We spoke with the city manager of Sanford, Maine a year ago when we were looking into what cities of similar size to Northampton were doing. In Sanford’s case, they were looking for ways to attract businesses. Their municipal broadband project was centered around this need. They are making great progress (see video) and expect to complete this first phase of their project in 2019.
We believe Northampton could speed up its study of a community network too, perhaps by combining the feasibility study with the cost study in one year instead of stretching it out over two years. What say you, Mayor Narkewicz?