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The important thing to remember about NHEC is that we, the consumers, own it.
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Correct.
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That’s what we did this spring when we voted in directors who would support NHEC getting into the broadband business.
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"We" failed to get the required majority votes for the bylaw change, so try again with a twist.
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They won’t have a detailed plan until they know if they can get some of the newly available grants for rural broadband, and they can’t apply for those grants without our approving the bylaw change. It’s a chicken and egg thing.
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More like scrambled eggs!
Why?
If there is surety ... put it on the table and convince!
To comply with the current CARES Act rules, states must have the broadband projects, which can typically take months of planning, up and running by Dec. 30. Also, if I remember correctly, if there is 25/3 Mbps availability, then disqualification for the money. That would mean a majority of the area that NHEC/phone company poles, to be strung with fiber
cable, would be disqualified from Cares Act money.
The Carroll County Broadband Committee is also trying to get broadband into their northern sites, not just Sandwich. County/state money for certain towns.
Hub66 is in essence a startup with a probable a future. At least they have a plan ... not like NHEC, just string a bunch of fiber cable on poles, that for the most part, already have fiber cable through their trunk infrastructure. Cheaper to place towers, than string miles of redundant fiber.
Broadband availability has been studied/argued for many years. Even when I was a member of the Moultonborough Broadband "Workgroup", back in 2014, there was debate on technology. Moultonborogh was one of three towns picked by UNH etc. for the study. It was picked because it had over $200,000 in a town reserve fund. The money came from the cable company franchise fees.
A pearl of wisdom by the deciding body was to be a workgroup instead of a
"committee" to avoid RSA 91-A , Right-To-Know law compliance with meeting minutes.
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In March 2014, a statewide broadband initiative (information at iwantbroadbandnh.org), sponsored by UNH, LRPC and DRED, chose Moultonborough to participate in a broadband planning pilot program.
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https://www.moultonboroughnh.gov/sit...dband-2014.pdf
The debate continues to this day.