WESTBOROUGH – Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced a total of $1.9 million in grant funds for the Towns of Alford, Otis, and Warwick, to finance the construction of high-speed internet networks in the three unserved Last Mile towns. The grant funding, approved today by the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI), is part of the administration’s continued commitment to ensuring broadband access to over 40 Last Mile towns in Massachusetts unserved by broadband internet access.
WESTBOROUGH - Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced the launch of a competitive solicitation for private sector proposals to close Last Mile broadband gaps in western and central Massachusetts towns. The request for proposals, issued by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI), will identify qualified private firms willing to design, build, own, operate, manage, and maintain high-speed broadband internet networks in the 40 Massachusetts towns currently unserved by broadband.
WESTBOROUGH – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) and Comcast have reached an agreement that will extend broadband access in nine municipalities in Western and North Central Massachusetts, a project which is estimated to deliver broadband connectivity to 1,089 new residences and businesses, and will bring the overall coverage level in each town to 96% or above. The grant will provide up to $4 million in state funds to reimburse partial project costs for Comcast, which has existing networks in each of the towns, to construct broadband internet extensions to additional homes and businesses.
SPRINGFIELD – Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced a $5 million grant to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to establish the UMass Amherst Data Science/Cybersecurity Research and Education Collaborative, a public-private partnership designed to accelerate data science innovation in the Pioneer Valley region of Western Massachusetts. The Commonwealth’s investment will help drive the commercialization of new products and ideas, train a leading data science workforce and support collaborative regional economic development activities.
WESTBOROUGH – The Baker-Polito Administration announced today a $1.6 million grant to Charter Communications to upgrade and extend broadband access in the unserved communities of Hinsdale, Lanesborough, and West Stockbridge.
BOSTON – The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has approved a grant to the Town of Mount Washington to support the construction of a ‘Fiber to the Home’ network that will deliver broadband access to the town’s residents. The grant of $230,000 from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (“MBI”) will help construct a fiber-optic network that will pass 96% of residences in the town. Of the households in Mount Washington, over 60% have agreed to take service on the proposed network, a fact the Town confirmed through a program which gathered a signed agreement from each subscriber committing to three years of data and phone service along with a $300 deposit.
BROCKTON, MASS. – During an event at Brockton Neighborhood Health Center today, MeHI, the Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech, announced $3,038,000 in grants to drive community-level collaboration among healthcare providers using innovative technologies. The grants were made through MeHI’s Connected Communities Implementation Grant program, a statewide effort which seeks to enhance collaboration and communication among healthcare providers within a community through the use of innovative technologies, such as electronic health records and health information exchanges.
Boston – Tuesday, May 10, 2016 – The Baker-Polito Administration met with municipal broadband leaders from across Western Massachusetts today to discuss a new framework for evaluating and advancing Last Mile Broadband projects in communities unserved or underserved by high-speed internet access. The dialogue centered on a flexible, responsive and community-based approach to prioritizing affordable and sustainable solutions to the broadband service challenges facing the Commonwealth’s 44 Last Mile communities.
BURLINGTON – Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced a $3 million grant to Northeastern University to establish the Advanced Nanomanufacturing Cluster for Smart Sensors and Materials (“ANSSeM”), a consortium of private manufacturing companies and tier-one research universities working on new methods to create smart sensors and other revolutionary materials using ‘nanoscale’ printing processes.
BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and executives from the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP) joined leaders from across state government, healthcare, and the technology sector at Boston Children’s Hospital to announce a comprehensive public-private partnership designed to accelerate the competitiveness of the Commonwealth’s digital healthcare industry.
