Broadband expansion relies on local support

Experts at a forum on Wednesday said the economic benefits of Maine’s broadband Internet expansion hinge on the support of local municipalities.

The Bangor Daily News reported that the forum was held at the University of New England’s Biddeford campus to discuss Maine’s continuing need for faster and more reliable Internet connections, especially in far-removed, rural areas. A recent report from the ConnectME Authority said there are still approximately 40,000 households without high-speed access.

A number of the speakers said the Internet providers they work for are considering ways to expand broadband access throughout Maine with new projects. But they said locally organizing those efforts will be key to moving forward. For example, they said municipalities could bring together concerned parties to demonstrate interest to a provider in expanding broadband.

“We’re going to reach a point where a community cannot be economically viable if it doesn’t have broadband,” said Fletcher Kittredge, CEO of Portland-based Great Works Internet, whose company was involved with the statewide fiber-optic loop program.

Some of the broadband projects discussed at the forum included a potential partnership between Machias-based Axiom Technologies with a Virginia-based firm to deploy broadband in rural parts of the state, and a new initiative by GWI to build out new fiber-optic connections that would be owned by municipalities and leased to Internet providers.