WHAT IF…
our schools were full of children?
young families were flocking to our towns?
our region was the go to place to start a new business?
What if we had the network of the future now?
The world has changed.
It began with the smartphone. 700 billion have been sold in ten years. Everyone has one. But the Coronavirus crisis has changed the world for everyone. Can there be any doubt that everyone now needs access to broadband networks? Connectivity is how everyone is getting through it. But 26,000 homes in our region do not have broadband access. Twenty-five percent of our region lacks mobile access. This is unacceptable in the world’s richest country. We must have affordable broadband for all, sooner rather than later.
We have to treat broadband like we treat roads.
To connect everyone, broadband must become a community responsibility. In our rural area connecting everyone with the latest technology requires that some or all of next generation networks must be owned by municipalities, just like roads. We advocate a business model that parallels roads: the municipality owns the wire on the poles, like roads, private partners install wire to the home and all network electronics, like driveways and garages.
The payoff is huge.
If we do this soon, we would be leading our state to the gigabit highway. We can bring young people back to our region. We can become a center of innovation in many fields. We can attack the digital divide. We can push education to the top. We can insure a real future for health care. Homes values will appreciate. And the next time we have a novel virus, and there will be such a time, we will be ready.
Stay updated with the latest news as we move forward in our efforts.
We can afford it.
With our business model our region of 25 towns could pass every home with fiber optic wiring for less than $6 per home per month based on securing 40 year loans. Even one town such as Norfolk could be done for less than $20 per month. By comparison, just maintaining our roads can cost $100 per home per month, and the state now pays $488 per home per month for education, our most important investment.
Twenty-five communities have a plan.
Northwest Connect represents 25 towns in northwest Connecticut with a plan for a next-generation regional network. We also have begun programs for economic and community development such a network engenders. This web site tells our story. It gives our plan; it gives our reasoning; and it offers breadth and depth on many facts and issues that enter any discussion of our work. We are poised to move soon; engineering could began in one town as early as fall of 2020.
Say “Yes” to shaping our region for the future.
We need your support. This is a community project, not just the project for Northwest Connect. Vote “yes” here for our region’s future. Become connected to one of our innovation committees. Learn about what we are doing (we have a wealth of information here). Contact our state representatives to make the changes needed for universal broadband in our region. It matters to all of us.