Submitted by Daniel Howard, General Manager, WG+E and WCF
If you haven’t already heard, we are starting February off with a big announcement. The $15M bond which we requested from the City Council passed unanimously through both the Finance Committee and the first reading with the entire Council last Thursday, February 2nd. We’re hopeful the Council will give their final approval at the next meeting on February 16th. We regularly hear from customers who
can’t wait for us to come to their neighborhood. Approval of the bond would be great news for the community, allowing us to bring Whip City Fiber to an additional 10,000 households in Westfield by the end of 2018. The financing that a bond offers typically covers a two-year construction project and this expansion won’t be able to cover all of Westfield in this period of time. I thought this would be a good
opportunity to spell out how the decisions about where we build are made.
The first thing to keep in mind is that, as a resident of Westfield, Whip City Fiber (just like Westfield Gas + Electric) is actually your business. From day one, we have developed a business plan with a focus on adhering to good industry practices and, more importantly, being responsible to the people of Westfield. While it might be well received to bring high speed internet to every corner of the city right away, we need to take into account the construction limitations and timelines of what can be completed in this initial period. We also look at what can be financially sustained during the same time frame.
You may remember that we began with a small pilot in October of 2015. That area was selected to challenge us with different technical issues including various types of installations and a mixed demographic of customers. The success of the pilot showed us that we could move ahead incrementally, proving the success of our business plan at each step along the way. Since that time we’ve constructed an additional nine “fiberhoods” and now pass by 2,000 homes and businesses. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the service has been very well received. High-speed internet that can support modern technologies is no longer just “nice to have”. Households are using an unprecedented amount of bandwidth and have more internet-dependent devices than ever.
So, how do we decide where to bring Whip City Fiber next? Many factors go into the decision. It makes sense to build where residents have shown high interest through our website (whipcityfiber.com). Added to that are seasonal considerations—it’s impractical to install underground services during a New England winter. Then there are other engineering considerations including where the infrastructure is already in place and sufficient to support the interest in those areas. Taken together, these factors point us toward a solid plan for bringing fiber to more customers and maintaining a successful business model for going forward. Beyond this initial build out we plan to continue expansion to those other areas not included in the initial design.
We recently announced the next four areas that will receive Whip City Fiber in the next few months. The lucky fiberhoods are the East Mountain Road area from Holyoke Road west to Deepwood Drive, the Ridgecrest Drive area north of Bigwood Drive, Montgomery Road area from Edgewood Street to Belleview Drive, and the Meadow Street area between Lewis and Otis Streets. Customers in these areas
can complete an application at www.whipcityfiber.com today. We expect to start installing overhead services starting in March and underground services as soon as the ground thaws. Welcome to the service, savings, and reliability of Whip City Fiber, your local high-speed internet provider!
Next month’s column will cover the many ways we are ready help you make the most of your service—including one-on-one consultations to help you “cut the cord” from cable. For more information about Whip City Fiber, check out our website at www.whipcityfiber.com.
