2 rural towns pioneer new route to faster internet
The communities of Calais https://www.canadagoosepark.com and Baileyville are putting their own money into getting faster internet speeds than most of the state. It will be canada goose outlet parka a dramatic turnaround, allowing the average user to download a 45 minute high definition television show in roughly one and a canada goose outlet uk sale half minutes.
canada goose uk black friday They are following the lead of other Maine cities and towns, but one thing different in Calais and Baileyville, which last year came together to form the nonprofit Downeast Broadband Utility. canada goose uk black friday
Canada Goose Parka When the utility starts negotiating to canada goose black friday sale put official canada goose outlet 87 miles of fiber optic cable on area utility poles, they have unprecedented leverage, canada goose outlet store thanks canada goose outlet to new rules that give them a right to attach to those poles. Canada Goose Parka
It a big deal for a small network. For Downeast Broadband, attaching their cables to utility poles is the biggest cost of the roughly $2.5 million project. The rules help make those costs and project timelines more predictable, canada goose outlet jackets and that stands to give rural parts of the state clearer paths to funding their own networks.
Canada Goose online attachments, as wonky as they are, were a major regulatory hurdle for small [internet service providers] and canada goose outlet black friday communities to figure out and deal with, said canada goose outlet reviews Peggy Schaffer, co chair of the Maine Broadband Coalition. became an unpredictable, expensive process to attach to poles. The company owns most canada goose outlet toronto factory of the poles in Calais and Baileyville, and the others are owned by Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative. Canada Goose online
Canada Goose Online In the case of Consolidated, which provides its own broadband and data services, attachment requests from other networks can amount to competition. Canada Goose Online
Canada Goose Outlet As Calais and Baileyville are the first to operate under the rules that give them a leg up in dealing with pole owners such as Consolidated, they have the attention of people who see a potential economic lifeline for fledgling communities where it harder for private internet providers to make a profit. Canada Goose Outlet
From 2010 canada goose outlet online uk to 2016, populations in both towns declined by roughly 5 percent, according canada goose outlet online to census estimates.
Canada Goose sale hope that having this infrastructure will make us more attractive to telecommuters, seasonal residents, businesses that are looking to expand or relocate, said Julie Jordan, director of the Downeast Broadband Utility. Canada Goose sale
canada goose uk shop Fiber optic cables are designed to transmit data and can send it faster than copper wire networks originally built to transmit telephone signals and cable television. canada goose uk shop
canada goose uk outlet The project aims to make direct fiber connections to 97 percent of area homes and businesses, helping address repeated concerns from the county single largest employer, Woodland Pulp and canada goose outlet new york city St. Croix Tissue. Dan Sullivan, canada goose outlet canada the mill’s information technology manager, has made regular pleas in Augusta for new canada goose outlet uk state investment in high speed internet connections. canada goose uk outlet
Sullivan told lawmakers last year that faster internet speeds in the community were critical to the mill bottom line and, canada goose outlet sale therefore, its more than 400 employees. But he criticized public investment in upgrades using technology, pointing to a DSL line built near his home in Cooper using federal broadband funds.
DSL] project is a good example of using public dollars to build networks that are slow, outdated and unable to handle present day internet needs, let alone future ones, he wrote.
canada goose coats Jordan said the utility expects its network to serve customers for about 30 years, which was part of justifying the millions both towns will borrow to build it. canada goose coats
canada goose clearance sale Once the project canada goose outlet shop starts construction, it will take about two years to complete, but Jordan said the network could light up different sections in phases, providing service sooner for some customers. Jordan expects construction to begin this year. canada goose clearance sale
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canada goose black friday sale Getting access to utility poles wasn impossible before for municipal broadband networks, but it was more difficult. In Islesboro, leaders of a four year effort to build their own municipal fiber network said they were forced to accept whatever terms a pole owner offered. canada goose black friday sale
Canada Goose Jackets Still seeing it worth the cost, they accepted and canada goose factory outlet this month are firing up a $3.8 million fiber optic network that delivering some of the top speeds in the country. Canada Goose Jackets
canada goose factory sale Roger Heinen, a member of the committee that led the Islesboro effort, said that kind of local push will be required to get broadband to some of the state most remote corners. canada goose factory sale
canada goose store was always about a realization that the incumbent cable and canada goose jacket outlet phone companies can’t invest in a canada goose outlet nyc place like Islesboro, Heinen said. canada goose store
Consolidated, the state largest incumbent internet service provider, had sought to limit the reach of the new pole attachment rules, arguing unsuccessfully that regulators should step in only to resolve disputes, not to make rules for every application.
Regulators sided with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and groups such as the canada goose outlet store uk Islesboro broadband committee, which told regulators that access to funds and abundance of obstacles for attaching to poles were among the top hurdles to expanding broadband all corners of Maine.
Maine regulators create rules governing utility pole attachment, but most states defer to federal rules. Before the new rules took effect in January, Maine last changed its pole attachment rules in 1993, the same year that internet provider AOL began mailing CDs to homes.
The new rules, which bring Maine in line with much of the country, canada goose outlet in usa require pole owners to respond to requests from municipal utility districts who want to string up their own fiber, denying them only in specific circumstances, such as when there are safety concerns. Eventually, the rules will include specific guidelines about how pole owners should set rates.
Previously, pole owners only had to respond to municipalities seeking to put up new emergency communications lines or streetlights.
cheap Canada cheap canada goose jackets Goose With the new broadband rules, municipalities can go it alone, however. They need private companies as partners to actually operate the network, or to the fiber. The Downeast Broadband Utility eventually will solicit bids for a company to operate the network. cheap Canada Goose
With the Downeast utility leading the way, Schaffer said the new rules are promising.
Downeast Utility District was the first one to test that process out. And it worked, she said. was simple and quick.
But it gives those communities a clearer sense of how much and how long it will take to get a network up and running, clarifying questions about those painstaking pole by pole negotiations that make up their single largest startup expense.