Cape Codders have an opportunity to inform state leaders how federal funding should be used to advance digital equity and improve broadband internet services during a listening session held by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) on Thursday, Sept. 28, from 3 to 5 p.m., at Barnstable Town Hall.
To register for the session, visit broadband.masstech.org.
“These are once-in-a-lifetime funds that can be transformative to Cape Cod which sorely needs increased investment in its digital infrastructure,” said Cape Cod Technology Council Executive Director Steve Smith. “I encourage the public to attend the Broadband Institute’s listening session at the end of this month to provide feedback which will be critical to how the state allocates these funds.”
In June, MBI announced its Internet for All Listening Tour which consists of a series of regional meetings and focus groups that will serve as the basis for developing a plan for how federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds will be expended to achieve universal access and digital equity across Massachusetts.
The sessions, which kicked off at the beginning of September in Brockton, allow community members to provide feedback to state leaders to identify digital equity gaps, the reliability of internet access, internet affordability, digital literacy, the need for skills training, and making devices available for residents statewide.
MBI will use the feedback to develop statewide broadband plans to create data-driven roadmaps to achieve universal access and digital equity across the state. The efforts will be supported by $147 million in federal funding Massachusetts received through President Joseph Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which is providing a total of $42 billion across the country with the goal of providing high-speed, affordable broadband to all Americans by 2030.
A division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, MBI is working to extend high-speed internet access and availability across the Commonwealth.
