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Charlemont Connect Posts

Working to Avoid a Traffic Calming Collision

Working to Avoid a Traffic Calming Collision

Published January 24, 2021

Charlemont has two important construction projects happening this spring – the building of the municipal fiber network and the next phase of the traffic calming work. Broadband team members have been highlighting the risk of having these projects ongoing simultaneously for some time, but these concerns were brought into sharp focus as the initial distribution network build schedule was coming together at the beginning of the new year. Broadband Committee representatives, the Select Board, the Town Administrator, Westfield Gas & Electric (WG&E), DOT project managers, and state officials met and agreed to make every effort to accelerate the village fiber network build ahead of the spring resumption of the traffic calming work. It’s going to be a busy construction season in the village center!

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Parks and Recreation Approves Fairgrounds for Construction Staging AreaFeatured Image attribution: User:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Parks and Recreation Approves Fairgrounds for Construction Staging Area

Published January 20, 2021

The Charlemont Fairgrounds will serve as a construction staging area for the distribution network! Charlemont’s Parks and Recreation Commission has approved the use of the space which the selected contractor, TriWire, requested because of its proximity to the town center and the space available.

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Some WiredWest Refunds Remain Uncollected

Some WiredWest Refunds Remain Uncollected

Published January 20, 2021

Did you support Charlemont’s initial WiredWest effort to bring fiber to town with a $49 pre-subscription? If so, thank you! This early effort helped to estimate the expected take rate for the municipal fiber network and led to a $960,000 EOHED grant for network construction. Since Charlemont has selected Westfield Gas & Electric as our Internet Service Provider (ISP), WiredWest has been returning these deposits with interest to pre-subscribers from town.

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Network Hub Progressing Ahead of Distribution NetworkPassive fiber optical components

Network Hub Progressing Ahead of Distribution Network

Published January 12, 2021

Westfield Gas and Electric (WG&E) is making good progress installing the racks and optical equipment for the network hub. To ensure that delays were avoided and our equipment was protected from damage, volunteer Trevor Mackie prepared the enclosure in advance of the installation by running a conduit through the Network Equipment Enclosure (NEE) to the electrical panel in the basement of the town hall. This conduit will be used for connecting the planned Emergency Management Department generator slated to provide backup power to the town hall and to the NEE.

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2020.12.31 Select Board Update

2020.12.31 Select Board Update

Published January 4, 2021

Charlemont Municipal Fiber Network
Selectboard Status Report
December 31, 2020

Summary

It has been a busy year. The town has completed most of the make-ready work for the network and we are poised to begin network construction in early 2021. Racks are being installed in the network equipment room and WGE as project manager is finalizing the build schedule with Triwire, our selected distribution contractor. The town’s subscription website at WhipCityFiber.com is nearly ready to launch. The project remains on budget and we are looking forward to commencing operations during 2021. One issue we are tracking closely is to coordinate work in the village center with the DOT traffic calming project – ideally, we would like to complete much of the network buildout in the village center before the traffic calming project resumes heavy work in the spring.

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Preparing for the 2021 Subscription Campaign

Preparing for the 2021 Subscription Campaign

Published December 6, 2020

Working with Whip City Fiber, Charlemont’s Internet Service Provider (ISP), preparations are underway to launch the subscription campaign in the new year coordinated with the distribution network build. Everyone that has expressed interest will be notified as soon as the campaign is publicly available.

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TV and Digital Programming over the Internet

TV and Digital Programming over the Internet

Published November 24, 2020

A common question from potential subscribers is “Will you be offering TV?”. Whip City Fiber does not provide television programming but many customers will subscribe to one or more streaming services (YouTube TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.) for watching TV, movies, and sports over a broadband internet connection. Broadband Committee member, Mary Ellen Banks, follows developments in the streaming television space and has written this overview to help subscribers understand these offerings.

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