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Photo courtesy of Downeast Broadband Utility Fiber connections bring broadband internet to businesses and households in Down East Maine.
Photo courtesy of Downeast Broadband Utility Fiber connections bring broadband internet to businesses and households in Down East Maine.

Maine gets $5.7M in federal funding to expand internet access

Staff, Piscataquis Observer •December 8, 2024

By Ethan Andrews, Bangor Daily News Staff

Maine has been awarded $5.6 million from a federal grant that aims to improve internet access and get people the equipment and skills to use it.

This funding, approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Dec. 6, comes from one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021.

In Maine, the funding will be used to make the internet more widely available, provide computers or tablets to people who can’t afford them, and teach skills needed to use online resources and protect personal and financial information online, according to the Maine Connectivity Authority.

Additionally, Maine will use the funding for a statewide device donation and refurbishment campaign, and publicity for a new online directory of digital resources called Tech Help for ME.

In the last four years, Maine has received hundreds of millions of dollars from a variety of federal sources toward expanding internet access. 

Despite these investments, an interactive map published by the Maine Connectivity Authority shows large swaths of the state that have fewer internet options and slow connections.

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