Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher has his 1984 yellow Volkswagen van – affectionately known as “Buttercup” – all gassed up and ready to barnstorm across Maine this week.

Butcher and his team will visit libraries, community centers, town halls, Tribal governments, connectivity hubs, and telehealth locations all across the Pine Street State as state broadband officials and local connectivity champions celebrate the broadband expansion work that’s already been done and to gather “local insights (for) the next phase of work.”

The five-day “Driving Connections” tour will highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years.

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But, perhaps more crucial to the mission: the tour also aims to rally state leaders and local communities to continue the work, even as the Trump administration “terminated” the Digital Equity Act last month and more recently drastically altered the infrastructure-focused BEAD program – both of which have undermined state’s efforts to expand Internet connectivity and eliminate barriers to broadband adoption.

“It feels like an important time to show how we are connected to each other in more ways than just high-speed Internet connections,” Butcher told ILSR in the days leading up to the tour.

Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher has his 1984 yellow Volkswagen van – affectionately known as “Buttercup” – all gassed up and ready to barnstorm across Maine this week.

Butcher and his team will visit libraries, community centers, town halls, Tribal governments, connectivity hubs, and telehealth locations all across the Pine Street State as state broadband officials and local connectivity champions celebrate the broadband expansion work that’s already been done and to gather “local insights (for) the next phase of work.”

The five-day “Driving Connections” tour will highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years.

Image

But, perhaps more crucial to the mission: the tour also aims to rally state leaders and local communities to continue the work, even as the Trump administration “terminated” the Digital Equity Act last month and more recently drastically altered the infrastructure-focused BEAD program – both of which have undermined state’s efforts to expand Internet connectivity and eliminate barriers to broadband adoption.

“It feels like an important time to show how we are connected to each other in more ways than just high-speed Internet connections,” Butcher told ILSR in the days leading up to the tour.

Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher has his 1984 yellow Volkswagen van – affectionately known as “Buttercup” – all gassed up and ready to barnstorm across Maine this week.

Butcher and his team will visit libraries, community centers, town halls, Tribal governments, connectivity hubs, and telehealth locations all across the Pine Street State as state broadband officials and local connectivity champions celebrate the broadband expansion work that’s already been done and to gather “local insights (for) the next phase of work.”

The five-day “Driving Connections” tour will highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years.

Image

But, perhaps more crucial to the mission: the tour also aims to rally state leaders and local communities to continue the work, even as the Trump administration “terminated” the Digital Equity Act last month and more recently drastically altered the infrastructure-focused BEAD program – both of which have undermined state’s efforts to expand Internet connectivity and eliminate barriers to broadband adoption.

“It feels like an important time to show how we are connected to each other in more ways than just high-speed Internet connections,” Butcher told ILSR in the days leading up to the tour.

Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher has his 1984 yellow Volkswagen van – affectionately known as “Buttercup” – all gassed up and ready to barnstorm across Maine this week.

Butcher and his team will visit libraries, community centers, town halls, Tribal governments, connectivity hubs, and telehealth locations all across the Pine Street State as state broadband officials and local connectivity champions celebrate the broadband expansion work that’s already been done and to gather “local insights (for) the next phase of work.”

The five-day “Driving Connections” tour will highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years.

Image

But, perhaps more crucial to the mission: the tour also aims to rally state leaders and local communities to continue the work, even as the Trump administration “terminated” the Digital Equity Act last month and more recently drastically altered the infrastructure-focused BEAD program – both of which have undermined state’s efforts to expand Internet connectivity and eliminate barriers to broadband adoption.

“It feels like an important time to show how we are connected to each other in more ways than just high-speed Internet connections,” Butcher told ILSR in the days leading up to the tour.

Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher has his 1984 yellow Volkswagen van – affectionately known as “Buttercup” – all gassed up and ready to barnstorm across Maine this week.

Butcher and his team will visit libraries, community centers, town halls, Tribal governments, connectivity hubs, and telehealth locations all across the Pine Street State as state broadband officials and local connectivity champions celebrate the broadband expansion work that’s already been done and to gather “local insights (for) the next phase of work.”

The five-day “Driving Connections” tour will highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years.

Image

But, perhaps more crucial to the mission: the tour also aims to rally state leaders and local communities to continue the work, even as the Trump administration “terminated” the Digital Equity Act last month and more recently drastically altered the infrastructure-focused BEAD program – both of which have undermined state’s efforts to expand Internet connectivity and eliminate barriers to broadband adoption.

“It feels like an important time to show how we are connected to each other in more ways than just high-speed Internet connections,” Butcher told ILSR in the days leading up to the tour.

Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher has his 1984 yellow Volkswagen van – affectionately known as “Buttercup” – all gassed up and ready to barnstorm across Maine this week.

Butcher and his team will visit libraries, community centers, town halls, Tribal governments, connectivity hubs, and telehealth locations all across the Pine Street State as state broadband officials and local connectivity champions celebrate the broadband expansion work that’s already been done and to gather “local insights (for) the next phase of work.”

The five-day “Driving Connections” tour will highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years.

Image

But, perhaps more crucial to the mission: the tour also aims to rally state leaders and local communities to continue the work, even as the Trump administration “terminated” the Digital Equity Act last month and more recently drastically altered the infrastructure-focused BEAD program – both of which have undermined state’s efforts to expand Internet connectivity and eliminate barriers to broadband adoption.

