Summary
2021 was the year Charlemont’s municipal network came to life for many! Charlemont has completed most of the construction work for the network with splicing, testing, and validation continuing in both East and West Charlemont. Despite the challenges of the bankruptcy and acquisition of our distribution contractor, a major construction project in the village disrupting access to some parts of town, and labor shortages due to the ongoing global pandemic, 40% of the network is fully complete and over 30% of all subscribers are receiving service!
Progress in 2021
The end of the year brings an opportunity to reflect on the progress made this year and to thank the broadband committee, the broadband oversight management board, and numerous town employees and volunteers for their tireless work that makes this service possible. At the beginning of 2021, Charlemont was just completing ‘make-ready’, with no fiber installed on any of the utility poles. During 2021 we accomplished the following:
- Ongoing communications through charlemontconnect.org, the Charlemont Fiber Page, and an email list for project updates.
- Installation of the core electronics in the network hub
- Worked with the Parks & Rec Commission to organize an equipment storage area for network materials
- Network construction kicked off on February 1, 2021!
- Daily construction updates were posted to keep residents informed of the day-to-day location of the crews
- Accelerated downtown network construction schedule to avoid traffic calming construction, although some installations in the village were impacted by this ongoing work
- Launched the Whip City Fiber subscription website, https://www.whipcityfiber.com/charlemont/
- Hosted a public, virtual information session to learn about the construction and the service in March
- Creation of an online network installation cost calculator
- Worked with our ISP, Whip City Fiber to offer the federal Emergency Broadband Benefit of $50/month off of the service
- Launched the service to the first fiber service area in the village center in July
- Hosted an in-person information session and launch celebration in August
- The second fiber service area is released for service installations in October
- In the fall, construction was delayed during the TriWire bankruptcy and has begun once again ramping up with the subsequent acquisition by ITG
- Provisioned an additional backhaul path for network resiliency
- COVID-19 impacted construction, splicing, installation, and testing availability throughout 2021
- Charlemont completed most underground service paths for homeowners with underground utilities
- Strand, fiber, and MST construction are largely complete leaving just a small punch list to resolve in 2022
- Charlemont ended the year with 450 subscribers signed up and 140 activated
Looking Ahead to 2022
As 2022 begins, there is a great deal of uncertainty around the continued impacts of ongoing labor shortages, supply-chain issues, and COVID-19. Combined with the normal uncertainty around winter construction schedules, this makes it difficult to accurately forecast the rollout schedule for the rest of the town network.
- East Charlemont is expected to complete testing in January and will begin offering service once validation is finalized and the area is released. The town is expecting release in late January, but February now seems more likely.
- Testing in West Charlemont will start as soon as East Charlemont is complete, then will finish in the last service area which is north of town along Route 8A. Charlemont is currently looking to have all areas released by spring.
- The Emergency Management Department is finishing the installation of the town hall generator, which will provide backup power to the network equipment room, improving network resiliency.
- Plans are in progress to expand the network backhaul capacity and to provide more redundancy and reliability.
- Monitoring and improvements to network performance will continue in the new year.
- The municipal network looks to meet or exceed a sustainable take-rate of 500 subscribers.