By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Although Gov. John Baldacci is in the process of formulating a task force to study broadband, some Franklin County residents are taking matters into their own hands.

In his Jan. 25 State of the State address, Baldacci announced an initiative he called Connect Maine. Its intent is to provide 90 percent of Maine communities with broadband Internet access by 2010 and the entire state with wireless cellular phone service by 2008. According to Joy Leach of the governor’s office, a task force for the cell phone coverage has been formulated, and one for broadband is in the works.

Sam Elowitch of Wilton would like to be on that task force, he said Wednesday. He’s already been instrumental in helping to launch a new company intending to provide broadband service to residents in Farmington, Wilton, Chesterville and surrounding areas.

Elowitch, along with J Dwight and Claudia Richards, founded the Rural Broadband Initiative in 2003 with a mission of bringing broadband service to Franklin County. Last year, the group sent out 412 surveys to local businesses and homes and received more than 25 percent back. Results indicated that there was a need and desire for high-speed Internet service in the region.

With that in mind, Dwight, a financier by trade, is the sole investor in a new company called BlueMaxBroadband. The company will launch its services when, and only when, it has a minimum of 70 customers committed to purchasing the service. It has 20 customers but needs 50 more to cover the estimated $1,200 to $2,000 in monthly operating costs, Dwight said.

The only current high-speed Internet connections in the area are via digital subscriber lines, or DSL, from Verizon or GWI. But not everyone in the region can get it.

Dwight’s proposed service would provide wireless broadband using antennas, which customers would need to purchase. The cost of an antenna and modem is a one-time charge of $300; the service will cost $39.95 for residential users and $59.95 for businesses monthly.

The advantage of BlueMax, according to Dwight, is speed. Although downloads will take about the same as DSL service, uploading will be almost four times faster. Upload speed is important for people transferring big graphics files or photos from their computers to others.

Bryan Lumbra of Professional Computers in Farmington has agreed to provide service and hardware installation for the project. He said the company can have the service up and running within a month once 70 customers have signed up. Businesses or residences within two miles of the WKTJ tower on Voter Hill will be in the service area.

“We’re ready to pull the trigger on this project,” said Lumbra.

For more information or to sign up, potential customers may call Lumbra at 778-5700.