Broadband application for Western Mass. is stymied
Posted Jan 27, 2010
Boston Globe
GREENFIELD -- Plans to bring high-speed telecommunications to all of Western Massachusetts have suffered a setback with the rejection of an application for $100 million in federal stimulus money.
Judy Dumont, director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, says she was "disappointed and certainly surprised" by yesterday's decision, but tells the Recorder of Greenfield the agency will apply for the next round of funding.
A spokeswoman for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration refused to say why the application was rejected, other to say that the process was "very competitive." The plan is to create a fiber-optic ring around the four western Massachusetts counties and bring broadband capability to 33 communities identified under federal guidelines as being either unserved or under-served.
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