Mass. city becomes testing ground for boosting broadband adoption

Increasing broadband adoption isn't just about building out networks in underserved areas -- it's also about showing people who don't use broadband what they're missing.

To that end, the federal government has awarded the University of Massachusetts in Lowell a grant of $783,000 to design and implement a broadband promotion program in Lowell, Mass. The grant awarded is part of the $4 billion in broadband stimulus funding released by the government this past summer. The program's key initiative will be to build 11 public computer centers that UMass Lowell estimates will "serve 6,650 new broadband users and add 7,500 additional broadband subscribers" in Lowell and the Merrimack Valley area...