Local businesses welcome broadband boost
Today's announcement of $25.4 million in federal money to expand Maine's high-speed Internet network comes as good news to many in the Bangor region, including the James W. Sewall Co. of Old Town.
The 129-year-old engineering and mapping company was selected earlier this year by the state to map broadband service and availability throughout Maine, in anticipation of federal funds that should be arriving in the next couple of days, according to Clarence Young, a business development manager with the engineering and geospatial consulting firm.
The mapping project - separate from today's expansion project -- is funded in part by the ConnectME Authority, the state agency charged with addressing the state's broadband service, and eligible to receive $2.6 million in federal stimulus funding under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration State Broadband Grant Program. The three-year project is expected to begin early next year, with the majority of the mapping to be completed in the first half of 2010, says Young. Twenty-five new jobs are expected, with more coming as the broadband wagon gets rolling.
"While we're not direct contributors (in today's announcement), this is an example of the kind of project that allows the ConnectME Authority to better develop funding sources for mapping projects," says Young. "We expect to hear within a matter of days about our funding, but early indications are it will happen."
Members of Maine's congressional delegation joined U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gary Locke in announcing the expansion grant earlier today at the University of Maine campus. Called the Three Ring Binder project, it involves the construction of a 1,100-mile network of high-capacity fiber optic cable through northern, western and Down East Maine. It is the first of Maine's three proposals submitted to the federal government seeking broadband expansion funds granted through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Access to broadband service is a priority for many businesses, especially those located in rural or underserved areas, says John Diamond, chair of the board of Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce and a spokesman for the University of Maine. The university endorsed the Three Ring Binder proposal with lead sponsor GWI, a Biddeford-based broadband provider. GWI is providing $6.4 million in matching funds for the project, according to a release from the company.
"The announcement today will provide great opportunity for the expansion of the economic, cultural and technological potential that exists in our region," says Diamond. "As more businesses have the opportunity to benefit from this, we will no longer be bound by technological limitations. This whole project has the potential to be transformative for eastern and northern Maine."
The competitiveness of many businesses that rely on technology, such as research laboratories, Eastern Maine Medical Center and the university itself, will be enhanced by the expanded service.
"We are an international business community because of our contact with Canada and a center of economic activity for the Northeast," says Diamond. "This is very exciting news."
Once it receives its funds, Sewall intends to bring a sustainable systems approach to the inventory process. It will integrate service provider address data and the state's E-911 roads data into a broadband map and geo-database that can be maintained over time without large additional investment. Young says once it goes online, the system will provide users with web-based access to information and search tools, allowing government officials to identify unserved and underserved areas for funding, service providers to determine resource allocation and private citizens to locate local providers.
The Baldacci administration gave its stamp of approval in October to requests for $42 million for broadband expansion projects. Still waiting for federal funding approval are two separate FairPoint Communications projects totaling about $6.5 million to improve service to Aroostook, Washington and Hancock counties. The company wants to expand DSL services to rural areas beyond the expansion they committed to in their agreement with regulators upon buying Verizon's landline and DSL service. The other expansion proposal that won state approval is from TDS Telecomm, parent of the Somerset Telephone Co. and the West Penobscot Telephone and Telegraph Co., which submitted a $6 million proposal to expand DSL services in its areas.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments