Starting next spring, another round of stimulus funds will arrive in Maine, bringing employment and upgrading the state’s infrastructure.
This time the federal aid will improve a different kind of highway. Instead of laying down gavel and asphalt, this $25.4 million will be spent on construction involving utility poles, conduits, ethernet transceivers and switches, and about 1,100 miles of fiber-optic cable.
The goal is to expand high-speed Internet access throughout rural Maine. Besides providing a short-term boost to the economy, it will bring Maine schools, colleges, libraries, health care centers and individual households onto the high speed network that now connects much of the world.
For many Americans, high-speed access has changed the way we work, communicate, shop and learn. Yet for rural America ”“ including large areas in Maine ”“ high speed access has been slow to arrive.
With $7.2 billion in Recovery Act funds, the administration is taking a step toward reaching the underserved communities. In Maine, the project is called the “Three Ring Binder” for the three regional networks it envisions between Biddeford and Fort Kent. These networks are intended to provide the missing connection to the backbone of the Internet.
This “middle-mile” connection ”“ privately owned but freely accessible to Internet and telecommunication providers ”“ is expected to bring modern communication services to rural areas. Proposed by Fletcher Kittredge, chief executive of Biddeford-based GWI, the Three-Ring Binder will enable his firm and other providers to make the “last-mile” connection to customers throughout Maine. The three rings will serve northern Maine, the Midcoast and Downeast regions, and western Maine.
Kittredge has compared the middle-mile connection to an interstate highway system ”“ an artery that is open to all and capable of carrying a heavy volume of traffic at high speed. In much of Maine, no such digital highway exists, and the state does not have the resources to build it.
With a total projected investment of $32.5 million, the project will bring an increasingly essential service to some 110,000 Maine households. The Internet is already vital to commerce, education and entertainment through much of the nation. As this trend continues, those with slow access will find themselves increasingly out-of-touch.
And as business, government, health care and other sectors rely on the Internet to accomplish specialized and routine tasks, those without good connections will inevitably find themselves at a disadvantage.
Maine is fortunate to be at the head of the line for this installment of federal stimulus. It is welcome because of the jobs it will provide, and because it is an investment that will pay dividends for many years to come.
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