TDS Telecommunications has announced fiber projects across 37 Maine communities.
The overall initiative will bring upload and download speeds as fast as 2 Gbps to about 21,000 addresses across the municipalities.
The communities are: Athens; Avon; Bigelow Township; Brighton Plantation; Cambridge; Carrabassett Valley; Concord Township; Coplin Plantation; Embden; Eustis/Stratton; Freeman; Harmony; Hartland; Highland Plantation; Kingfield; Lexington Township; Madrid; Mercer; New Portland; New Vineyard; Norridgewock; North Anson; Palmyra; Phillips; Ripley; Rome; Salem; Smithfield; Solon; St. Albans; Strong; Warren; Weld; Wellington; West Gardiner and Wyman Township.
Many of the communities are in Somerset and Franklin counties.
“We’re excited to expand our fiber network in Maine and bring residents and businesses some of the fastest internet speeds in the world,” Andrew Petersen, TDS Telecom’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs, said in a press release. “From telework and remote learning to small business operations, the pandemic has shown how crucial a high-speed internet network is to a community. We’re looking forward to building an internet network that will serve Maine residents for many years to come.”
In addition to connectivity, residential subscribers will have access to TDS TV+ television service, which integrates with streaming services and offers cloud DVR and other features. Businesses will have access to 10 Gbps dedicated connections, TDS TV+ and hosted VoIP.
TDS says that it has been serving Maine since 1971.
Maine residents got two pieces of connectivity news last month. The state is one of 12 (along with Guam) that will divide $277 million in grants from the Broadband Infrastructure Program. The awards were made by The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Earlier in the month, Arctaris Impact Investors LLC said that it will build fiber networks in distressed rural urban, and suburban areas, including Opportunity Zones, in the state. The public-private partnership includes Great Works Internet (GWI). The Finance Authority of Maine is providing 20% leveraged loan insurance and other assistance.
Wow, I worked at the telephone office in West Gardiner, Maine about 20 years. (1984-2004). In trying to see if the main office number 207-724-9911 still worked, I ran across this article about fiber optics being brought to rural parts of Maine, including West Gardiner. At one time I had a sample of what fiber optics looked like at my desk. in 2004, my tiny TDS business office was closed down(formerly Cobbosseecontee Tel and Tel when I started working there. I miss that tiny office stillšand Maine folksā£ļø