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V O L . X X I V N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 8 22 vice president of government and industry relations. "As we look to expand the program, there are areas in rural Maine that would be fertile for attracting talent but lack the broadband connectivity required to do the job," he says. Math problem "It's a math problem, that's all it is," says Brian Lippold of the James W. Sewall Co., which conducted a study of Franklin County's broadband needs. Broadband businesses have to do what's financially feasible, and they need a minimum number of potential customers to justify the investment. Part of the solution are federal and state subsidies that encourage compa- nies to hook up low-population areas. But none is a total solution. Maine Fiber Co.'s "three ring binder" high-capacity fiber cable passes through the southern end of the county, but it's the highway — the exit ramps still have to be added, says Heather Johnson, director of ConnectME, the state pro- gram to extend broadband coverage. ConnectME considers 10 Mbps (megabits per second) for downloads and 10 Mbps for uploads to be the mini- mum effective broadband speed. e Federal Communications Commission recommends 12 to 25 Mbps for a house- hold of more than one person. Many of the state's rural users who have broad- band are well below ConnectME's minimum recommended speed. Carlton, the forester, for instance, has 1.5 Mbps upload with his DSL service. ConnectME has awarded 145 infrastructure grants totaling $11.8 mil- lion and nine planning grants totaling $372,000 since it began in 2006, and is in the final stage of a multi-year rural development plan. Somerset and Piscataquis counties, like Franklin, have finished studies and are looking at next steps. Other counties, like Washington, are doing it town-by-town. "e technology exists. e technol- ogy isn't a variable, it's a value-for-dollar equation," she says. Each community has to decide on a solution, she adds. "What do these communities need? What do they care about?" It's also an education issue — making sure that people understand the possi- bilities that internet access brings. Johnson asks: "How do you show the value? If you're a senior and want to stay in your home, how does it help you connect with your health care? Your family? What's the economic impact to businesses and individuals?" Next steps According to BroadbandNow, 97.3% of Mainers have access to inter- net of 10 Mbps or more, but 13% are underserved as far as quality of connection. "As a state we have made a lot of progress, but still have considerable work to do," Johnson says. "Improving the infrastructure has taken longer than expected and the market needs have also increased." Connect America funding, private investment, ConnectME grants and changes by providers "will yield baseline improvements by end of year," she says. Berry says the LD 520 bond issue, which would go to voters if approved, would help strengthen ConnectME efforts, which now translate to about a dollar and change per state resident. While dozens of companies of all sizes provide basic internet in Maine, some are exploring ways to increase service, or invest in technology that will make service more feasible. ose contacted say they are always looking for ways to connect customers. In rural markets, the evaluation comes down to the number of poten- tial customers, proximity to the existing network and economic feasibility. Grassroots, common sense e negative economic impact of poor broadband is "one of the few topics everyone agrees on," Johnson says. "e questions are how much and when. We're trying to create a framework for those answers." Communities will have to be creative and the answers will come from "real grassroots, common-sense" assessment of need, she says. In Millinocket, that means starting its own broadband utility, which would require the state's help. Michael Faloon of Our Katahdin testified at the state hearing that "access to affordable capital will be our greatest challenge in bring- ing the highest speeds to the Katahdin region, hampering our ability to attract new businesses and residents." In Franklin County, the Farmington meeting was the culmination of a year- long effort, during which Woodworth and Carlton visited all 22 towns, some as many as four times, pitching the study, which got $43,000 from ConnectME, and asking towns to contribute. Every town ultimately did, as did the unorganized territories and Livermore Falls, which is in Androscoggin County but shares a school district with Jay. "is is a very conservative part of the state," Faloon says. "ey want to cut, cut, cut budgets. But we have every town in the county willing to be involved." e plan shows what each com- munity would have to pay per person, though federal and state money would take care of some of that cost. e next step is for the communi- ties to figure out where to go from here. He hopes towns with similar needs will band together instead of going it alone. Woodworth said that buy-in and the grassroots effort, spurred by residents who desperately want broadband, is what has made it successful so far. "ey've all invested and that speaks to the common vision," he says. "We have to have it for our future, our future growth, our economy." M aur e e n M i l l i k e n, M a i n e b i z s ta f f wr iter, can be reached at mmil l iken @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ m m i l l i k e n 4 7 » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E F O C U S I wanted to make a strong case that access to rural high-speed internet is as important as access to roads and bridges. So I made a proposal on the same scale as what we pay for highways. — Rep. Seth Berry D-Bowdoinham P H O T O / F R E D J. F I E L D Charlie Woodworth, executive director of the Greater Franklin Development Council, says lack of broadband is rural Maine's most challenging economic development issue.

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