High-speed internet is a necessity for rural Maine

Is there a single solution for providing rural Maine communities access to reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband internet? Probably not. But as someone who, for years, has believed web-based businesses are a way of giving greater life to rural Maine economies, I was intrigued by Heidi Reinhard’s recent letter to the editor in the Piscataquis Observer.

Ms. Reinhard was reminding readers about an online “broadband assessment survey” produced by the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC). This survey, Reinhard said, grew out of a public meeting of business owners, town/state officials, people representing Piscataquis County, and education reps.

“That’s one of three surveys,” PCEDC executive director Christopher Winstead said during our phone conversation. I wanted to know more about PCEDC’s fact-finding business survey.

Mr. Winstead says PCEDC’s “business survey gets to two key pieces: internet connectivity for businesses, and what [internet] they have access to. Also, what are each business’s workforce’s current digital knowledge levels and abilities? And how does this affect the business?

“The business survey really is about how do we support our existing businesses? How do we attract lead businesses to our county? And whether they are web-based businesses, or entities like Dove Tail Bat, or Hardwood Products Company — what are their needs?”

PCEDC’s Survey 2 is directed at community members. For example, Winstead says, “You live in Dover-Foxcroft. What’s your ability to access the internet? Can you work remotely from home? Survey 2 starts conversations of, What are your needs? And those questions, in turn, provide us a chance to present to people internet facts. Broadband,” says Winstead, “is so much more than streaming Netflix.

“We have people in this county who could telecommute to their jobs. Because of a lack of [internet] service, they are unable to. They have to hop in their cars and drive. Well, if they can telecommute, they’re going to save cash spent on gas. [Telecommuting] also gives them a higher quality of life.” Winstead says, “I live in Bangor, work in Dover-Foxcroft. Think if I had the ability to cut off an hour-and-a-half to two hours a day, how much more I could get done,” he says.

The final piece of the surveys is a “carrier meeting,” where PCECD and county consultant Axiom technologies meet with county internet service providers “to truly understand what their coverage is,” Winstead says.

“At the end of all this, we know what is in our county. We end up with a solid technology plan that we can [then] go to each of our communities and say, Okay. Here’s what your solution looks like. And start talking about public-private partnerships, bonding opportunities, and things along those lines. Create that build-out option.”

Right now, Piscataquis’s broadband access depends on where you are in the county. Winstead names the county’s several internet providers. He says right in the center of larger cities, like Dover-Foxcroft, access is good. “But as you get out of the center of town your choices and speeds drastically change. We have parts of our county completely unserved, other parts grossly underserved. People aren’t seeing speeds they need. More importantly, the availability of connections in their place of residence or employment may not be there.

“I would love to see happen, through all of those with our survey work, and the other — ConnectME — is that it really starts to create the conversation around a statewide plan,” Winstead says.

Part II of PCECD’s Broadband Assessment in another column. Until then, consider taking the survey, giving PCECD as much accurate data as possible.

Scott K. Fish has served as a communications staffer for Maine Senate and House Republican caucuses, and was communications director for Senate President Kevin Raye. He founded and edited AsMaineGoes.com and served as director of communications/public relations for Maine’s Department of Corrections until 2015. He is now using his communications skills to serve clients in the private sector.