Somerville officials look at city-owned Internet beyond what was recommended by a task force - Cambridge Day

The instauration of city-owned Internet that would spell beyond recommendations by a 2018 task unit was taken up by Somerville metropolis councilors Monday successful a Public Utilities and Public Works Committee.

Recommendations were made successful 2019 by a metropolis Internet Access Task Force exploring “ways to sphere and grow affordable and neutral net work crossed the city,” but the Covid pandemic delayed action, according to the City of Somerville website.

The study didn’t urge creating city-owned Internet work provider, but that the metropolis facilitates the gathering of a fibre web owned and operated by a backstage company. The rollout would instrumentality 2 years to scope the constituent astatine which everyone successful Somerville would beryllium “servable,” which doesn’t mean everyone would person service.

A retail Internet work supplier specified arsenic RCN oregon Comcast Xfinity would beryllium granted exclusive rights to the infrastructure for 3 years. After that time, immoderate ISP would beryllium capable to usage the infrastructure.

The outgo of the program would beryllium borne by backstage companies, but the metropolis would beryllium capable to instrumentality rules astir nett neutrality – ensuring each sites and contented are treated the aforesaid – and access. The study theorizes that the program would summation contention and alteration prices, astatine slightest erstwhile the three-year monopoly play is up.

Discussion astatine the meeting, however, was mostly astir city-owned models, which the study discussed but did not recommend.

More than 600 communities crossed the United States already person immoderate signifier of municipal network, according to the Institute for Local Self Reliance. Neighboring Cambridge is exploring city-owned Internet; during a Nov. 28 roundtable, Cambridge metropolis councillor wondered if it was imaginable to instrumentality a determination attack with Somerville and different communities that “may really assistance our exemplary successful presumption of outgo competitiveness and sustainability.”

There are 2 models being looked astatine that would spot Somerville ain its ain network. In one, metropolis cognition would perchance connection little prices than existing ISPs and warrant nett neutrality – but astatine precocious cost.

Another script would spot the metropolis ain the web but person backstage companies tally the service, perchance expanding contention successful the country that would besides pb to little prices.

Municipal broadband has a basal of enactment successful the metropolis from residents, councilors and the mayor, said metropolis councilor Jessie Clingan, seat of the committee.

A batch of speech during the gathering was astir backing sources. Massachusetts is owed to get $145 cardinal meant for Internet infrastructure from a national Capital Projects Fund created arsenic portion of the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan. This is 1 imaginable root of funding, said Carolyn Kirk, the erstwhile politician of Gloucester who was called successful arsenic an adept for the gathering arsenic enforcement manager of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Another bucket of astatine slightest $100 cardinal volition travel to Massachusetts from the national government, she said, without elaboration.

These sources of backing would beryllium hard for Somerville to access, however, due to the fact that the metropolis already has Internet infrastructure; the metropolis volition person to beryllium determination is immoderate benignant of deficiency successful work quality, Kirk said.

Somerville applied Monday to articulation the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program. It could provided the metropolis with backing for a advisor to fig retired the adjacent steps for Somerville successful presumption of Internet equity, or making definite lower-income residents aren’t near connected the incorrect broadside of the integer divide.h

The committee’s extremity is to enactment retired a petition for proposals connected however to physique a network, Clingan said. The adjacent gathering is expected successful January.