Inspired by an interest in expanding broadband, or high-speed Internet, Windham, Gray, Raymond and Standish municipal leaders collaborated recently on an assessment of Internet service in the region.
To no one’s surprise, Windham’s is slow.
In a 35-page report published earlier this month, Tilson Technology, an information technology company in Portland, outlined the region’s infrastructure for Internet service, the community’s needs and desires for online access, and offered suggestions to the towns for improving access.
According to Tilson’s study, which was funded by the Windham Economic Development Corp., Internet speeds vary from 3-50 megabits per second for downloading, and 1-5 mbps for uploading in different networks across the region. The speeds are considered “adequate for email, web browsing, and downloading entertainment,” but may vary in effectiveness depending on the number of users in a household or business, as well as the distance of the home from transmission hubs, according to the report.
Most of the service in the region is provided by a so-called fiber backbone, a stretch of cable running along three of the region’s major roads, according to the report. Internet from the fiber backbone serves residences and businesses and consists primarily of telephone lines made of copper wire, not fiber optic wire.
Kevin Woodbrey, an IT consultant for the town of Raymond, said because the signal degrades when transmitted through a copper wire, it doesn’t supply “consistent high speed over a long distance.” Fiber wire, which he said is more prominent in the nation’s major cities, can be used to transmit faster signals – tested up to 1 gigabytes per second (1,000 mbps) – for a much further distance.
Services were especially low in Windham, according to the report, with 3 mbps download speed in some areas. Tilson also interviewed a number of Windham businesses on the Route 302 corridor, where they found a lack of fiber connections to the businesses. The businesses said they were “making do” with the business service provided by Time Warner, but they would be looking to upgrade their Internet in the next couple years.
Tom Bartell, executive director of the Windham Economic Development Corp. and the town’s economic development director, said the network capacity on the Route 302 corridor was “both a surprise about how limited it really was, and at the same time a confirmation of what businesspeople have been telling us about their frustrations with (Internet options.)”
Bringing greater upload speeds to the area would allow townspeople and businesses to more effectively produce content, according to Bartell. Greater uploading speeds give the user the capacity to share large bodies of work using the Internet. For example, an aspiring filmmaker needs high upload speeds to put his film on YouTube. A businesswoman needs high upload speeds to attach large files to an online portfolio.
In the business sector of the community, broadband Internet is a hot topic. Gray and New Gloucester held a business summit last week on the topic, led by Trevor Jones, director of marketing and product development at OTT Communications, an Internet provider for the area.
Jones said faster Internet would allow users more opportunities for “telecommuting, home health care, distance learning and streaming video,” but said, “this is more about building a network for the future – for applications that may not even exist yet.”
Other parts of the state are facing low Internet speeds, as well, and are looking for ways to upgrade. Earlier this month, state Rep. Bob Saucier of Presque Isle released a statement saying Maine’s Internet is “at the bottom of rankings for speed. In the national news, our Internet speeds have been compared to those in developing countries – and not in a good way.”
David Maxwell, program director of ConnectME Authority, a state initiative working to facilitate the expansion of broadband in the state, said some of the assessments may misrepresent the situation of broadband in the state.
“Maine is not necessarily worse than the rest of the country,” Maxwell said. He said general statements regarding Maine’s Internet access are “sometimes based on partial or imperfect information.”
Maxwell said difficulties in bringing broadband speeds to Maine are in part due to lower population density in rural areas, and the dramatic increase in demand for broadband in recent years.
But, despite the obstacles, town officials in the region have a keen interest in bringing broadband to the area.
“High-speed broadband is the norm in other parts of country,” said Don Willard, town manager of Raymond. “If Maine is to be competitive and attract people here, we need to have it,” he said.
Gordy Billington, town manager of Standish, said high-speed Internet will “enhance economic development and quality of life for residents.”
Plante said town officials will meet to discuss the results of the study and plans for moving forward. As for bringing faster networks to the area, he said, if the town decides to initiate a new network in the area, he “doesn’t know what shape that’s going to take. That’s part of why we got Tilson involved.”
In the report, Tilson suggests two options for bringing faster Internet to the region: Partnering with local carriers, specifically OTT Communications in Gray and GWI in Portland, or building a publicly funded network. Both options would involve upgrading some areas of the region to fiber networks.
According to the report, the communities of South Portland, Rockport and Ellsworth have built fiber networks in parts of their community. Woodberry said this is in part to create competition with private Internet providers.
“If the infrastructure is put in and owned by the local government, it keeps costs down and lets everybody have service,” he said.
Sue Inches, senior broadband consultant at Tilson, said there are a number of ways to fund municipal networks, if the towns should explore those options. Public models, such as one in the works in Isleboro in midcoast Maine, may be funded by bond funds and property taxes, she said.
Bartell said the working group is still in the process of deciding what actions to take following the report. He said they will decide in the coming weeks if the towns will proceed individually or continue a regional discussion.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
