Editorial

Wiring the Berkshires
Berkshire Eagle
August 4, 2007

There is no overestimating the importance of broadband access to the rural communities of Berkshire County, and that access is now on the horizon. The $25 million broadband access initiative announced Thursday will not only enable those towns to connect to the Internet with the ease of urban communities it will dramatically expand economic opportunities for towns whose considerable appeal is undercut by their electronic isolation.

Of the 32 Massachusetts towns without broadband access, 14 are in the Berkshires, and all but one of the 63 towns with partial access are located in the state’s four western-most counties. Providing this access to rural western communities has been a top priority of the Berkshire legislative delegation, and in Governor Deval Patrick legislators found a partner who shares their concerns and their realization that nothing was going to happen if the major telecommunication companies were not given a financial incentive to provide broadband to these isolated communities.

The plan is a public-private initiative along the lines of those that many communities, including Pittsfield, have embarked upon to energize long-stalled projects and proposals.

Private companies can get a piece of the $25 million, which will be raised through bonds and managed by the newly created Broadband Institute, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, by submitting proposals for its use in unserved areas. Ideally, the money should encourage vigorous competition among companies, providing the towns with high-quality service. It is hoped that full service will be provided within three years.

The rural towns of the Berkshires offer quiet country living but little in the way of employment. They will never have factories but with broadband access they could attract a number of small businesses whose owners want to escape the high cost and congestion of cities. These businesses are an ideal match for the towns because they won’t jeopardize the qualities that make them attractive. Second-home owners are probably more likely to buy in communities that offer the Internet access they are accustomed to elsewhere.

"Broadband czar" Stan McGee, whose position as director of Wireless and Broadband Development was included in an economic stimulus package that Representative Daniel Bosley, a North Adams Democrat, ran interference for, announced the initiative in Becket, a small Berkshire town not accustomed to visits by state officials. It was appropriate, as the initiative should allow Becket and its fellow rural enclaves to join larger communities on the much-ballyhooed information superhighway.