Maine’s new broadband agency is readying its plan to expand high-speed internet

Later in December 2021, Maine's new broadband agency will submit its plan to the federal government to use $128 million to expand and improve high-speed internet access across the state. The Maine Connectivity Authority is just six months old, but the quasi-governmental agency is already sitting on $21 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan that Democrats in Congress passed earlier this year, and it will soon submit its proposal to the US Treasury Department to spend $128 million more. Board chairman Tim Schneider told lawmakers on the Legislature's Energy and Utility Committee that the agency is in the process of merging with the old ConnectMaine Authority, a small department that's spearheaded broadband expansion with a fraction of the cash that's available now. Schneider says the Treasury released guidelines in October for the $128 million, which focuses on areas where residents are either unserved by broadband, or underserved, a designation currently defined as internet speeds falling below 100 megabits for download and 25 megabits for upload. The broadband agency has mapped areas of the state that fall below those standards, and they're extensive.