Massachusetts extending broadband to 120 communities

Governor Deval Patrick of the State of Massachusetts announced one of the largest broadband projects in the United States.  It involves installing over 1,300 miles of fiber cable backbone.

This expansive network is expected to connect over 1,400 anchor institutions to the Internet with high-speed broadband services.  No estimates on the number of residences that will benefit from this project were available at this time.

The project is being paid for by federal broadband initiative funds as well as state funds.  The project is also expected to receive additional funding from private resources.

In fact, Governor Patrick stated that one of the goals of this large undertaking was to be a magnet for more private investments.  The project is expected to be completed by August of 2013.

This project attacks the rural areas in the mid and western parts of Massachusetts.

The Sandisfield Fire Department, located in Berkshire County, received the honors to be the starting point of the construction.  Governor Patrick held a ceremony there to launch the project with a press conference.

The project is going to create hundreds of jobs.  While this is not a tremendous number, at least is helps out the employment situation in the state.

As more communities get reliable high-speed access to the Internet, Small businesses are expected to grow which should provide a lot more jobs than the actual installation of the fiber backbone.