of the Select Board, Jacques said one wasn’t entirely convinced that a public model was the best option but said they were “pretty unanimous” that the town needs broadband.
“Our kids have never lived without the Internet,” he said.
The Select Board will take up the discussion of a broadband committee at its next meeting on Nov. 20. Jacques said the board wants townspeople to get involved, understand this is important, and make it happen.
“For the good of the town, whatever the final solution is, we don’t have much time,” he said.
