CHICOPEE – Chicopee is setting out on a path that could result in it being the largest community so far in Hampden County to offer municipal broadband service.

Chicopee Electric Light announced last week it would begin construction on the first “fiberhood,” which would serve as a pilot program for Crossroads Fiber, the broadband service to city residents.

The first area to be constructed to deliver this service is in Ward One and includes: (north of Memorial Drive) Acrebrook Drive, Harney Street, Leo Drive, Mountainview Street, Oakridge Street, Pondview Drive, Rota Street, Roberts Pond Lane, as well as (Doverbrook Condominiums) parts of Applewood Drive, Greenwood Terrace, Honeysuckle Drive, Horseshoe Drive, Pendleton Avenue, and Robinridge Road.

Ward 1 City Councilor Joel McAuliffe said in a written statement, “I am thrilled that after years of fighting for Municipal Broadband, we are starting to see progress on this initiative that will allow residents to free themselves of the big cable monopoly. The movement on this project in the last year is proof positive that when the community rallies around an idea for change, anything is possible.”

McAuliffe has been a vocal advocate on the council for the program.

Jeff Cady, general manager of CEL, explained to the Chicopee Herald the construction will begin this week. The streets picked for the pilot program are close to the existing fiber optic network already in place and offers a varying number of structures including single-family homes, condos and businesses.

He said the work should be completed in six to seven weeks, unless there are delays due to weather.

The residential customers will be offered two packages – the first of which has 250 megabytes of service will cost $59.99 a month, while the second will offer 1,000 megabytes at $69.95 a month.

The service also comes with a router that would supply WiFi to the residence, he added.

Cady explained the fiber optic system is superior to the metal coaxial cable used in many Internet services.

“You’re not going to have a degradation of signal,” he said. The speeds are “unlimited,” he added. “We could increase the speed as there is built-in flexibility.”

In terms of price to the broadband offered by Charter, Cady said the lower speed option is “very comparable,” outside of Charter’s promotional rates.

At that 250 megabyte levels, both the uploads and the download are faster than with the current service. With the both the personal and business use of the Internet, uploading speeds have become more important than in the past.

Cady said the CEL plan is to start in late fall to go into other areas of the city, based on consumer demand. Construction would be scaled in a way not to impact the city’s electric rates and the city has been divided into 140 fiberhoods.

For residents who would like to see this service made available in their part of the city, they should go to www.crossroadsfiber.net and note their interest.

When enough interest is reached in a fiberhood to be economically viable to build, that area will move into the final design and construction phase. After completion, customers in the fiberhood will be contacted to fill out applications and sign up for service.

“We are excited about the opportunities that the Crossroads Fiber network holds for the city of Chicopee. Our team has been working hard to bring the best Internet service to Chicopee. We believe an all fiber network will provide our customers with the fastest internet available in the area to meet their current and future needs. We are truly at a crossroads in technology and CEL is positioned perfectly to ensure our community can take full advantage of what Gigabit speeds can offer,” Cady said.