After dark money defeat, Longmeadow fiber advocates may try again

Supporters of an effort to build a municipal fiber broadband network in Longmeadow (MA) suffered a defeat when a town vote to fund the first phase of network construction failed. According to those involved, that failure followed a well-funded "dark money" opposition campaign, believed to be connected to Comcast. But advocates of the network say they hope to try again. Longmeadow's municipal fiber journey dates back to 2023, when Vineeth Hemavathi ran for a seat on the Select Board and, while campaigning, heard an array of complaints about the reliability of the town's incumbent provider, Comcast. "I spent basically six or seven months knocking on doors all over town. And, besides some infrastructure issues like our roads and deferred maintenance, the unreliability of Comcast Internet service was a thing that I heard about the most," said Hemavathi. That led Longmeadow to explore town-owned fiber, an endeavor that several other cities and towns in Western Massachusetts were undertaking or considering. "In Western Mass., we have so many towns that have gone to town-owned fiber or were moving towards it, and so what I kept hearing was, you know, 'why can't we have this in our town?'" said Hemavathi.