Press Release

WESTBOROUGH – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) have reached agreement on a contract to deliver broadband internet service to five unserved towns in Massachusetts, eventually providing high-speed connectivity to more than 3,600 homes and businesses.

WEST STOCKBRIDGE - As part of Small Business Month, Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito today joined Berkshire County leaders to tour downtown small businesses that are benefitting from upgrades made by Charter Communications and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute’s (MBI) Last Mile Infrastructure Grant Program. West Stockbridge, Hinsdale, and Lanesbrough did not have access to any broadband services until receiving a 2016 grant through the Last Mile program. The program and investments in broadband infrastructure for towns unserved by high-speed internet are improving channels for businesses to connect with customers and providing digital and educational tools to residents and students.

WESTBOROUGH – Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced a total of $1.9 million in grant funds for the Towns of Alford, Otis, and Warwick, to finance the construction of high-speed internet networks in the three unserved Last Mile towns. The grant funding, approved today by the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI), is part of the administration’s continued commitment to ensuring broadband access to over 40 Last Mile towns in Massachusetts unserved by broadband internet access.

WESTBOROUGH - Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced the launch of a competitive solicitation for private sector proposals to close Last Mile broadband gaps in western and central Massachusetts towns. The request for proposals, issued by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI), will identify qualified private firms willing to design, build, own, operate, manage, and maintain high-speed broadband internet networks in the 40 Massachusetts towns currently unserved by broadband.

WESTBOROUGH – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) and Comcast have reached an agreement that will extend broadband access in nine municipalities in Western and North Central Massachusetts, a project which is estimated to deliver broadband connectivity to 1,089 new residences and businesses, and will bring the overall coverage level in each town to 96% or above. The grant will provide up to $4 million in state funds to reimburse partial project costs for Comcast, which has existing networks in each of the towns, to construct broadband internet extensions to additional homes and businesses.

WESTBOROUGH – The Baker-Polito Administration announced today a $1.6 million grant to Charter Communications to upgrade and extend broadband access in the unserved communities of Hinsdale, Lanesborough, and West Stockbridge.

BOSTON – The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has approved a grant to the Town of Mount Washington to support the construction of a ‘Fiber to the Home’ network that will deliver broadband access to the town’s residents. The grant of $230,000 from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (“MBI”) will help construct a fiber-optic network that will pass 96% of residences in the town. Of the households in Mount Washington, over 60% have agreed to take service on the proposed network, a fact the Town confirmed through a program which gathered a signed agreement from each subscriber committing to three years of data and phone service along with a $300 deposit.

Boston – Tuesday, May 10, 2016 – The Baker-Polito Administration met with municipal broadband leaders from across Western Massachusetts today to discuss a new framework for evaluating and advancing Last Mile Broadband projects in communities unserved or underserved by high-speed internet access. The dialogue centered on a flexible, responsive and community-based approach to prioritizing affordable and sustainable solutions to the broadband service challenges facing the Commonwealth’s 44 Last Mile communities.

LEVERETT – Citizens, elected officials, and executives from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts gathered today in Leverett, Mass., to celebrate the launch of the LeverettNet municipal fiber-optic broadband network, a new infrastructure project that offers gigabit-level Internet connectivity to every home and business in the town. The launch celebration, held at the Leverett Elementary School, highlighted the impact that broadband access will have on the community of 1,800 located in Western Massachusetts, including easier access to medical information, the increased ability of local students to complete online homework assignments, and the added opportunity for local small business owners and entrepreneurs to reach new customers via the web.

WESTBOROUGH – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MBI) recently completed construction and testing of MassBroadband 123, a 1,200-mile fiber-optic network bringing high-speed Internet access directly to 1,200 key facilities in more than 120 western and central Massachusetts communities. MassBroadband 123 is a critical component of the Commonwealth’s strategy to invest in innovation infrastructure in order to create growth and economic opportunity in every corner of the Commonwealth.