Maine receives $25M grant for rural Internet access

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke came to the University of Maine on Thursday to announce a $25.5 million grant to fund the construction of high speed Internet infrastructure in Maine.

The money is Maine’s share of a $182 million of federal stimulus money destined to fund 18 similar Internet expansion projects in 17 states. The grant will pay for a 1,100-mile-long fiber-optic cable network in Maine that will give rural business the same kind of access to the Internet that their more urban counterparts enjoy. The $182 million is the first to be spent of more than $2 billion of Recovery Act funds that will pay for high speed Internet projects throughout the United States over the next 75 days.

Locke said the network will have the potential to connect as many as one fifth of all Maine households to the Internet.

“In the short term this investment will help create jobs, by constructing and installing 36,000 new [telephone] poles,” Locke said. “Like all good government investments, this is going to kick start the private sector into action with more investment, construction and jobs and Internet services provided by the private sector.”

Locke said an additional $65 million is expected to be spent by Maine businesses over the next three to five years on additional Internet infrastructure. He said 10 Internet service providers have expressed interest in buying capacity on the network.

“Thanks to this funding, hospitals like Eastern Maine Medical Center and other large hospitals throughout the state will be able to diagnose injuries of patients in rural communities hundreds of miles away,” Locke said. “In short, this funding is going to save lives, and it will also save money.”

Locke said Internet service will also be “vastly improved” throughout for the University of Maine System and community colleges and that the network will expand educational opportunities in Maine.

“Students at these campuses won’t just be able to communicate with other campuses, it means that they’ll actually be able to access specialized coursework from other great educational institutions around the world,” Locke said.

Rep. Michael Michaud spoke after Locke, and told audience members the grant and the network it will fund will bridge the divide between rural and urban businesses.

“This investment will help businesses throughout rural Maine compete effectively to create jobs,” Michaud said.

Rep. Chellie Pingree also spoke, saying the jobs the grant will help create will put people to work “right away.”

“These are immediate jobs,” Pingree said.

The University of Maine System, Internet service provider GWI, other Maine businesses and Maine’s congressional representatives were instrumental in applying for the grant. System Chancellor Richard Pattenaude said the grant award is an example of what Maine can achieve by working together.

Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe were unable to attend the award announcement because of their congressional work.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009, 2:37 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.