Reading Awarded $192,233 Municipal Fiber Grant

Reading MA

03 June, 2022

10:05 AM

Description

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), State Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) and State Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester) recently joined with the Baker-Polito Administration to announce that Reading has been awarded $192,233 in state funding through the Community Compact Cabinet's new Municipal Fiber Grant Program. The grant program was created to assist Massachusetts communities with the construction or completion of a municipal fiber network. The program aims to facilitate the closing of critical gaps in municipal networks and to help connect municipally owned facilities to assist cities and towns. The competitive grant program drew strong interest during the initial application process, with 71 awards totaling $13 million approved for 86 municipalities and school districts. "Maintaining a robust municipal fiber network is critical for the delivery of essential services and for guarding against cybersecurity threats," said Representative Jones. "This grant funding will help the Town of Reading make improvements to its IT infrastructure to better serve the town's residents." "This Municipal Fiber Grant will assist our community in making their network more secure against cyber threats and also provide the tools to better connect employees with reliable access to municipal computer systems," said Representative Haggerty. "As communities grow more dependent upon the internet, we must continue to invest in local fiber networks so residents and employees have reliable, secure online experiences." "I'm delighted that Reading has been awarded this state grant that will be put to good use improving and securing the Town's fiber optic network," said Senator Lewis. "Investing in cybersecurity, in particular, is critically important given the threats to municipal IT infrastructure." Created through a 2015 Executive Order, the Community Compact Cabinet works to promote stronger state and municipal partnerships through the development and support of mutual standards and best practices for both levels of government.