According to a new broadband planning report, it will cost an estimated $27 million to expand broadband coverage to unserved areas in Piscataquis County.
The Piscataquis County Economic Development Council followed suit, which cost $60,000 and began about three to four months ago. The council received a $30,000 grant from the ConnectMaine Authority, which was matched with $30,000 of American Rescue Plan Act monies from cities and municipalities to fund it.
Internet access in rural areas of Maine has long been a problem for businesses and most recently for students being sent home from school for distance learning during COVID-19 outbreaks. Consulting firm Casco Bay Advisors assessed broadband infrastructure in Piscataquis County, identifying gaps and how to fill them. The report proposes building strong community relationships and establishing a broadband advisory committee in the province, along with adequate funding, as next steps to improve broadband across the country.
“It’s time to set or review your goals and vision for what you want to achieve in the province. … It’s incredibly important that each of the local communities is involved in this process,” said Brian Lippold, president of Casco Bay Advisors, who presented the findings of the study at a PCEDC webinar Thursday.
The report focused on 33 cities that were not served — meaning they have no fiber-to-home or cable television options — that were selected because a local telephone company provides service to the areas.
Casco Bay Advisors also pulled data from the state’s 911 system to help identify the locations of potential subscribers, though the database is “notoriously inaccurate,” Lippold said. Those who worked on the report compared the data with aerial photographs to find locations without a 911 address.
“Then we go out into the field with these paper maps and drive every lane and long driveway to make sure we’ve identified all the assets,” he said, adding that they noted the cable television infrastructure and fiber optic cables used for transmission. or delivery of fiber to your home.
The company then divided the 33 locations into three groups – the North, West/Central and East groups – based on network considerations. Three locations were excluded from the report because they had too few subscribers or because they lacked commercial power distribution that could potentially provide landline telephone services, the report said.
“We don’t want to try to pursue solutions on an individual basis,” Lippold said. “That’s 33 cities and towns that would be very, very difficult to get everyone served. When we look at these in groups, it builds scale and service providers are more interested… to come in and fill these gaps.”
Casco Bay Advisors conducted a similar project in Somerset County, where 58 cities and towns were divided into five groups. One group largely had fiber optic for homes. The county received proposals from a service provider interested in serving three of the groups, and two others wanted to serve the entire country, Lippold said.
Lippold also presented GIS maps, which used four colors to highlight areas with fiber optic, TV infrastructure, both fiber and TV infrastructure, and unserved areas.
Nearly 670 sites are considered “off-the-grid,” he said, although it’s hard to say if they’re occupied. The company notes roads that do not have power distribution. It relies on 911 data and aerial photos, which show size and details such as vehicles in a driveway, to decide if a place is a likely subscriber location.
“I’d like to see a breakdown of the number of kids in schools who live in those houses,” Chris Maas, a Dover-Foxcroft resident and PCEDC councilor, said during the webinar.
The report also provides cost estimates, such as $400 per utility pole to get them ready for new attachments, and $25,000 per mile to install fiber on the optical backbone. Casco Bay Advisors estimates there are 33 utility poles per mile, based on previous projects.
Possible strategies to expand the service at the 33 locations are included in the report. Funding for the project could come from a variety of sources, with “the private sector, federal, state and local government each contributing an average of 25 percent of the cost,” the report said.
Lippold suggested the county and municipalities look at ARPA funding, plus grants from the ConnectMaine Authority and the Maine Connectivity Authority. Piscataquis County will receive approximately $3.2 million in ARPA funds.
The report outlines a hypothetical funding strategy: Private service providers would contribute 37 percent, state and federal funding would contribute 49 percent, Piscataquis County would contribute 7 percent, and local municipalities would contribute 7 percent.
Lesley Fernow, a Dover-Foxcroft resident and former president of the Maine Highlands Senior Center, said Internet access should be considered electricity when it became available across the country.
“What you’ve all been talking about is the business aspect of it. … The nature of the conversation means that this is a choice, that every community has a choice,” she said. “I really think we should see this as an expectation that everyone will” [have it]. In the future, in the next five years, even now, you have to have it.”
For next steps, the report calls for a broadband advisory committee in Piscataquis County, composed of municipal leaders, community stakeholders and business leaders; reserve available ARPA funding; and negotiate public-private partnerships with service providers.
PCEDC Executive Director John Shea worked with local governments and Select Boards to secure support and funding for the report. That was the easy part, Lippold said.
“It’s difficult to get all cities on board in this next step phase,” he said, adding that on the other hand, a number of broadband expansions in Piscataquis County have worked on a city-by-city basis in the past. “If you want to do this quickly and most efficiently, the best way is to go in as a group.”
The report is available for the public and municipalities to view. It will be posted on the website of the Piscataquis Economic Development Council.
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