Courtesy / Redzone Wireless
Redzone has completed its expansion plans for 2019. The black dots show the existing coverage areas at the beginning of the year, and the red dots show what was added.
September 25, 2019
Redzone rural broadband expansion continues to 22 more communities
Photo / Maureen Milliken
Naples, in Cumberland County, is one of the communities recently added to the Redzone Wireless coverage area in a continuing expansion to rural communities.
By Staff
Redzone Wireless completed and activated nine new fixed wireless broadband sites serving 22 Maine communities in five counties during September, closing in on the expansion goal the company announced in January.
The most recent activations cover 14,000 homes and businesses, primarily in rural locations, according to the Rockland-based broadband company. Redzone announced in January that it would expand its coverage from Berwick north to Fort Kent in 2019, bringing its customer base to more than 300,000 Maine households and businesses.
The recent connections bring coverage to 315,000 households, more than 56% of Maine homes, the company said. Some 22,000 homes were added this year.
Wednesday's announcement brings the amount of new sites launched this year to 19, with the goal of 26 before the year's end. Michael Forcillo, executive vice president of Redzone Wireless, said that based on the rapid progress the company has made, it may complete the 2019 plan ahead of schedule, "perhaps as soon as Nov 1."
The coverage extends broadband to portions of Alfred, Anson, Arrowsic, Bath, Casco, Cornville, Farmingdale, Gardiner, Hallowell, Madison, Naples, Norridgewock, North Anson, North Berwick, Pittston, Randolph, Sanford and Skowhegan. The communities are in York, Somerset, Cumberland, Sagadahoc and Kennebec counties.
Connectivity at the new sites meet Federal Communications Commission and ConnectME broadband standards of 25/3 Mbps (megabits per second upload and download rate), and support video streaming on multiple devices, online gaming, distance learning, remote business applications, telehealth, video conferencing, and the full range of internet applications typically used within a home or business, the release said.
The new fixed wireless broadband network operates on licensed mid-band wireless spectrum, and is considered one of the the largest fixed wireless broadband deployments in the U.S., delivering 25 Mbps broadband speeds in rural areas, the release said.
Local, private investment
Broadband access and expansion to rural areas has been cited by Gov. Janet Mills as one of the top priorities of her administration.
“Broadband is critical to spur innovation, create opportunity, and build a strong, diverse economy — especially in rural Maine,” she said in July. She said that includes leveraging local and private investment.
Jim McKenna, Redzone president and CEO, said in the Wednesday release, “To those unserved Mainers that continue to await the level of broadband connectivity needed to participate in the digital economy, we say Redzone is coming and soon. We have the resources and technology, and you have our commitment to cover the vast majority of locations everywhere in Maine."
According to ConnectME, the state authority dedicated to improving broadband in the state, there are still nearly 80,000 locations that lack access to 25 Mbps broadband. Redzone’s strategy is to reduce the amount of fiber infrastructure needed to deliver high-speed wireless broadband, thus reducing both cost and time, the company said.
Redzone technology allows fiber-connected towers to be linked via powerful microwave radios to additional towers without fiber. So instead of running fiber to each tower site, Redzone is able deploy clusters of towers serving broadband to thousands of homes across a region from fewer fiber optic links.
The approach reduces capital costs by 90%, the release said, and accelerates the delivery timeframe so that service can be delivered in a few months — versus the several years it would take to build a comparable fiber-to-the-home network.
“If Redzone can provide access to 315,000 locations in just four years with no public funding, there is significant opportunity to shift the focus in Maine from funding fiber-to-the-home projects to funding hybrid fiber/fixed wireless solutions,” said Forcillo.
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