This was a very insightful read, and a necessary commentary on the state of broadband access in Western Massachusetts (The Berkshires specifically).

I’ve lived in the area all my life — I grew up in the absurdly small town of Alford (which is so small it doesn’t even qualify for WiredWest), and I’ve lived across the county — and nowhere that I’ve lived has had a “reasonable” quality of broadband service compared even with the rest of our own country. Not even the areas that are “served” by Time Warner Cable receive adequate service without a tremendous personal investment.

I think the depressing coda to your story is that Lanesborough has the opportunity to pull itself out of the mire: as a founding member of WiredWest, and a community who would deeply benefit from a community-built high-speed network, Lanesborough could rise above even neighboring towns like Pittsfield and North Adams. In this place too, Charter is creating a stumbling block — already stretched to the limits fiscally, most people (the Select Board included) are waiting to see what the next few years of a potential “Charter Spectrum” buildout will bring, instead of putting the capital required to get started with WiredWest. You, and the rest of Lanesborough, is forced with the Sophie’s Choice of paying for dying Verizon services in hopes of a future some day through Charter, or choosing nothing at all (except maybe that pastoral parking lot) until the same.

I wish there were something like a solution that I could share, other than the camaraderie of someone who also has a “bum knee.” Stay strong, and keep telling these stories.