I want to share a letter I sent to Katie Stebbins, state’s assistant secretary of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship in the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and MBI Interim Director Elizabeth Copeland. Here’s what I wrote:
I just returned from a remote area in the Himalayas where they have better cellular and broadband penetration than here. western Massachusetts is behind third world countries.
It’s been eight years since the Legislature passed “emergency” funding to address this urgent need. Your plan for the private sector to build the last mile after building the middle mile didn’t pan out. It’s been three years since additional funding for the last mile was approved. Now you say you are first starting to “investigate technologies” and “develop strategies.” Where have you been?
I don’t think you understand the urgency of the situation. The few of us who have DSL out here will soon lose it as Verizon is phasing it out and is no longer accepting new accounts, even for purchasers of houses that previously had DSL. Our towns are economically dying. Young people are leaving. Houses are difficult to sell and declining in value. Home and small offices cannot compete. Rural Massachusetts is on the verge of massive economic collapse.
WiredWest, our regional co-op of unserved towns, has been working on this problem for years, as you know. We have thoroughly researched technologies and come up with a plan for a regional fiber network with creative ways to bring the cost down to affordable levels, even for towns that could not afford to do it on their own. This meets all of your criteria. Our business and financial plans have been thoroughly vetted by experts and been reviewed and approved by CTC, the leading experts on Municipal Broadband Networks. Our governance plan calls for shared ownership and operation through an LLC Co-op, very similar to how we run school systems, waste management systems, and other shared municipal resources.
We know this works.
Rather than cooperate with our effort, for some reason MBI has chosen to oppose WiredWest. The Wipro report you commissioned was biased and deeply flawed because it made many false assumptions that you didn’t bother to check before going public. MBI also objected to our organization agreement for contrived reasons. Your claim that if we share ownership, we won’t support a critical piece of infrastructure that we desperately need and have paid most of the cost for, is ridiculous and demeaning. Your refusal to accept it on the grounds that it doesn’t comply with an arbitrary policy you made is just circular logic. You can easily interpret or change the policy to include shared ownership. The only substantive argument against shared ownership MBI has presented is potential borrowing against assets without every town’s approval. This has been addressed in our organization agreement.
WiredWest has researched available technology, developed workable strategies for the business plan and governance of a regional network that will be ubiquitous and affordable both to towns and subscribers. We have achieved getting most towns to approve spending authorization for two thirds of the capital cost for constructing the network and 40% of residences to pre-signup with a deposit years ahead of expected service. We have done our due diligence and we’re ready to go. For you to now say, after all these years, that you need to first start investigating technologies and developing strategies is negligent at best.
We need this yesterday. Further delays are not acceptable. If you can’t move forward, then let our towns have our share of the allocated money so we can move forward. The legislation called for MassTech Collaborative to convene a meeting of potential grantees to decide how the money should be distributed. Rather than convening that meeting, MTC hijacked the funds and took control of the project away from the towns that the funding was intended to help. WiredWest, the co-op that truly represents the interests of our towns and people, has been denied a seat at the table and has been treated with contempt even though we are the ones making progress. For three years since the last mile funding was approved, MBI has done nothing but create delays and interference. Please drop the patronizing attitude and work with us to make rapid progress building this critical infrastructure.
David Dvore is chairman of the Rowe Broadband Committee.