RANGELEY — The Rangeley Economic Opportunity Committee, the Opportunity Center of North Franklin County Inc. and a collaboration of partners are seeking input from the community on their hopes for faster, affordable and more reliable broadband services for their homes, businesses and mobile devices, as well as any concerns.

The Opportunity Center will hold a meeting on March 15 at 6 p.m. at Rangeley Lakes Regional School with guest speakers from some of the providers and broadband consultants serving the Franklin County region.

The center has held planning meetings that have brought together chambers, economic development organizations, businesses, educational and medical institutions, towns, state, county and federal politicians and interested residents to participate in a broadband infrastructure effort for all of Franklin County, as it will take an organized effort to move this endeavor forward.

Evidence shows that broadband connectivity encourages many positive outcomes for a community which includes, but is not limited to, helping local businesses stay and grow, attracting new businesses and enabling workers to telecommute to distant places. It also makes a community a more attractive place to live, especially for young people. High-speed internet can enable cost-effective distant learning and telehealth medical assistance for the elderly.

The meeting on March 15 is a call to get involved with expanding broadband (high-speed) internet in the Franklin County region.

Organizers ask members of the public to attend this meeting to learn about what is being worked on and how they can help, as well as voice their concerns.

To aid in this effort, a survey is available at at www.surveymonkey.com/r/FD8LF2T.

FMI: Rangeley Economic Opportunity Committee, 207-864-3326, [email protected]; the Opportunity Center, [email protected]; the Greater Franklin Development Council, 207-778-5887, [email protected]; or the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, 207-778-4215, [email protected].