Maine Issues RFP For Long-Planned MOOSE Net Middle Mile Fiber Network
The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), Maine’s quasi-governmental public agency in charge of broadband expansion and digital equity, is seeking proposals to help design and construct a major 536-mile fiber network that should dramatically improve affordable fiber access across vast swaths of the Pine Tree State.
For several years Maine officials have proposed spending $53 million to build a major middle mile fiber network known as the Maine Online Optical Statewide Enabling Network (MOOSE Net).
The middle mile network would extend fiber into numerous underserved Maine communities, boosting broadband competition and access while hopefully lowering prices.
Last year, Maine received a $30 million grant to help fund the network’s construction, courtesy of the National Telecommunications Information Administration’s (NTIA) $980 million Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program. The MCA’s proposal was one of just 32 proposals selected out of 260 applicants for federal broadband funding.