CAPE COD – On a utility pole across the street from State Rep. Randy Hunt’s house on Quaker Meeting House Road in Sandwich is a government-funded OpenCape fiber optic high speed internet cable.
“It is literally right across the street from me,” said Hunt, who, gets his home internet from what he described as Comcast’s older and slower coaxial cable coming from a neighborhood “node.”
Each neighborhood node, according to Comcast spokesman Marc Goodman, actually gets a signal from Comcast fiber. So Comcast has fiber on the Cape, he said. “We have thousands of miles of fiber on Cape Cod,” he said.
Randy Hunt in his driveway. Behind him is a telephone pole carrying OpenCape fiber.
The signal that arrives over fiber is then disbursed and shared throughout the neighborhood over coaxial cable, he said. “It’s designed to handle additional volume, said Goodman. “We’ve increased our internet speed 17 times over the last 18 years.”
And, said Goodman, “Cape customers have access to same advanced products and services that we offer in any of our markets.”
There is a “hybrid fiber coax [coaxial cable] system” serving “pretty much every resident” of Cape Cod,” said Goodman.
Yet Hunt said his office has received many complaints that Comcast is the only option, and that it is too expensive and too slow. There is some hope that OpenCape could become, “a community-based alternative,” he said.
Goodman disputed that Comcast is the only alternative on Cape Cod. On Cape Cod, said Goodman, “it’s extremely competitive. There are multiple providers for every aspect of our business. That’s why we’ve continued to invest in our products and services and network.”
“They’ve upgraded because I’m knocking on their door,” said Steve Johnston, Executive Director of OpenCape.
Hunt noted how tantalizingly close the OpenCape fiber is to his house and to many other people’s houses.
“But it would cost me $3,200 just to connect to my house. How in the world am I supposed to amortize $3,200. At $100 a month over 32 months and I have no signal yet. That’s just installation,” said Hunt.
What Is OpenCape?
OpenCape is a 501c3 nonprofit that, with money from government grants, has strung almost 550 miles of fiber optic cable through more than 40 towns in Southeastern Massachusetts, said Johnston.
“We have a much bigger footprint than most people realize,” said Johnston.
Purchase Required
To read the rest of this one Longform story, please purchase access. The price for this one story is $3.00. To access all of our Longform stories, choose a $5.00 monthly membership or a $50.00 yearly membership.
