Consolidated Communications delivered a broadband presentation to the Rangeley Board of Selectmen on December 7, 2020 at 5pm. Consolidated currently provides landline phone and limited internet service in the Rangeley area. Consolidated is one of the top ten fiber providers in the U.S. offering a broad range of fiber based broadband services. The Consolidated proposal would provide Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) to all residences of Rangeley, Rangeley Plantation, Dallas Plantation and Sandy River Plantation. Symmetrical speeds up to 1000Mpbs (1 Gig of upload and download) would be available.
The cost to rewire the core network with new fiber lines would require the Towns to finance approximately 3.7 million dollars. This is typically done through a combination of bonds, loans and grants. These financial costs are recovered by an end user monthly infrastructure fee. This infrastructure fee is collected by Consolidated who then forwards an amount equal to the principal and interest of the bonds/loans to the Towns annually.
Consolidated would be responsible for the approximate 2.5 million dollar cost to provide installation to every residence. There would be no installation cost to the customer if a communication path exists (i.e. underground conduit or pole to house wires).
Broadband Utility Districts are recognized as entities for the purpose of bonding. The Town of Rangeley is reaching out to their neighboring Plantations to set up a meeting that would gauge interest in this Rangeley Area broadband proposal. If interest to move forward with bonding was determined at a timely meeting, the Maine Bond Bank’s schedule could be optimized to advance this project.
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