According to David Bucciero, director of technological services at the College, fiber-optic cable networks function at much higher speeds than DSL, and when privately installed, fiber can be implemented as a wireless home network.
Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin reported that roughly 30 percent of Hanover residents have access to high-speed Internet in the form of either cable Internet through Adelphia or DSL through Verizon.
"Once you get outside of the urban downtown area [of Hanover]," Griffin said, "many residents don't even have cable television." Griffin said that residents in all eight towns have expressed a desire for better access to high-speed Internet, if not the other services.
"None of the communities involved have even the beginning of predominately high-speed Internet access, and some have no high-speed Internet access at all," Griffin said.
The West Central New Hampshire Regional Health and Security Communications Consortium is composed of town representatives from Newbury, New London, Hanover, Sunapee, Springfield, Orford, Lyme and Enfield. Griffin is the vice chairman of the consortium, and Jessie Levine '92, town administrator of New London, chairs the group.
The consortium formed in October 2005, and has since worked with PacketFront, a company that specializes in deploying community broadband networks. On Aug. 4, PacketFront will report their findings on the project's relevancy and whether implementation is feasible. Griffin said that after reviewing PacketFront's initial report, the consortium will look into funding options and feasibility.
The total estimated cost for the project is $32 million. Griffin explained that the consortium hopes to obtain a third of the funding from federal and state grants and loans, a third from private investors and the last third from community members paying user fees. Ultimately, the project is not meant to be for-profit, Griffin said.
Hanover town officials have approached Dartmouth to discuss possible College investment in the fiber-optic network. While Dartmouth already has Kiewit Wireless, a campus-wide wireless Internet network, there exist several College programs, such as the Institute for Security Technology Studies on Lyme Rd. and the Dartmouth Childcare Center on Reservoir Road, that do not have access to Kiewit. Additionally, many professors who live in Hanover and students who live off-campus would benefit from the project.
According to Levine, many rural New Hampshire residents have expressed dissatisfaction with their current options for Internet access.
"From what I've heard, there's a high level of frustration," Levine said. "Is high-speed Internet a matter of life and death? No. But is it a matter of improving the quality of life? Yes."
