1

GORDON DANIELS

Cole Burdell, 11, of Hadley, and Aaron Nelson, 10, and his brother Sam, of Ashfield, made signs to welcome the governor to Goshen.

2

GORDON DANIELS

A crowd gathers Monday morning at the Goshen Town Hall to see Gov. Deval Patrick sign broadband legislation for the Hilltowns.

3

PHOTOS BY GORDON DANIELS

Before signing the landmark Broadband Access Law, Gov. Deval Patrick shares a light moment with Harper Walker West, 7, of Shelburne Falls, next to him as well as children from the Learning Loft, a pre-school in Goshen.

4

GORDON DANIELS

The appearance by Gov. Deval Patrick to the Goshen Town Hll drew a large crowd.

GOSHEN - The corner office briefly enjoyed a good view Monday of Route 9.

"The governor's desk is right here in Goshen right now," Gov. Deval Patrick said, as about 200 people gathered outside Goshen Town Hall to witness the signing of the landmark Broadband Access Law.

"Let's sign this bill," Patrick said, then sat down and signed a document that will bring high-speed Internet to unserved communities throughout the state.

He did so surrounded by children holding a poster that read, "Thank you Governor Patrick. Broadband = Finished Homework."

The law will provide $40 million in bonds from a new Broadband Incentive Fund to construct fiber, wireless towers or other broadband infrastructure.

"This is a dramatic day in western Mass.," said Don Dubendorf, a Willliamstown lawyer and president of Berkshire Connect, an organization that has spearheaded the broadband push for over a decade.

"Without this influx of capital, we were doomed to ineffective incrementalism. All of us who had worked so hard and so long on this had no taste for that."

Studies say communities with broadband access see job and business growth and increases in property values. Improvements in public safety and access to health care, education and civic participation are also linked to broadband expansion. When every town hall can conduct its business online, the Department of Revenue estimates that the state will save $300,000 annually.

U.S. Rep. John Olver, who represents the 1st Congressional District, where 220,000 households and more than 25,000 businesses lack broadband service, emphasized the governor's role in pushing through the legislation.

Speaking before Patrick arrived Monday, Olver said, "He managed to drive the nail with one strike. The governor quickly saw the deficit of broadband, the need, and the consequences of not having it. He got his shoulder behind it, and we owe him a great deal."

Patrick Larkin, director of the John Adams Innovation Institute and deputy director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaboration, echoed Olver.

"It's been a long time coming, and it's been precipitated by the leadership of the governor. The issues haven't changed over 15 years, the governor has," Larkin said.

Warmly greeted

Patrick took the podium to loud applause and stood flanked by legislators and community members instrumental in passing the bill.

Referring to the Internet as the "gateway to the 21st-century world," Patrick compared the expansion of broadband to the spread of phone and electricity service around the country in the early 20th century.

"While pulling up to the 'hot spot' next to the Goshen Library is charming on some level, it's not adequate," he said, referring to the public T1 line on a wireless link outside the library and Town Hall.

People from all over town can be seen in their cars parked in the library lot, using their laptops in a spot where they can take advantage of the connection.

Patrick thanked all the legislators who helped move the bill along - the western delegates in particular who have a "special sensitivity" to the issue. Within three years, he said, broadband service would be expanded to every community in Massachusetts.

State Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, spoke to the importance of the bill from a personal standpoint. As the only legislator in the state to be "stuck in a dial-up world," he said that trying to do legislative work from his home is nearly impossible.

"People send me emails with a big attachment and I have to tell them to put it in the mail," he said.

Broadband is not a "luxury," he said, as it gives people the option to work at home and avoid the costs of commuting. In his view, the broadband bill could have impacts on the real estate market, encouraging people who have been deterred from settling or starting businesses in the area to reconsider.

Business links

Local Internet service providers and content developers were also present at the event, some hoping to be chosen to provide service under the new law.

"It's good to see both Comcast and Verizon here," said Mary Farley, operations executive for Steeplechase Networks, which works with local network operators to provide broadband to communities.

Farley said she hopes municipal or regional companies, like her own, not just large corporations, will be chosen to provide broadband services and content for the area.

She said she was also concerned with the type of technology that will be implemented. "We need to be careful not to adapt technology that's already obsolete in metropolitan markets. We're looking for fiber networks. If we just catch up, we'll be behind again in five years."

A nine-member governing board, composed of industry experts appointed by the governor and key state policymakers, will lead the Massachusetts Broadband Institute.

Sharon Gillett, commissioner of the state Department of Telecommunications and Cable, said the institute's mission is to "tailor a public-private model to close the state's most acute broadband gaps in western Massachusetts - and to meet the needs of other regions."