Dublin’s Select Board will look to Town Meeting in March to fund a study to determine a way to get faster internet service in town.
The board met with internet consultant Fred Goldstein of the Massachusetts-based company Interisle Consulting Group to discuss the details of the feasibility study, which would involve mapping the town to see if a radio frequency internet option would be possible for the town.
“I can tell you that as a board, we feel this is a priority for the town,” said Selectman Sturdy Thomas. “I feel this is very important for the growth of our community.”
Goldstein said a feasibility study would cost between $9,000 to $10,000.
As a part of the study, Goldstein would map the town’s homes and determine potential locations to put service poles and the radio equipment needed to send the signal to each home.
“I generally design to use the roadside’s right of way,” said Goldstein. “Rather than putting up towers, I prefer to use wooden utility poles, which are placed near the already existing poles on the sides of the road.”
The goal of the study, according to Thomas, would be to find a way in which 100 percent of the town could have an internet option that would provide at least 25 mbps service, which would be a large upgrade from the town’s current service provider, FairPoint Communications.
The plan would be to ask voters at Town Meeting in 2017 to raise and appropriate the funds needed to complete the study.
After the study is completed, the town would decide whether to move forward with the information presented, which could come in the form of another warrant article.