FALMOUTH – Regional nonprofit Falmouth.net recently announced an upcoming visit by Gigi Sohn, Executive Director of the American Association of Public Broadband, to discuss the wider impacts surrounding the town’s efforts to build a fiber-optic internet access network.
A former Counselor to previous FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the Biden Administration’s first choice to be FCC Commissioner at the onset of its Administration, Sohn is an expert and an advocate for the democratization of public broadband.
Sohn’s first appearance will come before the Falmouth Select Board to deliver a public address at the Falmouth Town Hall on Monday, February 12 at 6:30 pm.
On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, Sohn will speak before the Cape Cod Technology Council in Hyannis at 9 am before visiting Open Cape en route to a Falmouth Broadband Forum at 7 pm at the Falmouth Historical Society at 55 Palmer Avenue.
The free event will feature a keynote address by Sohn, followed by a round table with officials from the town of Falmouth and the Falmouth Municipal Light Plant, followed by a public Q&A.
Falmouth’s network project would join a group of about 450 municipal networks currently operating in the US, including some in the Bay State.
“Community-based broadband networks have transformed the Massachusetts Berkshires from sleepy hamlets to vibrant enters of economic opportunity, education, and culture,” said Sohn. “Now we have the chance to extend the advantages of locally controlled networks to the rest of Massachusetts.”
About Matthew Tomlinson
