A private internet provider is moving to build a fiber-optic network across Longmeadow, Massachusetts, just months after the town's own plan for a municipally owned system hit a wall at Town Meeting. Gateway Fiber, a Missouri-based company, expects its first construction phase to reach about 1,400 homes, with service potentially coming online in the first half of 2027.
A Private Bid Fills the Gap Left By a Stalled Town Vote
Longmeadow Select Board members welcomed Gateway Fiber's plans to establish service in town on October 19, according to MassLive. The company says it will fund all construction costs itself, beginning with neighborhoods served by overhead utility lines before expanding into areas with more expensive underground utilities in later phases. Longmeadow's path to this point has been anything but straightforward. The town voted 10-1 in November 2024 to form a municipal light plant and approve design and engineering work for a town-owned fiber network, a push that grew out of a municipal fiber task force recommendation to partner with Fiberspring, according to Light Reading.
That momentum ran into trouble this spring. The Reminder reported that the May 12 Annual Town Meeting warrant included Article 7, which would have authorized borrowing to fund the project's construction. Light Reading reported that the measure ultimately failed because it needed a two-thirds majority to pass. The $27 million project would have required the town to pay roughly $8.6 million for the first phase and half of phase two, per the same outlet's reporting, with the town borrowing about $17.9 million as construction progressed before converting it to a long-term loan once building wrapped up in 2032.
Tax Impact and Finance Committee Doubts Shaped the Debate
Before the vote failed, town officials estimated the borrowing plan would have raised average property taxes by about $97 a year, or roughly $2,140 over a 20-year loan, the station's report noted. The initial construction phase was designed to include a central fiber hub along with connections to 1,600 single-family homes, 30 commercial units and 20 multi-dwelling units. Longmeadow's Finance Committee declined to recommend the borrowing article, and the plan assumed a 40 percent subscriber take rate for the town's fiber enterprise fund — well below the 55 percent rate Select Board member Vineeth Hemavathi said South Hadley reached after finishing its own townwide buildout last summer.
Even as the town pursued its own network, Select Board Chair Josh Levine noted earlier this year that other companies, including Gateway Fiber, already had pole applications in Longmeadow, per the same account. Select Board Chair Dan Zwirko said Longmeadow never discouraged private companies from entering town despite the push for a municipal system, according to MassLive. Levine has said he supports a publicly owned broadband utility but also welcomes an alternative to the local cable provider.
Gateway Pushed Back Against the Town's Funding Plan
Gateway Fiber itself urged Longmeadow residents to vote against funding the municipal project, warning it would saddle the town with decades of public debt, Light Reading reported. The company also denied funding Mass Priorities or other advocacy tied to the Longmeadow debate, telling the outlet that Gateway and CBRE have not funded Mass Priorities or related advocacy efforts connected to the matter. Select Board member Andrew Lam has said Gateway would offer better, faster fiber service at no cost to the town while creating competition with Comcast, per MassLive.
Hemavathi, who served on Longmeadow's Broadband Committee that advocated for a town-owned network, has pointed out that no private company in western Massachusetts has yet built out an entire town. He asked whether Gateway would guarantee coverage across all of Longmeadow, and Gateway's Jason Johns said the company was willing to consider a binding pledge to do so, according to MassLive. The evidence reviewed does not show Gateway has received final approval to build throughout Longmeadow or that it has made a binding townwide coverage commitment.
What Service Might Look Like, and What a Neighboring Town Chose Instead
Gateway's residential service is billed monthly with no contracts, according to the company's account relayed in the MassLive report. Sarah Lang said pricing runs from $65 to $125 a month depending on tier, with no installation costs or hidden fees. The company does not offer television channels but can provide telephone service and help customers set up a streaming video bundle.
Not every neighboring town is going the private route. East Longmeadow approved its own town-owned fiber-optic network earlier this year, with Whip City Fiber — a division of Westfield Gas & Electric — set to build it, per MassLive. Gateway Fiber had planned a network for East Longmeadow but is not proceeding there, leaving it second in line behind the newcomer for utility pole owners' work in that town. GoNetspeed had also planned to enter the Longmeadow market before withdrawing, reportedly due to the make-ready costs and time commitment involved; make-ready work, which involves preparing utility poles for new attachments, can take up to three years.
A Mixed Track Record in Pittsfield
Gateway says it has spent more than $1 million on make-ready costs since it began planning its Massachusetts networks in 2023, and in Longmeadow specifically the company has invested more than $1 million in pre-construction work and permitting, Light Reading reported. The company is already building networks in Gardner, Northampton and Pittsfield, and is now working on a third construction phase in Pittsfield that includes neighborhoods with expensive underground utility lines. Pittsfield's City Council approved that current phase of Gateway's expansion in a non-unanimous vote, according to MassLive's reporting.
That Pittsfield rollout hasn't been without friction. Hemavathi has said a Pittsfield city councilor who signed up as a Gateway customer reported disappointment with outages and customer service. Johns has acknowledged that Gateway customers in Massachusetts experienced service interruptions earlier this year, though he also said the company has a positive net promoter score. Separately, the iBerkshires reported that Pittsfield's council approved Gateway's request to deploy an aerial network in the city last September 26, with its first phase expected to reach about 5,000 residents and businesses in Ward 3 and Ward 4; the council also approved a separate network for Archtop Fiber in the city right-of-way.
A Company on an Expansion Tear Across Massachusetts
Gateway Fiber began in small cities and suburban areas of Missouri before expanding into Kansas, Minnesota and North Dakota, with planned projects in Michigan and Wisconsin as well, and the company says it now serves more than 150,000 homes and businesses across five states. Gateway announced a fiber network for Falmouth last month, with construction already underway there and service expected to reach residents and businesses later this year, according to the Cape News. Gateway was one of three companies that expressed interest in building a Falmouth network, alongside GoNetspeed, which had discussed serving roughly 7,000 residences and businesses along Route 28 from the Mashpee town line, and Ripple Fiber, which had proposed a network covering about 85 percent of the town.
The company has told local officials it is focused on roughly a dozen Massachusetts towns for future networks and plans to eventually expand into Barnstable and Yarmouth, per MassLive. Gardner marked Gateway's second city in Massachusetts and its 26th overall, according to a Gateway Fiber announcement. Company officials have said they intend to triple their Massachusetts operations over the next three years, and in Longmeadow, Gateway has said it spent roughly three years preparing to enter the market before this month's announcement.
