By Lucas Willard
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-1003745.mp3
Richmond, MA – " "
The massbroadband123 network's fiber optic cable is being lashed onto telephone lines in Richmond, Massachusetts. The cable is owned by The Massachusetts Broadband Institute, a state-funded program part of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. What's happening here is part of the middle-mile of the Massachusetts Broadband Initiative. The high-tech cable is being spun around existing phone lines from the Richmond Telephone company. Dan Yamin is the CEO of Cornerstone Telephone, the company that operates Richmond telephone.
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In total, over 30,000 utility poles in Massachusetts will be similarly adjusted to carry the network.
The MassBroadband 123 network will serve as a 1,000 mile backbone for new, high speed, fiber optic internet in Western Massachusetts. The fiber optic cable will provide faster speed and much higher amounts of data to be transferred at once than a standard phone-line or existing DSL network.
Judy Dumont, Director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute says that now the construction is underway, every day is a step closer to providing unserved and underserved customers with high-speed internet. Bringing the technology to all residents of Western Massachusetts is a key component of the network's mission.
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Dumont says the new network will greatly benefit organizations like health clinics and hospitals that could be able to exchange medical imagery instantaneously, and is just one example of the power the new network will have
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Earlier this year, the MBI reached a leasing agreement with Boxborough-based company Lightower Fiber Networks to use their existing cables to bring the new network's signal out to Boston, where a major New England Internet hub is located. When the middle-mile of the network is completed in 2013, the high-speed internet signal will finally be brought to Western and North Central Massachusetts.