Clips/ Feature Article

Berkshire Connect Not For Everyone
By Richard Trombly | The Berkshire Beacon : March 2000

PITTSFIELD - The Berkshires will soon be served by a new, countywide, high-speed Internet connection on a fiber optic and broadband digital wireless network. This will be brought about through the collaborative efforts of Berkshire Connect, local businesses, and Global Crossing Ltd. and Equal Access Networks, Inc. This technology, however, may not benefit everyone.

Berkshire Connect said that they will-provide high-speed T-l internet access, a connection which is roughly equivalent in capability to 25 regular phone lines with cost savings up to 50 of current rates.

"The benefits to the county, especially in the marketing and competitive advantages that the establishment of "state-of-the-art infrastructure brings, cannot be overstated," said Nathaniel W. Karns, Chairman of the Berkshire Connect Task Force and Executive Director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) in a recent statement.

Since a T-l connection can cost as much as $500 monthly, it is too expensive for most Internet users. Most households will still rely on telephone connections through their Internet Service Providers, ISP's.

"Providing connections to individual households was beyond the scope of our project," said Karns, "The benefits of this new infrastructure will probably seem less direct to the average household and the individual user is not likely to see any savings on their internet service," said Karns.

"There will be other benefits to the whole community. The entire community -- including the ISP's -- are laboring under the problems of high rates, for low bandwidth," said Karns.

The Berkshire Connect Task Force was formed in 1997 to address the need for high quality, reliable, state-of-the-art and cost-effective telecommunications services for the county's business, academic, and cultural communities at the request of Berkshire County Legislative Delegation.

It was organized through the BRPC and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The Information Technology Bond Bill and the Department of Economic Development provided the initial funding in 1996, said Karns. Gov. Argeo Paul Cellucci also funded the Task Force through a 1997 grant.

"Government funding used on this project is about $550,000. We have one million dollars that was made available to us, but we have not had to use it," said Karns.

Berkshire Connect claims that this network will be built with 100 percent private financing.

"Berkshire Connect is a good example of local solutions made by local people with the encouragement and support of their government," said Gov. Cellucci, in a recent statement.

"The critical legacy of Berkshire Connect," said Joseph D. Alviani, President of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, in a recent statement, "is that a community overcame its own doubts, disappointments, divisions, and skepticism, to achieve a result with positive ramifications for every one of its citizens."

Karyn Mayhew-White, the President and C.E.O. of Berkshire Web, the largest Berkshire specific travel/tourism website, put forth a different opinion.

"They have described the Berkshires as an under-serviced area and used public money to solve the problem," said White, "but there are four ISP's that have been in the trenches providing cutting edge service to The Berkshires for the last five or six years."

"There was a need to provide greater bandwidth to the critical users in The Berkshires," said White, "I find it crazy that they spent $1.5 million and 2 1/2 years without including the existing ISP's. It is like reinventing the wheel and they still haven't announced the date that service will be available."

"They got their start using public money and then privatized," said White, "Instead of a collaborative effort they have corralled all of the critical users and brought in someone outside the county."

"The technology chosen by Berkshire Connect is also an issue," said White. "All of the fiber-optic cable that we could want already exists in the Berkshires and it's scalable to our needs. Their solution using microwave transmission to link the Berkshires to Springfield is not."

"Their choice of technology is not good," said Ricco Dus, president of Inter-Access, a Pittsfield-based ISP. "Severe weather and sunspots affect microwave transmission. I think their only concern was lower price rather than better technology. I wouldn't sign on for any amount of price savings."

White said that companies must sign on with Berkshire Connect to share the benefit.

"If one of the goals, as stated by Berkshire Connect, is equal access," said Mike Bathrick, president of BerkshireNet, a local ISP. "Then why must it be a membership organization?"

"I believe they are targeting the local ISP's," said Bathrick, "I don't think it helps The Berkshires to go outside the county and bring in another ISP."

"There are more than 50 employees working for three local ISP's and these jobs arc endangered because of Berkshire Connect," said Bathrick. "They aren't enhancing competitiveness, they are eliminating competition and putting several businesses that have been active in the Berkshires in jeopardy."

"There was an open solicitation by Berkshire Connect and every ISP in The Berkshires, as well as regional and national firms, were contacted," said Karns. "No local proposal was made."

"We expect service to begin in four months or less," said Karns, "Once we reach a certain threshold of membership [in Berkshire Connect] they will begin to install the network.