USDA Invests Nearly $10 Million for Broadband in Maine’s Rural, Coastal and Island Communities

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a $9.87 million investment in four infrastructure projects that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for 4,527 households and 215 businesses in rural Maine. USDA announced the following projects:

• The Town of Arrowsic will use a $604,254 ReConnect Program grant and a $604,254 ReConnect Program loan to construct a fiber-optic broadband network with speeds up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to connect 237 households, 20 pre-subscribed businesses and four pre-subscribed farms.
• Monhegan Plantation will use a $626,298 ReConnect Program grant to connect the entire island community in Lincoln County, which is home to a school, power district, municipal office, museum, post office, library, and several inns and small businesses. The project’s service area includes 40 households, an educational facility, a critical community facility, 11 pre-subscribed farms and 15 pre-subscribed businesses.
• The Town of Roque Bluffs will use an $893,170 ReConnect Program grant to construct a fiber-optic network to connect 166 households, 22 pre-subscribed farms and 16 pre-subscribed businesses in Washington County. The network will connect to the Downeast Ring of Maine’s “three-ring-binder” network backbone in Machias, 4.5 miles from the town line on Roque Bluffs Road.
• The Biddeford Internet Corporation will use a $3.5 million ReConnect Program grant and a $3.5 million ReConnect Program loan to expand its gigabit Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to connect 4,084 households, 30 pre-subscribed farms, 28 educational facilities, 23 pre-subscribed businesses, 15 health care centers and 12 critical community facilities in Hebron, Sumner, Hartford, Buckfield, Canton, North Turner, Turner, South Paris and West Paris.