NORTHAMPTON - Strategies to extend high-speed Internet to rural areas of western Massachusetts - ranging from using fire towers as wireless antennas to providing grants to communities - were described by the director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute during a meeting Wednesday at Smith College.

Institute director Judith Dumont said three fire towers already are being used to provide wireless service to between 50 and 100 households in each of three Berkshire County towns - Savoy, West Otis and Lenox. A second set of licenses for using fire towers as wireless antennas will be granted later this year, and Dumont said one of the possible sites is the tower atop Mount Toby in Sunderland.

"The fire towers are cheaper than cell towers, because we made a deal with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation," Dumont said.

Last mile

The session was attended by about 30 people, including town officials working with the institute and residents interested in accessing the Internet. One frustrated Huntington resident who currently has no Internet service at all asked if there was any hope for people like him.

"The answer is, you may be helped as we complete the last-mile connections," said Dumont.

Also discussed were other strategies to complete the "last mile" of connections between the broadband network and individual businesses and home owners in areas with poor Internet access. Among them will be a "last-mile tool kit" for towns with resources including a Google Earth map of the broadband network, information on points of connection to the network, and possible locations for individual utility poles.

The institute already has given grants to some communities to help connect the broadband network with their residents. For example, Leverett used a $40,000 grant to plan a network in collaboration with Crocker Communications in Greenfield that would serve every home in town, Dumont said.

Seven more "last-mile" community meetings are scheduled over the next three weeks, including one from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27, at Worthington Town Hall.

Matt Medeiros can be reached at mmedeiros@gazettenet.com.