$7 Million Grant Will Help Spectrum Expand Broadband in Two County Communities

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) -A nearly $7 Million Grant to expand broadband services  in 14 Maine communities, including two county cities was announced recently. Newssource 8′s Corey Bouchard spoke with the organization behind the project to learn more.

Lara Pritchard - Senior Director of Communications - Charter Northeast " It’s an intitative backed by Governor Mills to ensure that every mainer has access to high quality broadband.”

Laura Pritchard. a Senior Director of Communications for Charter, the parent company of Spectrum, is talking about the Reach Me Grant from the Maine Connectivity Authority. The purpose of the grant is for Internet Service Providers to expand their network to unserved and underserved communities in maine.

Lara " Construction will start in the next several months and what has to happen is the process by which we get approval and permits to access the utility poles to do the attachments that we need to do to extend our network and we expect that to start over the next several months and if all goes well is scheduled for completion in late 2024″

Pritchard adds, the service they are installing will not only bring those underserved communities into current standards, it will also help keep them up to date as the technology continues to expand.

Lara " Now more than ever people need access to connect with a doctor online, kids need to connect to websites at school, you might need to do an important banking transaction at home and what this will allow these folks will now have access to a high speed reliable broadband service that has the capacity to deliver 24 hours a day 7 days a week with over gig internet speeds”

Pritchard says this is only one step of many that is needed to fully connect every mainer with High Speed Broadband Service. CB, NS8

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