Verizon Or Otherwise, County Assembly Supports Fiber-Optic Networks On Cape
The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, in taking up a request from Verizon to support its application seeking federal funding to bring fiber-optic networks to nine of Cape Cod’s towns, instead took an extra step and authorized a letter supporting a build-out in all of the region’s 15 towns. Verizon had asked for support for a plan to service nine towns.
The decision was made at the assembly’s meeting on December 6, after the Barnstable County Standing Committee on Telecommunication and Energy voted on November 29 to make no recommendation on the matter.
The assembly’s vote of sweeping support follows votes in several Upper Cape towns to support Verizon’s application for the first round of the Broadband Infrastructure Gap Networks Grant Program. The deadline for applications was Monday.
In addition to Verizon’s request, towns have also reported receiving similar solicitations from Comcast to support its application for the same funds. Some of the requests for support received by towns have been accompanied by a pre-written draft letter of support, for which towns need only input contact information and the date.
Verizon announced its interest in installing a high-speed, fiber-optic network on the Cape in mid-November. Specifically, the company said it would be seeking $20 million, which it would match from its own funds.
The grant, which is administered by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), requires applicants to get letters of support from each municipality they are seeking to expand in. Verizon’s regional director of state and governmental affairs, Ellen Cummings, has said that the company is mostly focused on the Upper and Mid-Cape regions currently; however, the company has so far declined to publicly name the nine towns it has identified as targets for the build-out.
To date, the towns of Bourne, Falmouth, and Mashpee report being contacted by Verizon regarding application support. The town manager’s offices in Falmouth and Mashpee have each confirmed that a letter of support was provided to Verizon. The Bourne Cable, Internet, Telecommunications Advisory Committee (CITAC) also provided a letter of support, but did so with conditions.
All three towns have also confirmed being contacted by Comcast regarding its application for the same grant. Falmouth Town Manager Michael Renshaw said he submitted a letter of support for Comcast; Bourne CITAC chairman Robert Dwyer confirmed that the town sent a letter of conditional support to Comcast, as with Verizon. Mashpee Assistant Town Manager Wayne E. Taylor said he believes that Mashpee will also issue a letter of support.
Town officials in Sandwich have not been contacted by either company, but Assistant Town Manager Heather B. Harper said that the town would likely support such a request.
“It would be wonderful to see Verizon make fiber-optics investments on Cape Cod,” she said.
Verizon has also asked for support from both the Cape Cod Technology Council and the county’s Standing Committee on Telecommunication and Energy. The technology council could not agree on whether to support the application; at the time, both council and audience members said Verizon had not provided enough information. Delegates on the telecommunications committee referred Verizon’s application to the full assembly, setting the stage for Wednesday’s meeting.
Wellfleet Delegate Lilli-Ann Green said she drafted a letter supporting grant funding going to all 15 Cape towns. All of them have a need and should receive funding, she said. She also referenced a point made earlier in the meeting by Steven Tupper, deputy director of the Cape Cod Commission, who said it was unknown whether Verizon was the only provider offering a build-out to Cape towns.
Mr. Tupper was before the assembly to give an update on the commission’s broadband initiatives. He touched on the grant program Verizon is applying to; when asked, he said he was not aware of any private entities besides Verizon that were applying for the funding. However, he said he had not talked to all of the towns and it was possible there were other entities reaching out to them.
Falmouth Delegate Daniel Gessen said he had asked at the meeting of the telecommunications committee the week prior why the county should support Verizon specifically.
“In my opinion, there wasn’t a concrete answer to that,” he said. “Aside from that, they’re the ones applying, and they’re the ones sitting in front of us at that committee hearing and asking for it.”
Based on Mr. Tupper’s presentation, Mr. Gessen said he thought the Massachusetts Broadband Institute would need to make two decisions: First, which towns would be targeted for funding, and second, which entity interested in those towns would get the money to build them out.
It would be more appropriate for the assembly to underscore the need and answer the first question, he said, rather than supporting a specific corporation “and giving them a leg up.”
“Because in the letter that Verizon requested for us to send, they really didn’t even mention Cape Cod,” he added. “They wanted the assembly to essentially write a blanket letter of recommendation for Verizon to receive money to build wherever they decide to build in Massachusetts.”
Harwich Delegate Elizabeth Harder also supported the idea of telling the Massachusetts Broadband Institute that the Cape needs broadband without supporting Verizon specifically.
“I really felt uncomfortable with them really not giving any sort of guarantee that, if they got any grant money, it would be spent on the Cape,” she said. “They said, ‘Well, if the towns sign up,’ but then they said if they only get part of the money they were going for, then they weren’t sure where it was going to be spent.”
Ms. Green made the motion for Speaker and Barnstable Delegate Patrick Princi to write a letter to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute endorsing a build-out in all 15 towns, supporting “the entity that has been made known to us, which is Verizon,” as well as other potential providers.
The grant program focuses on unserved and underserved locations across the state. Mr. Tupper said the program requires applicants seeking funding in a specific municipality to connect all of the unserved and underserved locations in that town.
Each eligible entity can receive a maximum of $20 million in this funding round, he said; if funds are left over, a second round would be held, with an application deadline in April.
“In the second round, they’ve indicated that the applicants would not need to connect everyone within a town,” he said. “So they can be a little more selective.”
Mr. Tupper said the program was “a very quick grant round.”
“The solicitation didn’t leave, frankly, a whole lot of time to prepare grant applications,” he said, later adding it was a “high bar” to put together the application in a short period, and there was a good amount of technical work required.
He also noted the grant program’s deadline, which requires substantial completion of the work before the end of 2026.
Michael Rausch and Noelle Annonen contributed reporting for this story.