A Plainfield, Conn., builder of fiber networks is opening a regional office in the Kennebec County town of Sidney.
Sertex Broadband Solutions leased 7,200 square feet of industrial space at 14 Pond Road from Agren Sidney LLC. Justin Lamontagne from the Dunham Group brokered the lease.
“They were a pleasure to deal with,” Lamontagne said of Sertex.
The landlord, Agren, is a Maine-based retailer of appliances and mattresses that acquired the property in 2024.
Operational hub
The facility, located just outside Augusta, includes 9,600 square feet of combined indoor and covered storage space. It will be used as a long-term operational hub for engineering, construction and logistics activities supporting the statewide Maine Online Optical Statewide Enabling Network, or MOOSE Net, according to a news release.
The Sidney property offers advantages for a large-scale, multi-year fiber build, including 7,200 square feet of interior warehouse and office space, two loading docks and exterior laydown space, along with proximity to I-95, Exit 113, enabling efficient deployment of crews and materials throughout central and rural Maine.
“This facility allows us to mobilize crews, materials and engineering resources more efficiently as we build critical infrastructure to support Maine’s digital economy,” said said Michael Solitro, Sertex’s founder and CEO.
Underserved communities
Established in 1999, the company’s specialties include middle-mile and last-mile networks.
Sertex was awarded the MOOSE Net design-build contract in 2025. Under the agreement, Sertex is responsible for constructing 450 miles of MOOSE Net’s 530-mile fiber backbone for some of Maine’s most rural and underserved communities.
The scope of work includes network design, engineering, permitting and construction of extended rural fiber spans across challenging terrain. Installation activities will include aerial and underground construction, fiber splicing and termination, and network testing. Construction is expected to span two years, with field crews operating across multiple regions of the state.
Train and hire
The statewide border-to-border fiber “highway” dubbed MOOSE Net is among the strategies Maine Connectivity Authority is leading to improve broadband access across Maine.
Established in 2021, Maine Connectivity Authority is the public agency charged with achieving universal access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet service statewide.
MOOSE Net is a middle-mile network made up of high-capacity fiber optic wires that carries large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances, enabling an array of other telecommunications infrastructure.
MOOSE Net’s construction is being facilitated by a $30 million federal grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, according to a separate news release. The project has drawn support from private and public partners in Maine, including the Maine Department of Transportation, which was a partner on the federal grant proposal.
In 2025, Maine Connectivity Authority selected Sertex to build 450 miles of the 530-mile network based on the Connecticut company’s experience, cost competitiveness and commitment to creating Maine-based jobs. The company plans to train and hire fiber optic technicians. Sertex has created an apprentice program approved by the Maine Department of Labor to build and train a ready workforce.
Shawn Harmon, Sertex’s vice president, grew up in Caribou. He will manage MOOSE Net construction.
“Growing up in a remote part of the country, you realize how your geography can be isolating without proper access to education, public health, professional development and communication,” Harmon said.
The MOOSE Net route is mapped out, and communities will continue seeing field crews at work, with improved connectivity benefits available by 2027.
