In Maine, Rockport and Camden Set Fiber Broadband Vision for Region
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Broadband Communities
The two towns devise a plan to bridge the state’s digital divide through collaboration, advanced tools and new federal and state funding.
Like other popular tourist destinations, Camden and Rockport see broadband as a key amenity they need to thrive. The Mid-Coast Broadband Coalition is stepping up to the challenge, seeking to expand high-speed internet in the two Maine towns and throughout the Midcoast region by creating a regional utility.
Even before the coalition formed, Rockport was further ahead than other Maine communities in designing and implementing a broadband plan. In 2014, the town installed a 1.5-mile municipal fiber optic broadband network, which came to be through a public-private partnership with GWI and Maine Media University. It connected the municipal buildings and Maine Media, and was available to residents if they paid about $1,000 per pole to their homes.