Expanding broadband and digital equity on Cape Cod 

Internet connectivity and access to the digital world is no longer an amenity – it is a necessity in our daily lives. The Cape Cod Commission's broadband work aims to ensure reliable, affordable, and equitable access to the Internet for residents and visitors to our region.   

The Commission is currently conducting a regional broadband assessment, offering municipal digital equity planning services, and coordinating with the statewide digital equity plan.   

Assessing existing broadband capabilities 

The Commission is working with contractors CTC Technologies and Rural Innovation Strategies to collect and analyze data on existing conditions of fixed and mobile broadband networks and service availability, to quantify anecdotal accounts about connectivity and issues of affordability and digital equity. The results of this assessment will inform recommendations for improving the network and guide conversations about future investments. This American Rescue Plan Act-funded project began in July.  

Digital equity planning for Cape Cod communities 

Through the Massachusetts Broadband Institute’s Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program, the Cape Cod Commission will work with towns across the region to develop a municipal digital equity plan – a comprehensive, community-based planning process that will enable municipalities to better understand challenges that residents face across the digital divide and identify solutions. At no cost to the town, the process results in a document that details community needs in terms of reliable and affordable internet access, appropriate devices for an individual’s civic, social, and employment needs, and the skills necessary to engage digitally. The final plan will also identify solutions towns can further through other state and local efforts to bridge the digital divide.  

Coordination with state broadband efforts 

Finally, the Commission is working to ensure the region is well-represented in the state’s Broadband and Digital Equity strategic plans. For more information on state efforts and a link to the Digital Equity Survey, please visit broadband.masstech.org/internetforall.

To learn more about the Commission’s broadband work, please visit www.capecodcommission.org/broadband.