Though much of western Massachusetts has poor access to the Internet, the town of Leverett is in the midst of fiber build that will offer a gigabit to anyone who wants it. Peter d’Errico, on the town Select Board, has been part of the project from the start and Chairs the Broadband Committee. He joins us for Episode 113 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast.
He and I discuss the great need for the project and inaccurate broadband maps that overstate availablility in the region. We discuss the role of the “municipal light plant” law that gave them the necessary authority to invest in the fiber.
But more interestingly, we talk about how they have structured the financing and prices for subscribers. The network will be repaid both with the revenues from subscribers and a modest bump in the property tax. The kicker is that many households will see their taxes increase a little but the amount they spend on telecom will decrease substantially, resulting in more money in their pockets each month.
We have written about Leverett often over the years, the archive is here. Read the Leverett FAQ here.
You can read a transcript of this discussion here, courtesy of Jeff Hoel.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show – please e-mail us or leave a comment below. Also, feel free to suggest other guests, topics, or questions you want us to address.
This show is 18 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed.
Listen to previous episodes here. You can can download this Mp3 file directly from here.
Thanks to Waylon Thornton for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is “Bronco Romp.”