Westfield Gas and Electric announce Whip City Fiber 2021 roadmap

April 14, 2021 | Peter Currier
peter@thewestfieldnews group.com

WESTFIELD – Westfield Gas and Electric General Manager Thomas P. Flaherty announced that its municipal internet service, Whip City Fiber (WCF), would be expanding to 1,700 locations in Westfield in 2021.

Flaherty and Utility Supervisor Chris LaVertu spoke about the planned expansion in Westfield during the April 7 Municipal Light Board meeting. Flaherty also offered details on the future expansion of WCF infrastructure into other Massachusetts communities.

The neighborhoods that are being included in the expansion are the Upper Montgomery Road area, the Meadow Street area, the White Street area, the Orange Street area, the Franklin Street area, the Russell Road area, the area around Hampton Ponds and Mainline Drive.

LaVertu said that the neighborhoods were chosen based on a calculation of construction costs compared to the number of people who could receive WCF service after the expansion. People who live in those areas can apply for WCF internet at www.whipcityfiber.com.

With the new expansions, Westfield will go from 70 percent WCF coverage to at least 77 percent, according to Flaherty.

IT Manager John Leary said during the Light Board meeting that between 70 and 80 percent of the hilltowns are covered by WCF internet. He said that money made through fiber internet in the hilltowns is used to further build out the service in Westfield.

Flaherty said that Westfield Gas and Electric received letters from the towns of Chesterfield and Wendell, which each responded positively to the fiber internet so far.

Whip City Fiber acts as a project manager for twenty communities in Massachusetts, according to Flaherty. Rather than directly operate their fiber service in other communities on a day-to-day basis, Whip City Fiber installs the fiber optic internet distribution systems and Final Mile connections to customers. The communities create its own Municipal Light Plant that owns the infrastructure and provides the internet to their own residents.

“The Westfield Gas + Electric/Whip City Fiber partnership supports these communities by streamlining project implementation, customer service, technical support, and marketing as well as invoicing and collections,” said Flaherty.
Of the 20 Massachusetts cities and towns that WCF acts as project manager for, construction and connections are complete in 12. Flaherty said the remaining eight communities will be completed by the end of 2022.

Flaherty also said that further expansion opportunities for WCF are being explored. Comcast and Xfinity recently announced that they would implement data caps with increased costs to their customers, which Flaherty said prompted neighboring communities to reach out to Westfield Gas and Electric. He did not specify which communities expressed interest.

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