Governor Janet T. Mills (D) at a Indoor Event in Portland Last Year.
The ConnectMaine Authority today celebrated an announcement that it has been awarded a $28 million grant by the US Department of Commerce to bring fast, affordable, internet service to thousands of unserved homes across the state. The award will fund a new public-private partnership that will connect more than thousands of unserved homes in more than a dozen communities.
The federal funds awarded through a competitive grant process, will support a partnership between ConnectMaine, the towns of Somerville, Washington and Isle au Haut, and internet service providers Consolidated Communications, Axion Technologies and LCI Fiber Optic Network to bring fiber to unserved areas in Franklin, Hancock, Knox and Lincoln Counties. The grant will support the establishment of municipally-owned networks in the three municipalities serving as partners under the grant according to a press release issued this morning.
Maine was one of the first states in the country to develop a community broadband planning program and more than 200 communities have participated in the process since 2016. In addition, ConnectMaine had the vision to build a partnership of Maine companies to develop the boradband knowledge platform that created the base for a coordinted application. Thanks to the partnership of these communities, vendors and providers, ConnectMaine has been able to organize an application with such wide geographic diversity, bringing coverage from the mountains to the sea. ConnectMaine’s important groundwork and application submission took place prior to the establishment of the Maine Connectivity Authority; both entities continue to work closely together to reach Maine’s connectivity goals.
“I have pledged that every person in Maine who wants to connect to reliable internet will be able to do so by the end of 2024. This Federal funding will help us make progress on that ambitious goal by ensuring that more than 11,000 unserved Maine homes have access to high-speed internet, providing them with the connection they need to work, study, start a business, see a doctor, and stay in touch with friends and family,” said Governor Janet T. Mills (D), the first woman Governor of Maine and the state’s previous AG., “I thank Maine’s Congressional Delegation for their ongoing support and congratulate the ConnectMaine Authority and its partners, the muncipalities of Somerville, Washington and Isle Au Haut and Consolidated Communications, Axion Technologies and ICI Fiber Optic Network, on this exciting venture.”