Rindge is on track to begin a broadband infrastructure buildout this summer, according to town officials.
The town is currently working with bond council to secure the funding approved during the 2020 ballot voting, where residents overwhelmingly approved a warrant article to fund a fiber internet network designed to service every address in town with high speed internet.
The bond will not be paid back through tax dollars, but rather through a capped user fee paid by those who sign onto the service. If there are not enough users to cover the bond payments, the remainder will be paid by Consolidated Communications, the provider which was chosen to provide service through the new network.
According to Rindge TelTech Committee Chair Phil Motta, Rindge is on track to receive funding for the project in July.
The contract terms with Consolidated Communications require the project to start construction within 30 days, and be completed within 18 months of the town officially securing funding, though Motta said he expects to see the buildout progress much faster than that.
“We expect they’ll be looking to move as quickly as they have in Chesterfield,” Motta said, referencing the first town in New Hampshire to contract with Consolidated Communications in a public-private partnership.
The Chesterfield project, which was also approved during a March town meeting, was able to sign up initial customers within nine months, and had the majority of the project complete within a year, Motta said.
“At a time when we have more people using the Internet than ever before, for more things than ever before, it’s really driven home how much it has become an expected utility in the home,” Motta said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.