“It feels like an important time to show how we are connected to each other in more ways than just high-speed Internet connections,” Butcher told ILSR in the days leading up to the tour.

Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher has his 1984 yellow Volkswagen van – affectionately known as “Buttercup” – all gassed up and ready to barnstorm across Maine this week.

Butcher and his team will visit libraries, community centers, town halls, Tribal governments, connectivity hubs, and telehealth locations all across the Pine Street State as state broadband officials and local connectivity champions celebrate the broadband expansion work that’s already been done and to gather “local insights (for) the next phase of work.”

The five-day “Driving Connections” tour will highlight broadband infrastructure investments the state has made to bring high-speed Internet access to 86,000 homes and businesses over the past several years.

Image

But, perhaps more crucial to the mission: the tour also aims to rally state leaders and local communities to continue the work, even as the Trump administration “terminated” the Digital Equity Act last month and more recently drastically altered the infrastructure-focused BEAD program – both of which have undermined state’s efforts to expand Internet connectivity and eliminate barriers to broadband adoption.

“It feels like an important time to show how we are connected to each other in more ways than just high-speed Internet connections,” Butcher told ILSR in the days leading up to the tour.

The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) continues to make steady inroads bridging the state’s long standing digital divide on the back of federal grants and a public private-partnership between Lincoln County and Consolidated Communications (Fidum Fiber).

In January, Fidium announced it was beginning construction on the project, which should bring fiber connectivity to 8,300 homes and businesses.

The first phase of the project aims to expand fiber to the towns of Wiscasset, Whitefield, and Edgecomb, as well as parts of Alna and Westport Island. Partial Route 1 closures were required due to fiber installs.

Ultimately, the partnership is also intended to bring fiber access for the first time to Alna, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Dresden, Nobleboro, Southport, Waldoboro, and Woolwich, in neighboring Sagadahoc County.

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This project is being paid for by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, an MCA grant, and Consolidated Communications (Fidium Fiber). The funding was part of a broader $9.6 million in grant awards announced by the MCA last August, intended to bring fiber to 15,561 homes and businesses across 12 widely underserved communities in the Pine Tree state.

Lincoln County in particular saw a grant award of $6 million matched by $24.3 million in private and public investment – including county ARPA funds – which the MCA notes was the “highest percentage of financial commitment from any public-private partnership awarded through an MCA program to date.”

“We're thrilled to partner with Fidium to expand their fiber broadband network to our community,” Wiscasset Town Manager Dennis Simmons said of the opportunity.

The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) continues to make steady inroads bridging the state’s long standing digital divide on the back of federal grants and a public private-partnership between Lincoln County and Consolidated Communications (Fidum Fiber).

In January, Fidium announced it was beginning construction on the project, which should bring fiber connectivity to 8,300 homes and businesses.

The first phase of the project aims to expand fiber to the towns of Wiscasset, Whitefield, and Edgecomb, as well as parts of Alna and Westport Island. Partial Route 1 closures were required due to fiber installs.

Ultimately, the partnership is also intended to bring fiber access for the first time to Alna, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Dresden, Nobleboro, Southport, Waldoboro, and Woolwich, in neighboring Sagadahoc County.

Image

This project is being paid for by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, an MCA grant, and Consolidated Communications (Fidium Fiber). The funding was part of a broader $9.6 million in grant awards announced by the MCA last August, intended to bring fiber to 15,561 homes and businesses across 12 widely underserved communities in the Pine Tree state.

Lincoln County in particular saw a grant award of $6 million matched by $24.3 million in private and public investment – including county ARPA funds – which the MCA notes was the “highest percentage of financial commitment from any public-private partnership awarded through an MCA program to date.”

“We're thrilled to partner with Fidium to expand their fiber broadband network to our community,” Wiscasset Town Manager Dennis Simmons said of the opportunity.

The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) continues to make steady inroads bridging the state’s long standing digital divide on the back of federal grants and a public private-partnership between Lincoln County and Consolidated Communications (Fidum Fiber).

In January, Fidium announced it was beginning construction on the project, which should bring fiber connectivity to 8,300 homes and businesses.

The first phase of the project aims to expand fiber to the towns of Wiscasset, Whitefield, and Edgecomb, as well as parts of Alna and Westport Island. Partial Route 1 closures were required due to fiber installs.

Ultimately, the partnership is also intended to bring fiber access for the first time to Alna, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Dresden, Nobleboro, Southport, Waldoboro, and Woolwich, in neighboring Sagadahoc County.

Image

This project is being paid for by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, an MCA grant, and Consolidated Communications (Fidium Fiber). The funding was part of a broader $9.6 million in grant awards announced by the MCA last August, intended to bring fiber to 15,561 homes and businesses across 12 widely underserved communities in the Pine Tree state.

Lincoln County in particular saw a grant award of $6 million matched by $24.3 million in private and public investment – including county ARPA funds – which the MCA notes was the “highest percentage of financial commitment from any public-private partnership awarded through an MCA program to date.”

“We're thrilled to partner with Fidium to expand their fiber broadband network to our community,” Wiscasset Town Manager Dennis Simmons said of the opportunity.