Oct. 7, 2009
Contact John Porter:
207-329-8594 / btop-team@gwi.net
ThreeRingMaine.com
The Three Ring Binder will bring faster Internet service to rural Maine.
AUGUSTA – The Three Ring Binder, a proposal that would enable faster and more affordable broadband Internet service in 100 rural Maine communities, will get a final review tomorrow before being sent to the governor for his endorsement. Ultimately, it is hoped the project will qualify for a federal stimulus grant.
The ConnectME Authority will take up the proposal along with more than a dozen others now that the Broadband Strategy Council has completed its review. The project list then goes to the governor. Final recommendations get sent to the federal government, which will be awarding grants to enhance broadband service in areas with little or no access to it.
The Three Ring Binder is what is known as a “middle mile” broadband project. It will provide “dark fiber” network for rural Maine. This means that all qualified carriers will be able use the fiber-optic system, and ultimately a variety of companies will compete on the network to provide service to individual users.
The lack of such a central artery has been a major obstacle to providing broadband access in many areas of the state.
The Three Ring Binder consists of three “rings” of high-capacity fiber-optic cable that would serve as the central corridors for high-speed Internet traffic in rural Maine. One loop will service Northern Maine; another will extend from the Mid Coast to Downeast, while a third will enhance Internet connections in Western Maine. In all, the project will feature 1,100 miles of multi-strand fiber optic cable.
GWI (www.GWI.net), the Biddeford-based telephone and Internet service provider, is the lead sponsor of the Three Ring Binder.
The Three Ring Binder will be privately owned and operated by Maine Fiber Company, LLC, and will not be owned or run by any government entity. Maine Fiber, a newly formed private, stand-alone company, will offer low-cost access to the Three Ring Binder on an equal basis to all carriers. These carriers will in turn use the capacity to serve Internet providers and telecommunications companies interested in providing service to rural Maine.
The project will serve 100 rural Maine communities and significantly improve communications for businesses and government offices. The University of Maine System and rural hospitals will be especially aided by the project.
The Three Ring Binder will be funded through a combination of private funding and a federal stimulus grant. GWI has applied for a $26 million federal grant, and total project costs are expected to be $32.5 million.
The National Telecommunications & Information Agency (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce and the Rural Utility Service of the Department of Agriculture are administering the federal grant portion. The states have been asked to review applications for funding.
Maine’s process for reviewing the broadband projects started with the Broadband Strategy Council. That body gave a unanimous endorsement to the Three Ring Binder amid high praise for the project’s potential to improve broadband service in rural Maine.
“I would enthusiastically endorse this with a green light,” said Phillip Lindley, a council member and the executive director the state’s ConnectME Authority.
The ConnectME Authority is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Public Utilities Commission hearing room.
Sept. 28, 2009
Contact John Porter:
207-329-8594 / btop-team@gwi.net
ThreeRingMaine.com
State support is vital to securing a federal grant that will make better and more affordable Internet service a reality for rural Maine.
AUGUSTA – The Three Ring Binder, a proposal that would enable faster and more affordable broadband Internet service in 100 rural Maine communities, won an enthusiastic and unanimous endorsement today from a state panel screening projects for possible federal stimulus funding.
“I would definitely be on the side of giving this a green (light) plus,” said State Rep. Cynthia Dill, co-chair of the state’s Broadband Strategy Council.
The Council reviewed more than a dozen proposals, assigning either a green, yellow or red light to each of them. Projects were judged on how well they met criteria aimed at helping Maine people obtain better and more affordable broadband Internet access.
Council members described the Three Ring Binder as one of the more significant and useful proposals before them.
“I would enthusiastically endorse this with a green light,” said Phillip Lindley, a council member and the executive director the state’s ConnectME Authority. Vendean Vafiades, a member of the council and of the state’s Public Utilities Commission, also praised the Three Ring Binder. “I support this wholeheartedly,” she said.
The Three Ring Binder is the result of a collaborative effort among established Maine telecommunications companies and vital Maine institutions to enhance broadband Internet access in rural Maine.
GWI (www.GWI.net), the Biddeford-based Internet service provider, is the lead sponsor of the Three Ring Binder. The project consists of three “rings” of high-capacity fiber-optic cable that would serve as the central arteries for high-speed Internet traffic in rural Maine. One loop will service Northern Maine; another will extend from the Mid Coast to Downeast, while a third will enhance Internet connections in Western Maine. In all, the project will feature 1,100 miles of multi-strand fiber optic cable.
