WILTON – In these days of computer necessity, Rep. Thomas Saviello, U-Wilton, is sponsoring a bill that could give towns the option to offer access to the Internet through digital subscriber lines.

A public hearing on the measure will be held by the Utilities and Energy Committee at 10 a.m. Thursday in Room 211 of the Cross Office Building in Augusta.

“High-speed Internet service is critical to grow economically in rural areas,” Saviello said Tuesday. “Everything is done across the Internet.”

After a constituent in Phillips spoke to Saviello about better access in rural areas, Saviello drafted LD 764, which would allow a town to provide digital subscriber line service itself or through a third party to areas that do not receive Internet service if the local telecommunications utility refuses to.

If the technology is there but the provider doesn’t want to provide it to an area because of too few customers, then residents could form their own company, he said.

The service could be more expensive to set up and operate than using a provider like FairPoint or Time Warner, he added.

“FairPoint is reviewing the bill and has a number of questions about the intent,” said Jeff Nevins, spokesman for FairPoint Communications. “We also feel there is already a vehicle in place to address the needs this bill is trying to address.”

Part of every phone bill goes to the Connect Maine Authority, a part of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, whose role is to address Internet access and needs in underserved parts of Maine.

There are people who want to live in Maine but who need access to the Internet to make a living, such as a man in Phillips who writes speeches for executives from his home, Saviello said. The governor has also talked about laptops for students, grades nine to 12, that have the software to hook up and can be taken home for the family to use. That would be difficult if there’s no broadband, he said.

Meanwhile, FairPoint has a five-year plan that includes a commitment to expanding broadband access across Maine, Nevins said. Its target is to provide 90 percent of the state with broadband by 2013.

It plans to offer a new network in Maine and is ahead on timetables, he said.

“The goal is to make broadband available to as many people as we possibly can with a new network that’s more robust, faster and has more capacity than the present one,” Nevins added.