Advocates for a public, high-speed municipal network for Northampton Massachusetts
Our coalition met Wednesday with Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz and Antonio Pagan, the city’s Chief Information Officer. The Mayor confirmed that he wants the coalition to help draft an RFP (Request for Proposal) that the city will use for the first phase of the study for a municipal network. The first phase will study the …
This post was updated to reflect that the capital fund plan was approved. On Thursday, the mayor’s FY20 capital fund plan was given both a first and second reading by the Northampton City Council, effectively approving the capital plan. The capital fund plan includes $30,000 for the first phase of the two-year study of a …
Plainfield, Massachusetts plans to start construction of its municipal network on July 15th. The network will be built by Whip City Fiber of Westfield, the Municipal Light Plant created by the City of Westfield. All homes signed up should be online by early next year. Note: this information comes from an article on page B1 …
Last Thursday, the Northampton City Council approved Fiscal Year 2020 funding (which starts July 1, 2019) for the city’s departments, including the city’s IT Services Department. That department will presumably be overseeing the study of a municipal network for Northampton. This does not mean that the study’s funding is now approved by the City Council. …
The Northampton City Council is in the midst of debating the city’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget, which starts July 1. Part one was last night. Part two is tonight. The budget is comprehensive, so it includes funding for all the city’s departments and initiatives. The City Council can remove any proposed funding in the budget …
The 53 of the 472 voters in Plainfield who showed up for the town’s annual meeting approved funding for a municipal network for the town. Service will start in early 2020 and will be provided and constructed by Whip City Fiber, the Municipal Light Plant for the City of Westfield. $149,876 in funding was approved …
Hanuman Goleman of Florence has thrown his hat into the Ward 7 council race. Ward 7 is located in Leeds and parts of Florence. In an interview with the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Goleman indicated he supports municipal broadband in Northampton. Goleman has plenty of company. The other candidates Penny Geis and Rachel Maiore also support …
Monday, the Northampton High-speed Community Network Coalition completed a business survey for members of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce. Soon to be retired executive director Suzanne Beck has promised that she will send the survey out to her membership. This survey is not a city-sponsored survey, but it will give early insight into the …
From masslive.com: For the past 18 months, SHELD has been “gearing up” and planning for the residential component. “We’re launching fiber right now. We’re constructing into what we call “Fiberhood” areas,” he said, “which will roughly serve 250 to 300 customers.” Fitzgerald expects the first two neighborhoods will have gigabit-speed internet by July. He added …
Penny Geis of Leeds announced her candidacy for the Ward 7 city councilor seat being vacated by Alisa Klein. Penny is a prominent member of our coalition and supports a community network. Geis supports municipal broadband, and she is an active member of the Northampton High-Speed Community Network Coalition. “It is a really critical infrastructure …