Town Near Amherst to Get Universal Fast Internet

On June 2, the people of Leverett, Massachusetts voted to spend $3.6 million to provide every home in their town with fast internet. Leverett has a population of about 2,000. It borders Amherst.

The vote was 462 to 90.

Every home in Leverett will have fast internet by 2014, a town spokesman said. This will increase the value of homes in Leverett, according to the town web site. Currently, 6 percent of homes in Leverett have no internet access and 23 percent have dial-up, according to the town web site.

Mass., Vermont Plan for Clean Energy, Universal High-Speed Internet

In a move that could be repeated in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the state of Vermont is poised to discourage companies from building cell phone towers that look like fake trees and will offer subsidies to encourage the companies to instead build electricity-generating windmills to hold up their cell phone antennas.