New $40M fiber-optic line links R.I., Cape Cod

BARNSTABLE, Mass. – A Cape Cod nonprofit has been awarded $40 million in grants to construct a 350-mile, fiber-optic network backbone to the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, with connections to regional network access points in Providence and Brockton, Mass.
The nonprofit OpenCape Corp. received a $32 million National Telecommunications and Information Administration broadband grant to construct a network that would support community, economic and governmental needs in southeastern Massachusetts.
OpenCape received an additional $6 million grant from Massachusetts state government and $2 million from RCN Metro Optical Networks, a division of RCN Corp., to build the network.
OpenCape hopes that the new open-access network will better position Cape Cod, the islands and Nantucket to expand their economy beyond hospitality.
RCN Metro will design, build and manage the network, and estimates it will take three years to complete. &#8226