Warwick Broadband now has more than 70 subscribers, close to one-third
of the households in town and probably closer to half the homes that
have Internet connections. This is fairly remarkable, given that the
wireless signal can't yet reach every home in town. You can always call
the selectboard office, 544 3615, to ask about getting an installation.

Recently the town's broadband committee met in Northampton with 
representatives of about 30 other Western Mass. towns to consider 
launching an initiative to bring fiber optic Internet connections to 
subscribers in participating towns.

Fiber is by far the fastest and most reliable of all Internet
technologies. A fiber connection to the home can also carry cable TV and
 phone service, all at the same time, without slowing down any of the 
services. A single strand of fiber could carry all the telephone calls
going on all over the world at any given moment.

At the meeting, we heard from members of the East Central Vermont
Community Fiber Network (http://www.ecfiber.net/). They told how they 
are developing their system. Owned by 22 municipalities in eastern and
central Vermont, it will operate without any local tax money.

Interested Western Mass. towns will have an article on the 2010 Annual
Town Meeting warrant asking their selectboards to join the Western Mass
fiber initiative.

Before town meetings are asked to decide, a public information meeting
will be held in each town, presented by local broadband committee
members and members of the interlocal organization's steering committee.

Warwick's Annual Town Meeting is on May 3.  An information meeting will
be scheduled for April, the date announced in this newsletter, on The L,
the Warwick web site, and in local newspapers. You can count on the
selectboard and the broadband committee to do everything we can think of
to be sure you know about it.