Milton has an opportunity to build a “Fiber to the Home” municipal network that would connect households and businesses to the internet. Reliable internet is critical infrastructure, like roads or water. Creating a Town-owned fiber optic network would treat it as such. 

 

Starting in 2018, the Select Board of the Town of Milton appointed a Municipal Broadband Committee to explore the feasibility of deploying Town-owned fiber optic infrastructure throughout the town. As a result of the committee’s work, the town will soon begin updating the existing Town institutional network (I-Net) that will connect Town buildings and schools. The new I-Net is primarily funded by Federal ARPA grants; it will replace the existing Town network that has been declared obsolete by the former provider.

 

The I-Net’s purpose is to interconnect Town offices for municipal business, but its fibers can also serve as the backbone for a larger Fiber-to-the-Home network. Town Meeting has already voted to establish a Municipal Light Plant (MLP), the legal entity that would own and operate such a network if the Town builds it.

 

 If this initiative goes forward, the project would be developed with the following principles and objectives:

 

1. ​Nobody will be forced to participate. Participation would be on a voluntary, opt-in basis.

2. Taxes would not be increased to fund the network.

3. The ongoing operation of the network would be self-sustaining and not dependent on any kind of subsidy from the Town.

 

Primary goals for this infrastructure initiative include the following:

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1. Lower the cost of internet access for both residents and businesses.

2. Increase competition giving residents and businesses multiple choices of new Internet Service Providers (ideally, 4-5 new options).

3. Build a state-of-the-art network that will improve economic development and foster innovation.

4. Leverage the network to improve the services provided in the Town including public safety, transportation, healthcare, education, emergency communications, transactive energy (smart grid) and new services that will become possible with advanced network infrastructure.

 

In the coming months, the committee will develop a full feasibility study and business plan for the creation of a Fiber-to-the-Home network. The committee will also be sharing more information and answering your questions via this website, community meetings, and a series of other outreach efforts. The Municipal Broadband Committee encourages community engagement to ensure that the outcome meets the needs of the Town.