Braintree Electric Sells Internet Service Business To Comcast

BRAINTREE, MA — The Braintree Electric Light Department (BELD) sold its internet business to Comcast, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, publicly owned utility provider said Wednesday.

The sale will allow BELD’s approximately 2,500 internet and phone customers to transfer service to Comcast, which has served Braintree for 18 years and has among the fastest and most widely available Gig speed broadband service, BELD said.

A BELD spokesperson said the sales price will not be disclosed, and the deal will have no impact on the utility's electric division. The transition is expected to start later this month.

"We are proud of our 20-year history as a local internet service provider and sincerely thankful for our customers’ loyalty,” said Bill Bottiggi, BELD’s general manager, in a statement. "Our top priority has always been our customers, and we continue to think of their best interests while adjusting to market conditions. After evaluating our options, we are confident the best decision is to connect our residential and business customers with Comcast’s best-in-class network, products, services and customer experience."

Bottiggi said BELD made the decision after conducting a study. The study showed BELD would need to make a major, multi-million dollar investment in network infrastructure over the next few years to maintain quality of service. This cost would have required a significant increase in customer rates, Bottiggi said.

"The broadband market has always been competitive, and the pandemic added further uncertainty," Bottiggi said. "This sale will ensure our internet customers can count on reliable, robust service over the long term while we uphold BELD’s responsibility to the Braintree taxpayer community."