Maine Officials Chart Statewide Broadband Progress During Director's Road Trip
Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher toured the state, visiting broadband projects and community partners.
July 5, 2025 – Maine officials discussed their collaborative approach to rural broadband challenges during a Wednesday webcast, highlighting ongoing infrastructure investments and digital equity programs across the state's diverse geography.
Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher toured the state, visiting broadband projects and community partners as part of a five-day journey officials say demonstrates the collaborative approach needed to address rural connectivity challenges.
The "Driving Connections" tour, which began June 23 and concluded June 27, took Butcher to libraries, telehealth access sites, and connectivity hubs across Maine's diverse geography, state officials said during a Broadband Breakfast Live webcast on Wednesday, June 25.
Maggie Drummond-Bahl
FROM SPEEDING BEAD SUMMIT
Panel 1: How Are States Thinking About Reasonable Costs Now?
Panel 2: Finding the State Versus Federal Balance in BEAD
Panel 3: Reacting to the New BEAD NOFO Guidance
Panel 4: Building, Maintaining and Adopting Digital Workforce Skills
"It's an opportunity really for MCA to celebrate the success of some of the projects and partners that we've been working with the last few years," said Maggie Drummond-Bahl, strategic partnerships director at the Maine Connectivity Authority, explaining the tour's purpose during the online discussion.
Regional collaboration drives success
The road trip highlights lessons learned from Maine's $250 million broadband deployment across more than 100 infrastructure projects in over 200 communities, officials said. David Bresnahan, infrastructure grant manager at the state authority, said that Maine had focused on diverse technological solutions to reach dispersed populations.
"We've deployed about $250 million of federal and state funding across 100 different infrastructure projects in over 200 communities," Bresnahan said.
In Oxford County, regional coordination proved essential after town-by-town approaches failed, said Mia Purcell, economic development manager at Community Concepts Finance Corporation.
"We quickly found that by focusing on each individual town, 25 towns in that region, we're getting nowhere," Purcell said. "We really needed to focus regionally and bring the towns together and focus on their collective needs."
Satellite program addresses remote areas
Maine's Working Internet ASAP program offers subsidized Starlink service to approximately 9,000 locations that lack any internet connectivity, officials said. The program provides free equipment worth $400 and professional installation, with monthly service costs of $80 or $120.
However, adoption rates remain low at 4-5%, which Bresnahan said officials expected given the scattered nature of eligible locations.
"The take rate is sitting around four to 5% which is what we expected with how spread out these locations are," he said.
Affordability challenges persist; holistic approach to digital equity
Despite infrastructure investments, cost remains a significant barrier. State survey data shows 47% of respondents struggle to afford monthly internet bills, Drummond-Bahl said.
"Forty-seven percent of folks who responded to our survey were challenged to fit their internet service bill into their monthly budget," she said during the webcast.
Officials emphasized that successful broadband deployment requires addressing infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy simultaneously.
Maine plans to establish connectivity hubs in every county and tribal community, providing internet access points and digital literacy training, officials said.
The state faces funding challenges following termination of federal digital equity grants, which represents a $35 million loss for Maine programs, Drummond-Bahl said. Officials are accelerating efforts to secure alternative funding sources to continue digital navigator and device distribution programs.
