Baker-Polito Administration Extends Wireless Hotspot Program in Unserved Massachusetts Towns

Monday, August 24, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Baker-Polito Administration Extends Wireless Hotspot Program in Unserved Massachusetts Towns

Extends 26 Wireless Sites to End of 2020 in Response to COVID-19

WESTBOROUGH – The Baker-Polito Administration has officially extended the free wireless hotspot program that has delivered public high-speed internet connections to residents and students in unserved Massachusetts towns, in response to the COVID-19 public health pandemic. The program, originally slated to end September 1^st, will be extended through the end of 2020.

The program, announced in April by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) and KCST USA, the operator of the Commonwealth-owned MassBroadband 123 fiber optic network, has launched public hotspots in 26 communities that lack high-speed internet connectivity, providing a 250 Megabit per second wireless hotspot, free of any monthly charge to towns or residents. The sites were connected with the active support of several regional internet service providers (ISPs), including AccessPlus, Crocker Communications, and Westfield Gas+Electric (WG+E).

A current list of hotspot sites is available on MBI’s website and is included below. Each site will provide residents with instructions on how to access the hotspots. Residents who use these hotspots are urged to follow social distancing protocols in accordance with the guidance issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

TOWN	LOCATION	ADDRESS	PROVIDER
Ashfield	Belding Memorial Library	344 Main Street	WG+E
Becket	Town Hall	557 Main Street	WG+E
Blandford	Town Hall	1 Russell Stage Road	WG+E
Charlemont	Hawlemont Regional School	10 School Street	WG+E
Chesterfield	Town Offices	422 Main Road	WG+E
Colrain	Library	12 Main Road	WG+E
Cummington	Town Hall	33 Main Street	Crocker Communications
Florida	Senior Center	367 Mohawk Trail	Access Plus
Goshen	Town Office	40 Main Street	WG+E
Hancock	Elementary School	3080 Hancock Road	Crocker Communications
Hawley	Town Offices	8 Pudding Hollow Road	Access Plus
Heath	Former Heath Elementary School	18 Jacobs Road	WG+E
Leyden	School/Town Office	7 Brattleboro Road	WG+E
Monroe	Town Offices	3C School Street	Access Plus
New Braintree	Leroy Pollard Memorial Library	45 Memorial Drive	Crocker Communications
New Marlborough	Library	1 Mill River-Gt. Barrington Road	Crocker Communications
New Salem	Swift River School	201 Wendell Road	WG+E
Petersham	Town Offices	3 South Main Street	Crocker Communications
Sandisfield	Town Hall	66 Sandisfield Road	Crocker Communications
Savoy	Town Hall	720 Main Road	Access Plus
Tolland	Town Hall	241 W Granville Rd	Crocker Communications
Warwick	Warwick Community School	41 Winchester Road	Access Plus
Washington	Town Hall	8 Summit Hill Road	WG+E
Wendell	Town Offices	9 Morse Village Road	WG+E
Windsor	Town Hall	1890 Route 9 (Berkshire Trail)	WG+E
Worthington	R.H. Conwell Elementary	147 Huntington Road	Crocker Communications

The MBI and KCST worked with ISPs to offer the new wireless hotspots. The ISPs worked with each community to establish the hotspot at a public community anchor institution, such as town halls, libraries, and schools. These facilities are connected to MassBroadband 123, the 1,200 mile fiber-optic network launched in 2014 with federal and state support.

Progress continues on efforts to extend high-speed connectivity in unserved communities, projects which have been supported by over $55 million in direct grants from the Commonwealth's Last Mile program. Of the 53 communities in the program, 21 now have completed projects, delivering broadband access to an estimated 18,000 citizens. Projects are nearing completion in another 11 communities, with service rolling out to residents and businesses by the end of 2020.

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About the Massachusetts Broadband Institute

A division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) is working to extend high-speed Internet access to homes, businesses, schools, libraries, medical facilities, government offices, and other public places across the Commonwealth. Learn more at https://broadband.masstech.org.