Massachusetts Broadband Institute begins flow of $5 million in matching funds to OpenCape

OpenCape Corporation has completed necessary contracts with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to begin the flow of $5 million in state matching funds to OpenCape as part of OpenCape’s $40 million telecommunications infrastructure project in southeast Massachusetts.

OpenCape will provide fiber-optic strands to the Commonwealth to provide a foundation for future government network communication in southeast Massachusetts. OpenCape, the Commonwealth’s Information Technology Division (ITD) and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) have worked together closely to form a partnership that will advance the Commonwealth’s interests in improving public safety and other services. In addition, government entities will be offered services at discounted prices on the OpenCape network when it becomes operational in 2013. The OpenCape system will create a regional umbrella services model for municipalities and school districts on Cape Cod and the Islands through the creation of a very high capacity regional area network. The OpenCape system will also support public safety through the creation of more robust and redundant communications paths. In addition to direct and indirect jobs associated with network construction and operation, the network will support job growth by promoting diversification of the regional economy.