AREA — At a September 13 meeting of selectboard members and town managers from Bethel, Greenwood, Newry, Woodstock, the Mahoosuc Community Broadband Committee recommended that the towns, and
Oxford County on behalf of Albany Township and Milton Plantation, enter into a formal agreement with
First Light Fiber to pursue grant funding needed to provide all area residents with access to broadband
internet service.
The Committee’s recommendation is the result of 18 months of community engagement, data analysis,
and evaluation of strategies and proposal from multiple internet service providers. Based on that work,
committee members concluded that a partnership with First Light represents the simplest, most practical, and likely to succeed pathway to securing high speed, affordable, reliable, and future-ready
internet service for the area.
The final terms of any agreement with First Light still need to be finalized and agreed to by each selectboard and the Oxford County Commissions, and are dependent on the success of a grant proposal to be submitted by First Light to the Maine Connectivity Authority later this fall.
As currently presented, though, the partnership would deliver:
- High speed service available to all locations receiving electrical service
- No data caps or throttling
- No required bundling
- Free installation for new subscribers for one year after construction is complete
- Reduced residential and business pricing
- No price increases for three years after construction is complete
If the agreement is finalized and grant funds are awarded, First Light projects construction of the new
fiber network will be complete within 12 month of funding availability. The only exception would be Milton Plantation, which is outside their current footprint and would take an additional 6 months to complete. In the coming weeks, the Broadband Committee will be working with the towns and First Light to finalize contract terms for approval by all parties.
If this process is successful, First Light will move forward with a grant funding application to the Maine Connectivity Authority. An important element of that proposal will be demonstrated support from participating communities, area stakeholders, businesses and individuals. Keep an eye out for more details and for opportunities to add your support to this effort and secure affordable, reliable, high speed internet service for the Mahoosuc region.
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