July 1 - September 30, 2010
Broadband Mapping:
- Developed an interactive statewide broadband map for the MBI web site.
- Collaborated with two regional planning agencies to develop a plan to verify cable and DSL availability through outreach to town liaisons in Franklin and northern Worcester counties.
- Collaborated with community colleges and evaluating hardware and software to develop a plan for a wireless drive study in the same towns.
- Prepared submission reports for broadband providers that participated in the first data collection.
- Continued outreach to unresponsive broadband providers and community anchor institutions.
- Participatrf in anchor institution webinars.
- Executed non-disclosure agreements with newly participating broadband providers.
- Located and verifying DSL infrastructure.
- Continued to collect, review, integrate and verify data from providers, anchor institutions and the public.
- Converted & validated data in the new FCC geodatabase schema in accordance with new guidelines and business rules.
- Purchased additional GIS software licenses and workstations.
Broadband Planning:
- In collaboration with WesternMA Connect, activities involved community outreach, zoning and by-law review and last-mile solutions to support deployment of broadband in western and central Massachusetts.
- Recruited community liaisons from the 123 communities in the MassBroadband 123 project service area and updated the community contact database.
- Hosted three regional outreach meetings attended by the community liaisons and the public.
- Held outreach meetings with the region’s mayors and local communities to discuss broadband planning and deployment.
- Collected materials and developed of a database inventory of wireless telecom regulations for municipal zoning bylaws to assist communities with changes as needed.
- Identifyed potential last-mile providers and developed strategies to bring broadband service to the unserved areas.