March 4, 2025
The Sharon Select Board has recently been in contact with the Government Relations Manager of Comcast/Xfinity to discuss the status of cable installations for those homes in Sharon that still do not have access to high speed internet. This includes homes on Jarmany Hill, Mill, Spring Hill, McCoy, and Cross roads and those homes north of the Meeting House on Route 123. We wish we could say the installation would happen tomorrow, but the wheels of bureaucracy do not move fast. At least there is progress.
First, the grant for the funds to install the cabling was approved by the Governor’s Council in September and was signed by the Governor later that month. That led to a period when other vendors could challenge the action. That period passed.
After initial engineering, Comcast/Xfinty did on-the-ground surveys marking each pole and the “drop” to each home. That work was completed on February 18.
Comcast/Xfinity does not own the poles–some are owned by Eversource, others are owned by Consolidated, and others are jointly owned. But, before any cables can be installed, Comcast needs to secure permits from the pole owners for each and every attachment. It gets complicated. Comcast is currently preparing those permit requests. Then, once submitted, the pole owners have 45 days to react and to “make ready” the poles. There is always the chance of delays, but our Comcast/Xfinity contact is pretty confident that things will go smoothly.
Once all the permits are in place, cable installation can finally begin. Then testing and the installation of drops to each home. In all, our contact is hopeful that everything can be completed in about six months. No guarantees, but it sounds like late summer or early fall.
A final comment. People logically make the comment, “Fidium is just down the road. Why can’t they just extend their cable to my house?” That just doesn’t happen in rural areas like ours. In a city where the population is dense, companies can and do overlap the areas they cover. But, the way contracts and grants are set up in rural areas, specific areas are defined and designated to be served by a single company. We don’t know how those areas were established, but the bottom line is that Fidium will not go into an area designated for Comcast/Xfinity, or vice versa.
The Select Board will continue to monitor progress. We will try to keep you posted as things develop.
