RCN Boston Helps Fiber Increase Capacity For BIG

RCN Boston, an award-winning and leading provider of fiber and
broadband services, and Brookline Interactive Group (BIG) today announced that
the local cable access group now has more capacity than ever to carry public
meetings and other events to the Brookline community. RCN recently upgraded
BIG’s service to a new fiber connection which has improved the capacity and
quality of Brookline public meetings being carried live on the Brookline cable
access channels and through its streaming platforms. The increase in capacity
is necessary as BIG has cablecast more than 100 live public (municipal, school and community) meetings virtually
since March 16th due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“The coronavirus crisis
has resulted in new and growing interest in local cable access channels to watch
town meetings and other events produced by our community,” said Kathy Bisbee,
BIG Executive Director. “With RCN’s help, we were able to increase the fiber
connection so that our viewers can have relevant, timely and high-quality
programming during this time when communication is more critical than ever
before. BIG’s role is to provide a platform and facilitate a dialogue about the
civic process that members of the community won’t get anywhere else. We are
thankful to RCN for quickly responding to our request to help improve our
ability to serve the community.”

The meetings facilitated by BIG, in partnership with the Town of
Brookline, over the past two months on its government access channels include
the Select Board, School Committee, the Brookline Public Health Department and
Health Advisory Committee, virtual town hall meetings of the small business
committee, communities of faith, nonprofits and aid organizations, and many
other town and school sub-committee meetings. BIG’s responsive efforts included,
in the first weeks of the pandemic, hands-on technical training programs and
getting equipment to town and school officials for improved live meeting
broadcasts, while managing the technical backend from its small team of four
employee’s homes, all based outside of Brookline. Residents were inspired by
the new programming and jumped on the content bandwagon, including MA State
Representative Tommy Vitolo’s new program, “Tommy Town Television.” His show
features state updates and experts on the Covid-19 pandemic, and this week’s
episode highlighted his family’s “NY Italian Gravy Recipe” aka red marinara
pasta sauce.

BIG’s coverage of Sunday mass from St. Mary’s Church of the
Assumption Parish in Brookline, morning services from St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, and from Temple Ohabei Shalom’s Friday Shabbat services in Brookline are
shared directly to the cable channels and live on YouTube and to Facebook,
sometimes taking simultaneous feeds of multiple meetings or community events
and thus requiring a faster pipeline to and from viewers.

BIG’s team didn’t stop at just relevant
and newsworthy community content. Its staff created a Covid-19 specific
non-profit database, surveyed residents about the kind of news and information
they wanted, and supported other communities to have trouble-free municipal
meetings. BIG provided trainings and
speakers for a national webinar for community media and for the Brookline
Chamber of Commerce on how to use storytelling techniques to promote small
businesses.

Bisbee says recently added community programming has seen many new submissions
of mask-making tutorials, sewing classes, storytelling for children, yoga, and
Craft-Alongs from the staff of the Public Libraries of Brookline, workout
sessions, meditation programs, weekly Rotary meetings, and more. All of BIG’s
programming can be found online, at their website and is viewable on Youtube and via
Facebook. Residents can find timely community resources, take BIG’s new online
classes, and learn how to create and upload their own stories and community
content at BIG’s Covid-19 page at www.brooklineinteractive.org/Covid-19.

“RCN is committed to providing the town of Brookline with the tools that it needs to communicate with residents through the local cable access channel operated by the Brookline
Interactive Group,” said Jeff Carlson, SVP and General Manager, RCN Boston.
“During this difficult time for all, we understood the importance of getting
the new fiber to BIG as soon as possible so that it could carry out its
responsibilities to the citizens of Brookline.”

As part of its agreement with Brookline, RCN also has constructed
and provides an Institutional Network (INET) to the town of Brookline which is
a dedicated secure fiber connection for municipal government including the
schools and the police and fire departments.

About Brookline Interactive Group

Brookline Interactive Group (BIG)
is an integrated media and technology education center and a community media
hub for Brookline, MA and the region. BIG facilitates diverse community
dialogue, incubates and funds hyperlocal storytelling, arts, journalism, media
literacy, and technology projects, including Virtual Reality (VR), and serves
over 500 youth and adults annually through innovative classes and partnerships.
BIG offers extensive multimedia training, access to high-quality equipment,
cohort programs and partnerships, and provides low-cost professional media
services to non-profit organizations, education partners, businesses, and
access to local government coverage.

About RCN Boston

RCN in Boston serves the communities of Allston, Arlington,
Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Burlington, Charlestown, Dedham, Dorchester,
Everett, Framingham, Hyde Park, Lexington, Milton, Natick, Needham, Newton,
Peabody, Revere, Roslindale, Somerville, Stoneham, Wakefield, Waltham,
Watertown, West Roxbury and Woburn.

AboutRCN

RCNTelecom Services, LLC (www.rcn.com and www.rcn.com/business)
provides industry-leading high-speed internet, digital TV and phone services
for residential, small/medium and Enterprise business customers. As a five-time
recognized provider, RCN has been acknowledged in multiple residential and business
categories in PCMag's Readers' Choice Awards in the years 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. RCN
is YouTube HD Verified, earning the company the highest-ranking that Google
offers. RCN is also a Netflix Open Connect partner, placing in the Top rankings
on the Netflix USA ISP Speed Index in the markets RCN
serves. RCN's affordably priced advanced digital services are delivered through
its proprietary, state-of-the-art fiber-rich network and supported by 100%
U.S.-based customer service. RCN's primary service areas include Boston,
Chicago, Lehigh Valley (PA), New York City, Philadelphia (Delaware County) and
Washington, DC.