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.
Debra Hall. (Photo courtesy Camden Rotary Club)
How could residents throughout Midcoast Maine get universal access to high-quality internet connections? Debra Hall, chair of the new Mid-Coast Broadband Coalition, will address this question during a Zoom meeting of Camden Rotary Club, Tuesday, Feb. 16, at noon.
The select board members, technology consultants and citizens from Camden, Rockport, Hope, Lincolnville, and Northport, who belong to the coalition hope that people from other Midcoast communities will join their effort to bring the benefits of high-speed telecommunications to everyone in the region, according to Rotary, in a news release. They regard universal broadband access as a means of expanding educational and economic opportunities, making telehealth more available to seniors, and attracting young families and a vibrant workforce to the area.