Published: 3/9/2021 9:34:53 AM Peterborough’s path to fiber internet looks different from surrounding towns. The town is poised to vote on an article that would spend $262,288 to provide fiber internet to the 20% of its residents underserved and unserved by high speed internet at Town Meeting this year. Although Peterborough joins neighboring towns Temple, Greenfield, and Jaffrey in voting on a contract with Consolidated Communications this year, Peterborough won’t be bonding, unlike most other towns that have pursued a municipal broadband rollout in the past two years. Why no bond? Effectively, the only difference between Peterborough’s proposal and the popular municipal bonding route is that Peterborough doesn’t have to pay interest, Community and Economic Development Coordinator Karen Hatcher said. The cost of wiring 20% of the town’s residences was low enough that the town could absorb it without taking on the long-term debt of a bond, she said. The proposal before voters specifies that users of the fiber internet installs would be paying the installation costs back to the town over time via an $8.50 user fee, Hatcher said. Comcast submitted a $1.1 million proposal to connect the same areas, Hatcher said.