broadband

BOSTON – Today, the Biden-Harris administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved Massachusetts’ proposal under NTIA’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program that will allow Massachusetts to request up to $147 million in federal funding to expand access to high-speed internet in the state.

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. – The Healey-Driscoll Administration, in partnership with Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's (MassTech) Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), awarded $45.4 million in grants through the state’s Broadband Infrastructure Gap Networks Program, a program funded through the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund that aims to expand high-speed broadband internet infrastructure to underserved homes, business, and community anchor institutions across the state.

WESTBOROUGH, MASS. – Today, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) announced the first group of 35 municipalities supported by the Commonwealth’s Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program, a statewide effort to guide municipal decision-making and investments that will increase access, adoption, and usage of the internet, in particular for populations most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The municipalities in the program receive expert consultation on the determining factors of digital access, including internet availability and affordability, access to connected devices, and digital skills training.

Ashfield — State officials celebrated the impacts of the Last Mile infrastructure program, which has delivered high-speed internet access to approximately 26,000 premises across 53 towns in north-central and western Massachusetts, and discussed programs that will leverage over $350 million in anticipated state and federal funding to address digital equity and broadband infrastructure gaps that exist statewide.
 

HOLYOKE — Today, the Baker-Polito Administration celebrated the completion of Make Ready work, a four-year, coordinated effort to remove the largest obstacle to extending broadband access across 53 “Last Mile” communities in Western and Central Massachusetts. During a roundtable event hosted at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke, Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, and Undersecretary of Community Development Ashley Stolba commemorated the milestone with executives from the utility companies, service providers, and construction contractors who comprised the Make Ready Working Group responsible for delivering high-speed internet access to the doorsteps of 28,000 households in these towns.

WESTBOROUGH – In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) at the MassTech Collaborative and KCST USA, the operator of the Commonwealth-owned MassBroadband 123 fiber optic network, are working with local internet service providers (ISPs) to offer new Wifi hotspots to municipalities that lack broadband access. Built off of the MassBroadband 123 network, this new service offers each unserved community a temporary 250 Megabit per second wireless hotspot, free of any monthly charge. This will allow unserved communities that do not have a completed broadband project to increase wireless broadband access for residents and students impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.

PELHAM –Lt. Governor Karyn Polito joined leaders from nine western and central Massachusetts communities to celebrate the completion of the Broadband Extension Program, a project funded under the Commonwealth’s Last Mile program. The celebration took place in the Pelham Library and was attended by executives from Comcast, which oversaw expansion of broadband networks in nine towns in western and central Massachusetts, leaders from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), and community leaders from the nine communities.

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.