CHICOPEE BROADBAND TIMELINE

Late 2014 – Mayor Kos meets with City Councilors to discuss the possibility of Chicopee

Electric Light providing broadband internet to Chicopee Residents.

January 14, 2015 – President Barack Obama announced a new plan to increase broadband

Internet speeds in the United States by increasing competition, primarily through the use of

municipalities as ISP’s.

January 28, 2015 – Mayor Kos holds internal meeting with staff to determine how to move

forward with broadband plans.

April 8, 2015 – Mayor Kos meets with Chicopee Electric Light General Manager Jeff Cady

and Information Technology Director Vanessa Oquendo to discuss the benefits of broadband

internet as provided by the City.

April 9, 2015 – Chicopee joins the city-to-city collaborative Next Century Cities, a

nationwide group that supports broadband investment for community development.

April 22, 2015 – Chicopee Electric Light Commission approves request for proposal for

feasibility study.

May 18, 2015 – Bid for feasibility study RFP goes out.

June 5, 2015 – Mayor Kos sends a letter of support to the Federal Communications

Commission advocating for the commission to consider the results of a report on Internet

Service Provider reporting data by the Government Accountability Office. Mayor Kos also

asks that the FCC work with ISP’s to develop uniformed standards that allow for easy and

accurate assessment of internet speeds.

June 23, 2015 – Bid opening for RFP on feasibility study.

July 8, 2015 - Chicopee Electric Light General Manager Jeff Cady and Cable Commissioner

Joel McAuliffe attend “Exploring the Telecom Opportunity at your Municipal Light Plant” at

Harvard University. The program illustrates the successes municipally owned ISP’s run

through electric light plants.

July 27, 2015 - Chicopee Electric Light Commission selects Magellan Advisors to preform

feasibility study.

August 8, 2015 – Press announcement on broadband feasibility study.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Media Contact: August 26, 2015 Joel McAuliffe

413-594-1506

jmcauliffe@chicopeema.gov

CHICOPEE TO STUDY HIGH SPEED

BROADBAND NETWORK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICOPEE – Mayor Richard J. Kos and Chicopee Electric Light General Manager Jeff

Cady are pleased to announce that Chicopee Electric Light (CEL) has selected a consultant

to perform a feasibility study for offering high speed internet service to businesses and

households in Chicopee. CEL already has significant fiber optic resources throughout the

city and is looking to leverage these facilities. According to General Manager Jeffrey

Cady, “The goal would be to increase the internet speeds available in Chicopee at a

competitive rate. Business customers need reliable high speed internet just as much as they

need reliable electricity these days.”

The first step will be a market research study to determine customer interest levels,

competitive pricing, and service offerings. After that a design of the network will be

conducted to determine the cost of bringing fiber to homes and businesses. Finally, a

financial analysis will be completed to determine if the project is feasible. The study is

expected to take 4 to 5 months to complete.

“Based on discussions that I have had with the Electric Light Commissioners and

Mayor Kos, we all feel that if the study proves positive it could be a great economic

development tool for the City. In fact, this may bring new customers to Chicopee

resulting in increased electric sales and tax revenues.” said Cady.

“Broadband internet would be a game changer for Chicopee,” said Mayor Richard

Kos. “This study will allow us to determine the feasibility of brining 1 gig internet

service to the City and to our residents. It has the potential to provide substantial

opportunities here in Chicopee.”

CEL has been offering fiber optic services to businesses in Chicopee through a

partnership with Holyoke Gas and Electric for years. Chicopee Electric Light runs the

fiber to the customer and leases the fiber to Holyoke Gas and Electric. Holyoke then

provides the internet service to the customer along with all of the support services.

CEL hopes to expand on this service and offer even higher speeds up to 1GB to

customers.

If CEL moves forward with expanding the fiber service, it will provide the utility with

more capabilities for distribution automation and automated meter reading. This will

help the utility provide even better reliability then it does today.

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Media Contact: April 9, 2015 Joel McAuliffe

413-594-1506

JMcAuliffe@Chicopeema.gov

CHICOPEE JOINS BOSTON AND NEW BEDFORD

AS NEXT CENTURY CITIES LEADER FOR

HIGH-SPEED INTERNET

Nationwide initiative supports broadband investment for community development

CHICOPEE– Today, Mayor Richard J. Kos announced Chicopee has joined Next

Century Cities, a bipartisan, city-to-city initiative dedicated to ensuring the availability

of next-generation broadband Internet for all communities.

“I am incredibly excited for Chicopee to join Next Century Cities,” said Mayor Kos.

“Gigabit internet is the next-generation of connectivity and will provide numerous

growth opportunities for our City. We are glad join Next Century Cities in support of

these efforts.”

Chicopee’s internet is currently served by Charter Communications cable and Verizon

DSL.

“Next Century Cities welcomes Chicopee, the latest community to join us in support of

high-speed Internet” said Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities. “We

encourage all cities who are interested in recognizing the benefits of these investments

to business, schools, government, and more to join this initiative.”

To date, over 70 cities and their elected leaders have joined Next Century Cities in

recognition of the importance of leveraging gigabit-level Internet to attract new

businesses and create jobs, improve health care and education, and connect residents to

new opportunities. Next Century Cities will support communities and their elected

leaders across the country as they seek to ensure that all have access to fast, affordable,

and reliable Internet.

Next Century Cities member cities include: Alexandria (VA), Ammon (ID), Arvada

(CO), Auburn (IN), Austin (TX), Beverly Hills (CA), Boston (MA), Bryan (TX), Burbank

(CA), Burlington (WA), Carbondale (IL), Carl Junction (MO), Cedar Falls (IA),

Centennial (CO), Centerville (UT), Champaign (IL), Chapel Hill (NC), Chattanooga

(TN), Chicopee (MA),Clarksville (TN), College Station (TX), Columbus (OH), Cortez

(CO), Culver City (CO), Garden Grove (CA), Gresham (OR), Hagerstown (MD),

Independence (OR), Jackson (TN), Kansas City (KS), Kansas City (MO), Lafayette

(LA), Lakeland (FL), Lake Oswego (OR), Layton City (UT), Leverett (MA), Lexington

(KY), Los Angeles (CA), Louisville (KY), Madison (WI), Martin County (FL), Medina

County (OH), Missoula (MT), Montgomery County (MD), Monticello (MN), Montrose

(CO), Morristown (TN), Mount Vernon (WA), Murray City (UT), New Bedford (MA),

Oakland (CA), Opelika (AL), Palo Alto (CA), Ponca City (OK), Portland (OR), Raleigh

(NC), River Falls (WI), Riverside (CA), Roanoke (VA), Rockport (ME), Salisbury (NC),

Sallisaw (OK), San Antonio (TX), Sandy (OR), Santa Cruz County (CA), Santa Monica

(CA), Seattle (WA), Shaker Heights (OH), South Portland (ME), South San Francisco

(CA), Spanish Fork (UT), Stamford (CT), Syracuse (NY), Tucson (AZ), Urbana (IL),

Vallejo (CA), Vancouver (WA), Westminster (MD), Wilson (NC), Winters (CA),

Winthrop (MN), and Yellow Springs (OH).

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June 5, 2015