THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE HAWLEY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE that took place on Wednesday, December 2 was truly special as 
Hawley hosted five other towns in a search for ways by which hybrid fiber-wireless high-speed Internet technologies can affordably and effectively be used as an alternative to the Fiber-to-the-Home model currently promulgated by MBI.
Participating Towns included:
♦ Hawley
♦ Middlefield,
♦ New Marlborough,
♦ Princeton,
♦ Royalston, and
♦ Savoy
In addition to its central mission of sharing information on matters of technology and approach, the group touched on . . .
♦ Pushing the Envelope on Acceptable Upload and Download Speeds
♦ More Flexible Definition of “Ubiquity” (universal availability)
♦ Creating a Formal Alliance
♦ Collaborative Management and Operations Functions
♦ Building a Political Presence for “Hybrids”
♦ Best methods for working with MBI and gaining the acceptance of the system by residents.
Included in the roster were two participants from Princeton and Royalston with successful experience working in the MBI environment who emerged as mentors to the group. In addition, the Town of Middlefield has just concluded a study of hybrid systems for its residents that is likely to be very similar to the results that the Hawley study may generate.
This meeting was deemed by all participants as being highly valuable. A second meeting, which has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 6 in Middlefield, is likely to be number two in a long series.
