Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker said he’s hopeful the effort to bring high speed internet to rural parts of the state is gaining momentum.
In May, state officials presented a number of options, including towns owning networks by themselves, or banding together with other communities, all of which would come with some state funding.
“The good news is a lot of communities since then have come forward and selected a particular approach to this, and we’re moving forward on satisfying those selections,” Baker said.
This month, two cable operators that partially serve a dozen towns received more than $5 million combined in state grants to expand high speed internet networks in those communities.
The renewed push for more broadband comes after Baker, last spring, reorganized the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, which is spearheading the so-called “Last Mile” project.