BLANDFORD - On Nov. 7, the Blandford Municipal Light Board will be hosting two informational sessions on the broadband project at Town Hall, which residents may attend virtually or in person.

Session 1 will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in-person in the gym of Town Hall and virtually through Zoom by using the link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81062748122. The Zoom meeting ID is 81062748122. To dial in via Zoom, call 1-929-205-6099.

Session 2 will also take place at the gym of Town Hall from 12 to 1:30 p.m. It will also be available via Zoom through the link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82269237612. The meeting ID is 82269237612. To dial in, call 1-929-205-6099.

Pre-registration is requested on the town website at townofblandford.com to give Whip City Fiber an idea of how many people to expect.

At the sessions, Whip City Fiber will give an update on where the project is in the process, and why it is important for residents to sign up for future service now, according to Blandford MLB Chairman Peter Langmore, who has been working on bringing broadband to the town for the past seven years.    

Langmore said the residents who sign up during the construction phase will have fiber extended to their homes for free. He said the reason the town can offer a free drop to households for broadband service is due to state grant funding, which got an additional boost a year ago when Governor Charlie Baker came to Blandford to announce an additional $5 million for last mile hookups in Western Mass.

"That is the reason why we can offer free drop to households. The grant will cover $500 per premise up to 70 percent of those people who sign up. The town is paying for the rest of this,” Langmore said. “Our drop policy is that the town will pay all drop costs up to $10,000. That means that the fiber goes from the pole to the house, equipment and wi-fi included, for a free standard install,” he added.  

“It doesn’t cost anything to sign up, but it’s important that people do sign up. There is no obligation,” Langmore said, adding that residents may sign up now at whipcityfiber.com/blandford. He said if people don’t want the internet, they should still sign up, because it puts value on their homes for the future.  

“They might not have a computer, but it puts value on the house, when the person wants to sell the house. If one is selling their house, then it’s there. If you sign up, then it’s there. People can sign up and not take the service If you’re not going to use it, there’s no obligation,” Langmore said.

There are five fiber service areas (FSA) in Blandford. When construction begins, the company Sertex will begin stringing the wires on the poles in one FSA at a time, then Tri-Wire will come in and bring the fiber to the houses in that FSA, at no cost to the homeowner. As an example,  Langmore said they will start on North Blandford, go down the road, and everybody who signed up will be connected.

“If you haven’t signed up they will not connect you.  If you see the truck there and sign up, you’ll get it. When they’re done with that particular FSA, it will be tested, and that FSA will be live.  There will still be an opportunity to sign up afterwards, but people might have to wait, if they’re already in another FSA,” Langmore said

Langmore said as long as the companies are in town, free standard installation will apply.  

Once they leave town, it won’t be free for them to come back,” he said, adding that the cost of putting the fiber to the home ranges from $632 to over $10,000.  “If you don’t sign up, that’s what you’re going to pay.”

The service itself, which offers one gigabyte of internet speed, will cost $85/month for the internet, with no fees over and above that, apart from a one-time activation fee of $99 charged by Blandford on the first bill.  

“We have to be able to pay the bills. There’s a lot involved. Once the construction is in, there’s maintenance, insurance, replacement costs for equipment that will be paid for by Blandford and managed by WCF, and rental cost of poles to utilities,” Langmore said, adding that all bills must be paid online directly to the town.  “Whip CIty Fiber manages it, but Blandford owns it,” he said.

Electronic participation via zoom at the informational meetings on Nov. 7 is encouraged. For those attending in-person, social distancing guidelines will be adhered to upon entry of the Town Hall and participation in the gym. The sessions will also be recorded and later uploaded on the town’s YouTube channel and town website for later viewing. Any questions, contact the Town Administrator’s Office at administrator@townofblandford.com or 848-4279, ext. 502.