Town to benefit from $25M fiber outlay – Jamestown Press

An estimated 1,900 locations in Jamestown will receive improved broadband service through a $25 million investment by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.

Jamestown will benefit from the initial request for proposals with Newport (2,900 locations) and Westerly (1,900). It is part of the commerce department’s ConnectRI program to bring high-speed internet to underserved areas throughout Rhode Island. Two additional requests will be released in 2024 to connect more communities.

“Broadband is no longer a luxury,” Gov. Dan McKee said. “It is a 21st century necessity that will keep Rhode Island competitive.”

The commerce department’s board of directors approved the spending June 10 to improve speed and resilience while providing affordable broadband to homes and businesses. The exact allocation of the $25 million will be based on proposals that are submitted through a competitive bid process.

Future improvements across the state will be made using $108.7 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The money is administered at the state level through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, which was championed by Jamestown resident Deb Ruggiero when she was a state legislator.

“I’ve been calling on broadband policy for our state for two years to bring Rhode Island into the next generation of digital access and equity,” Ruggiero said in 2022. “Like every state, Rhode Island is set to receive a huge federal investment to address our broadband needs, but we need to qualify for it. Our state must develop a plan for fiber broadband deployment to homes and businesses and a plan to fix digital inequities in underserved and unserved neighborhoods.”

The investments are the culmination of two years of strategic and participatory planning that resulted in a five-year action plan with a broadband map. Jamestown,

Newport and Westerly were selected based on a formula that weighed the total number of locations served against the amount of money available. They looked at cities and towns with higher percentages of households without reliable internet.

The plan will require buildouts of end-to-end fiber networks that can deliver 100-megabit speeds for both uploading and downloading. Affordability will be a priority. Proposals from companies with 100/100 Mbps service that do not exceed $53.09 per month will take precedence.

Town Administrator Ed Mello expects this investment to bring affordable broadband to nearly half of the local population.

“This will create further opportunity for our residents to work and learn from home,” he said. “Reliable broadband has become a necessity.”

According to the statewide broadband map, there are more underserved locations in Jamestown than served, which is defined by 100/20 Mbps or better. Of the 2,985 locations, 1,620 (54 percent) of them have service slower than that. There are also six unserved locations.

When Jamestown is broken into thirds, the north end has 1,466 locations with about half serviceable, the center has 1,232 locations with about 45 percent serviceable and the southern portion has 924 locations with about 80 percent serviceable.

The statistics for the north end, however, are skewered. While the neighborhoods between Frigate Street and Watson Farm west of North Road are 90-95 serviceable, the locations north of Frigate, from coast to coast, are about 80 percent underserved.

While the section of Beavertail’s serviceability is about 50/50, the stats for the southern section are faster because it includes the locations south of High Street on the Fort Wetherill side of Mackerel Cove, including Highland Drive and Walcott Avenue.

“This once-in-a-lifetime investment allows us to lay the groundwork for a more prosperous and connected future that is crucial for our state’s economic vitality,” added Liz Tanner, the state’s secretary of commerce. “By closing the digital divide, we are ensuring the access necessary to promote innovation, enhance productivity, and attract business and development.”