You asked for information about efforts to expand cable TV access in the rural western Massachusetts. The initiatives to which you refer actually deal with broadband access, which can provide a wide range of telecommunications and data transmission services as well as cable TV programming. Broadband access can be provided by several technologies, including fiber optic cable, digital subscriber lines, and wireless technologies.

INCREASING BROADBAND ACCESS IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

According to two non-profit consortia serving western Massachusetts, Berkshire Connect and Pioneer Valley Connect, one-third of the towns in western Massachusetts lack broadband access and the other towns have limited access. The “Connects” include business, cultural, academic and community leaders. They were established in the late 1990s, in part to use telecommunications technologies to promote economic development in the region.

In 2005 and 2006, the consortia sponsored a pilot project to study why the private market was not investing in advanced telecommunications technologies in the region. It found that there is no economic rationale in a deregulated market for companies to invest in new infrastructure in areas with low population density and high costs of technology deployment. The study also presented a hybrid network design consisting of both fiber optic and wireless elements. The study argued that this design would be economic, efficient, and possess assets that would endure over a long time and adapt to evolving technologies.

In 2006, the Connects began to evaluate the cost to implement the proposed hybrid network, and retained consultants to complete the network design and financial analysis needed to deploy the network. The evaluation was completed in 2007, and found that an investment of $ 20 million would leverage private investments sufficient to ensure affordable access for all unserved and underserved areas of western Massachusetts.

In 2006, the John Adams Innovation Institute provided the Connects with a joint, two-year $ 300,000 grant to improve broadband access. The institute, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, supports technology-based economic development initiatives in the state. The grant is being used to:

1. implement experimental approaches and testing programs for wireless technologies in three towns in the region;

2. conduct a series of broadband public forums, describing the technologies and the project to provide access to underserved towns;

3. develop regional approaches and identify funding to implement a long-term solution; and

4. develop a public-private organizational solution capable of overseeing the long-term management of assets.

The first part of the initiative is creating neighborhood-based wireless networks in the towns of Florida, New Salem, and Worthington, which previously did not have broadband access. The networks will be available to serve municipal buildings, businesses, and residences located in a limited area of each town. The Connects will install elements of a broadband network and provide technical assistance for at least one year. They will document the year long tests and make their findings available online for reference by other communities who may want to implement similar efforts.

As part of the initiative, the institute also commissioned a report on potential funding sources for improved broadband access in rural areas. The report, issued in June 2006, describes two U. S. Department of Agriculture programs to improve broadband access in communities with up to 20,000 residents, one that provides grants and one that provides loans. The report notes that both programs are highly competitive and that to date no municipalities in New England have received funding

under them. The report is available at: http: //image. zenn. net/REPLACE/CLIENT/1000052/1000161/application/pdf/BroadbandInitiativeFundingReport. pdf

The Connects are currently seeking $ 20 million in capital from the state to deploy the network. Further information about the broadband initiative is available at http: //www. bconnect. org/broadband. html.

KM: dw