File photo / Jim Neuger
GWI President and COO Kerem Durdag
February 1, 2022
GWI teams with Arctaris, FAME to bring fiber broadband to 5 Maine communities
Biddeford-based high-speed Internet provider GWI is teaming up with Arctaris Impact Investors LLC and the Finance Authority of Maine to build new fiber broadband networks across five Maine communities.
The projects, in Belfast, East Millinocket, Medway, Millinocket and South Portland, will be funded in part by FAME via a $1 million direct loan and commercial guarantee support.
Arctaris, a Boston-based impact investment firm perhaps best known for backing Saddleback Mountain Ski Resort in Rangeley, will fund the broadband projects using Opportunity Zone equity capital.
"Today, more than ever, equitable access to affordable, high-speed internet is crucial to the economic viability of cities and states throughout our country,” Neil Katz, principal at Arctaris, said in a news release. “By building fiber-based broadband networks, we are developing the infrastructure necessary to lessen the digital divide in underserved communities."
In December 2020, FAME approved a request by Arctaris for 20% leveraged loan insurance on $9.5 million of funding to construct the dark fiber networks in South Portland and Belfast.
Arctaris Broadband Co. LLC, a wholly owned and operated portfolio company of the Arctaris Opportunity Zone Funds, will act as the distribution agent and lessor owning the network. GWI will serve as lessee and will also build and operate the fiber network in both cities.
A $1 million FAME direct loan was also approved, and will be used for post-construction capital expenditures and working capital. Details of the complete price tag for the five projects were not immediately available.
“FAME is pleased to support this important project as Maine moves to improve broadband access statewide, as well as make a positive difference for workers and families in these communities,” said Carlos Mello, acting CEO of FAME.
240 fiber-optic miles
In total, GWI and Arctaris will build over 240 fiber-optic route miles and the networks will pass over 12,000 residential and business premises.
The networks will cover all of East Millinocket, Medway and Millinocket. The network will also cover significant portions of South Portland and Belfast, including opportunity zones, that also encompass economically distressed areas constituting the first phase of subsequent projects.
Separately, the city of South Portland is seeking to develop a community-wide open-access broadband network that Economic Development Director William Mann predicts be a "game-changer" for Maine's fourth-largest city; responses to the city's requests for proposals were due by Jan. 31.
The GWI-led project aims to provide more affordable, quality broadband access particularly to low-income populations, a need that was accentuated during the pandemic with the sharp uptick in remote work and education.
Pointing to a growing digital divide between thriving communities with good infrastructure and struggling communities without, GWI President and Chief Operating Officer Kerem Durdag said there's a growing demand for bandwidth on a daily basis.
"Our goal is to provide universal and ubiquitous service to all," he said. "Fiber infrastructure plays a vital role in addressing these challenges for the long term.”
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