The sound of a dial-up modem is still a familiar one in Warwick. Residents depend on telephone lines to log onto the internet. And they are tired of life in the slow lane of the digital highway.

"All the wonderful things that high speed internet can bring, we don't have," said Reva Reck, chair of the broadband committee.

Reva Reck is chair of the broadband committee to bring high speed internet into Warwick. They have dial-up and satellite service, but not the cable broadband that's so common elsewhere.

"If I have true high speed I can work at home and not have to commute to work as much," said Reck.

After two years of planning, the town voted to borrow a $40,000 loan to create their own high speed system, rather than wait three years for the state-funded plan to bring broadband to dozens of towns in Western Mass.

"The advantage we have is that we have one big hill, Mount Grace, that can receive a signal from Mount Wachusett and because its higher can get out over the smaller hills and access to the cell tower," explained Reck.

The radio transmitted broadband internet will be available to police, fire and the highway department, as well as residents and businesses hungry for high speed service.

"At this point if you don't have broadband, your kids are out of luck, a lot of your workers are out of luck and you have to commute instead of staying home and being able to do work," said Patricia Lemon, chair of the town select board.

"The more web-based and high-tech businesses we can have here, the more we can have a viable community, not just a bedroom community," said Reck.

Town officials say they plan to have this process going in a few months and hope to have residents online within a year.