HAWLEY — Hawley, Monroe, Florida and Savoy have received a second wireless broadband proposal for access with a wireless system to be paid for with their combined “Last Mile” grant allocations from the state.
But first, these hilltowns, and their combined population of 1,900 people, must decide whether to give RedZone Wireless LLC 90 days to put together a formal written offer. Town officials attending RedZone’s presentation in Hawley Thursday night said they needed to find out if their selectboards are willing to wait another 90 days — and risk losing this year’s construction season to start building a wireless network from WiValley of Keene, N.H., which has already made a formal offer.
Town officials from the four communities said they would try to let RedZone President Jim McKenna know within a week or so if the towns will wait for a second formal proposal, which is to include cost estimates, available services, subscriber rates and other details.
WiValley proposed building a regional fiber optic network that would provide 96 percent access and subscribers’ fees of between $60 to $80 per month, depending upon internet speeds. Earlier this spring, WiValley President Brian Foucher said installation could begin this summer, if WiValley’s proposal was approved by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute.
When asked “why so late to the game?” McKenna said he had only recently learned about the need for rural broadband in western Massachusetts because the company was involved in a “massive project” in Maine. (RedZone currently serves about 225,000 rural households in 50 Maine communities.)
Among those who told him of the opportunity in western Massachusetts was Peter Larkin, board chairman of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), which is to oversee the Last Mile build-out.
“There’s a reason why you don’t have 10 RedZones knocking on your door,” McKenna said, referring to the small population and remote, difficult terrain to be covered.
“You’ve waited 12 years,” he said. “At least wait three months more, and do it right.”
Executive vice president Michael Forcillo explained the 90 days gives the company enough time to confirm the sites necessary for tower installation or to get permission for use of existing towers. He said the action plan for build-out on the hilly terrain will require 11 towers, including five existing towers that might be available for use.
“It’s a two-year project, if we only need to build six sites,” said RedZone President Jim McKenna. If RedZone is given the project, he said, the company could begin the installation in summer or winter, as has been done in Maine.
RedZone Wireless of Maine currently serves 225,000 rural Maine households and believes it could build out a full wireless network for these four towns with 11 towers, LTE radios, microwave radios and a few fiber connections for roughly the cost the their combined “Last Mile” broadband grants, which is about $2.14 million. The estimated subscriber cost would be about $50 for broadband download speeds of 25 mbps (megabits per second) and uploads of 3 mbps. He said the aim would be to get a 50 percent rate of subscribers.
Heath and Charlemont broadband committee members also attended this presentation. Although those towns are moving toward building fiber optic networks with their broadband grants and with town taxation, they are interested in looking at all available options.