The City Council officially voted in favor of 27 GoNetSpeed petitions during its Oct. 6 meeting. The new installations will connect 10,000 more homes in the city to the company’s services.
Photo credit: Focus Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — After several meetings’ worth of discussions, the City Council was comfortable enough to vote in favor of 27 GoNetSpeed installations across the Indian Orchard neighborhood during its Oct. 6 meeting.
The vote, which was 11-2, comes after the body delayed their decision multiple times in an effort to seek more information about the installations and GoNetSpeed’s broader vision for the city.
According to DPW Director Chris Cignoli, the projects approved by the council allow GoNetSpeed to install underground conduits so neighborhoods down the Boston Road and Parker Street corridors can connect to the internet service provider.
Cignoli said the company is in the process of installing fiber for residential activity inside the city, and these petitions are part of GoNetSpeed’s larger plan to install fiber throughout Springfield over the next two to five years.
The passage of the 27 petitions means the company — which already has active service in some parts of Springfield — is now able to connect 10,000 more homes to their offerings.
“The applications before you from a DPW perspective are no big thing,” Cignoli said. “There is nothing in here that raises an eyebrow with me.”
A big reason why a vote on these petitions was delayed multiple times was because councilors were concerned that there was no concrete commitment from GoNetSpeed that said they would not leave neighborhoods behind as they installed connections throughout the city.
However, a subcommittee meeting prior to the full regular meeting appeared to ease the anxieties of some councilors.
At-Large City Councilor Jose Delgado, chair of the city’s Working Group on Digital Equity, said he felt more comfortable voting in favor of the 27 petitions after GoNetSpeed pledged to double its investment in the city from $50 million to almost $100 million.
He was also pleased with the fact that the company promised digital literacy classes in the future as well as a commitment to leave space so other providers can’t be locked out of investing in the city.
“My biggest fear was that neighborhoods would get left out,” Delgado said. “But they’ve come to the table and verbally said that they’re going to build out the whole city.”
At-Large City Councilor Tracye Whitfield also felt GoNetSpeed’s efforts to include the entire city in their investment was sincere, saying that the company was able to provide the council with a map of a multi-phase illustration of their intention to build out the whole city.
Additionally, Whitfield was happy to see some programs that will allow low-income households to receive GoNetSpeed services at lower rates.
“They really want this to be a partnership with the city of Springfield,” Whitfield said. “So, I’m just very excited to move this forward.”
Ward 4 City Councilor Malo Brown and Ward 6 City Councilor Victor Davila were the only two councilors to vote against the 27 petitions because they were still concerned that GoNetSpeed could not make a commitment to their future work in writing.
However, Cignoli said the city could not legally do anything in writing because the fiber industry is not regulated. GoNetSpeed was also not hired by the city and is instead working with the pole owners on the build-out phase.
“We as a DPW, IT department, mayor’s office and City Council have sat down and negotiated with them things that we want to see the city, but we do not have any authority in this instance to sign a contract or get into any sort of written contract with an entity that does not need a formal written contract with the city of Springfield,” Cignoli said.
Despite the city’s inability to sign a written contract with GoNetSpeed, At-Large City Councilor Sean Curran argued that the map and a letter of intent from the company to City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti saying they are committed to a citywide buildout was enough to satisfy what the council was looking for.
“We have this map that puts a graphic to GoNetSpeed’s intentions,” Curran said. “I’m pretty satisfied that their intention is to build citywide.”
Ward 7 City Councilor Tim Allen said he was initially confused about what GoNetSpeed was doing, but after multiple conversations, he also felt comfortable with voting in favor of the petitions.
“To be able to sit here tonight and vote for it and be prepared to vote for it is a good feeling,” Allen said.
Speaking on behalf of GoNetSpeed, Katie Bartholomai — an account director for RunSwitch PR — told Reminder Publishing before the meeting that GoNetSpeed has been advocating for digital access and more competition in Massachusetts “from the beginning.”
She specifically pointed to a $250 million investment in the state and a recent Springfield summit about the digital divide as major examples of this commitment.
Bartholomai also shared that GoNetSpeed has heavily advocated for the passage of the “One Touch Make Ready” legislation at the state level, which would streamline the pole process and allow internet providers to install their services at a quicker rate.
In a statement sent by Bartholomai, GoNetSpeed Chief Operations Officer Tom Perrone said the Springfield council’s passage of the 27 petitions was a “major milestone in Springfield’s digital transformation.”
“We’re pleased for residents and businesses that we could come to agreement with the council to allow us to continue building and connecting the community with 100% fiber optic internet,” Perrone said. “Springfield is another community that will be transformed with access to more competition, incredibly fast internet speeds, and significantly better pricing across the board.”
