NORWICH – In a special common council meeting on Tuesday, City of Norwich representatives agreed to sign a contract with Interconnect Wireless with hopes to provide internet service to more rural parts of Chenango County.

According to City of Norwich Mayor Shawn Sastri, Interconnect Wireless approached the City of Norwich with a proposal to help provide internet to the Plymouth area. Sastri said the proposal includes limited infrastructure work on behalf of the city, and could help people who are struggling with the internet during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Basically Interconnect Wireless was looking to mount an antenna and get internet to the Plymouth area,” said Sastri. “The City of Norwich just wanted to help out and do our part to provide internet options to other parts of the county.”

“With the coronavirus, having access to the internet is really important, especially for kids who are trying to do things online.”

Sastri said an antenna would be placed on the water tower located near Calvary Drive in Norwich. He said it would weigh approximately three pounds, which in theory would have a negligible impact on the tower. He added that there wasn’t a specific date in mind for the service at the time of the interview.

The common council voted unanimously to approve the contract with Interconnect Wireless after City of Norwich Attorney Steve Natoli discussed concerns he previously had with the contract terms, and said company representatives addressed those concerns.

“As I think you all know, I did have some initial concerns about the term and some other provisions in the contract, but I’ve had the ability to discuss the matter with Internet Wireless and they’ve addressed my concerns,” said Natoli. “Based on the conversations I’ve had I would say leave the contract as it is at this point.”

In a City of Norwich Common Council meeting months earlier, Co-Owner of Interconnect Wireless Shawn Smith described the antenna as “no bigger than a dinner plate.”

Smith said the signal would be weatherproof, so customers won't lose service during winter storms.

"If you have children at home and they're trying to do homework and stream Zoom meetings with their teachers and trying to do remote learning, that's impossible for those students,” said Smith. “They're already falling months behind by not being able to attend regular school.”

“Then taking the Zoom lessons away from them, it'll put them a year behind their fellow students.”