GWI's CEO releases plan to improve Maine's broadband standing
Fletcher Kittredge, founder and CEO of the Biddeford-based telecommunications company GWI, has released a 10-point plan to improve the quality and availability of broadband Internet access in Maine — a problem, he says, that’s getting worse.
“While Maine’s broadband capacity is not deteriorating, the rest of the world is developing broadband capacity at a far faster rate,” Kittredge wrote in a 20-page report titled Moving Maine Up the Broadband Ladder. “By standing still, we are falling further and further behind … Maine’s poor broadband infrastructure is probably already having a negative impact on the state’s economic activity and that impact will continue to grow over time.”
Kittredge said his report was triggered by a Portland Press Herald story in January that found Maine to be ranked 49th among 50 states for the quality and availability of its broadband access. He said his own researched has verified that conclusion, notwithstanding efforts such as the Three Ring Binder to improve broadband speed, availability and reliability.
Kittredge estimated it would cost between $1.1 billion and $1.65 billion to build an all-fiber gigabit network to reach the state’s 553,000 households.
To move up the broadband ladder, he makes 10 recommendations:
1. Set a broadband capacity goal that is tied to economic development, a goal of being at least average and the above average compared to our competitor states.
2. Encourage broadband use and adoption, particularly gigabit applications.
3. To encourage competition, promote fairness and avoid monopolies, require networks built with public monies to be open access.
4. Favor investment in fiber networks over investment in legacy networks.
5. Solicit input from incumbent providers [such as FairPoint] on what steps would stimulate broadband investment.
6. Focus on Provider of Last Resort proceedings at the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
7. Educate and encourage municipalities to invest in municipal fiber networks.
8. Develop a best-in-the-nation pole attachment regime that encourages investment.
9. Work with the Maine congressional delegation to maximize federal support for Maine’s broadband.
10. Invest state of Maine funds in strategic broadband projects.
Kittredge concluded that if broadband services continue to fall behind, unfavorable geography will exact an increasing toll on Maine’s economy. Making the necessary investments, he said, would have the potential to give the state a competitive advantage and help it overcome its geographic barriers to economic growth.
“Think of [geographical barriers] as a rural tax,” he wrote. “Every advance in telecommunications effectively shrinks distances, allows rural areas to participate more fully in the economy and lowers costs of delivering services. Upgrading Maine’s Internet infrastructure is a way of reducing the rural tax and makes it possible for Maine to exceed rather than trail the national average for economic growth.”
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