The Three Ring Binder will be privately owned and operated by Maine Fiber Company, LLC, and will not be owned or run by any government entity. Maine Fiber, a newly formed private, stand-alone company, will offer low-cost access to the Three Ring Binder’s fiber-optic network on an equal basis to all carriers. These carriers will in turn use the capacity to serve Internet providers and telecommunications companies interested in providing service to rural Maine.
The project will serve 100 rural Maine communities and significantly improve communications for businesses and government offices. The University of Maine System and rural hospitals will be especially aided by the project.
The Three Ring Binder will be funded through a combination of private funding and a federal stimulus grant. GWI has applied for a $26 million federal grant, and total project costs are expected to be $32.5 million.
The National Telecommunications & Information Agency (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce and the Rural Utility Service of the Department of Agriculture are administering the federal grant portion. The states have been asked to review applications for funding.
The ConnectME Authority will next take up the recommendations of the Broadband Strategy Council and will in turn forward the list of recommended projects to the governor for review.
Today’s action by the council suggests strong support for the Three Ring Binder’s approach to improving broadband access in Maine.
“We’re grateful that the council was so enthusiastic about the Three Ring Binder,” said Fletcher Kittredge, CEO and founder of GWI. “While the ultimate decision is up to the federal government, having this kind of support at the state level will do a lot to bring better and more affordable broadband service to rural Maine.”
The Three Ring Binder will create robust competition among Internet service providers in rural areas.
AUGUSTA – A proposal that would enable faster and more affordable broadband Internet service in 100 rural Maine communities will undergo review Tuesday by a state panel charged with screening projects for possible federal stimulus funding.
Known as the Three Ring Binder, it is one of more than a dozen proposals that the state’s Broadband Strategy Council is reviewing as part of the federal stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The Three Ring Binder is the result of a collaborative effort among established Maine telecommunications companies and vital Maine institutions to enhance broadband Internet access in rural Maine. GWI (www.GWI.net), the Biddeford-based Internet service provider, is the lead sponsor of the Three Ring Binder. The project consists of three “rings” of high-capacity fiber-optic cable that would serve as the central arteries for high-speed Internet traffic in rural Maine. One loop will service northern Maine; another will extend from the Mid Coast to Downeast, while a third will enhance Internet connections in Western Maine. In all, the project will feature 1,100 miles of multi-strand fiber optic cable.
The Three Ring Binder will be privately owned and operated by Maine Fiber Company, LLC, and will not be owned or run by any government entity. Maine Fiber, a newly formed private, stand-alone company, will offer low-cost access to the Three Ring Binder’s fiber-optic network on an equal basis to all carriers. These carriers will in turn use the capacity to serve Internet providers and telecommunications companies interested in providing service to rural Maine.
“We believe that a quality, middle-mile network of dark fiber in rural Maine is the key to creating robust competition among broad-band Internet service providers in areas that are currently underserved,” said Fletcher Kittredge, CEO and founder of GWI.
“The Three Ring Binder would give GWI and its competitors a chance to provide affordable, high-speed Internet service not only to approximately 110,000 homes, but to businesses and institutions vital to the state’s social and economic wellbeing,” Kittredge said.
One important beneficiary of the Three Ring Binder would be the University of Maine System. With a statewide fiber network, the university system would be able to expand its own high-speed data network to 10 campuses, and it would enhance the broadband capacity at three of the state’s community colleges.
Local schools and libraries would also have better broadband access. And the project will enable improved communications for 38 government facilities, including 13 of Maine’s county courthouses, 11 county jails, and 14 Maine Department of Health and Human Services district offices.
Health care providers would also be aided in their efforts to cut costs and improve service through the use of modern communications technology. The Three Ring Binder would have direct benefits for the New England TeleHealth Consortium and the Franklin County Healthcare Network as they implement their plans to establish advanced healthcare networks as part of the FCC’s Rural Healthcare Pilot Program.
The Three Ring Binder will be funded through a combination of private funding and a federal stimulus grant. GWI has applied for a $26 million federal grant, and total project costs are expected to be $32.5 million. The federal monies will benefit rural Mainers by greatly enhancing the availability and affordability of high-speed Internet service. The National Telecommunications & Information Agency (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce and the Rural Utility Service of the Department of Agriculture are administering the federal grant portion.
Additionally, several arms of the State of Maine – including the Governor, the ConnectME Authority, and the Broadband Strategy Council -- are reviewing the Three Ring Binder and more than a dozen other broadband projects. Maine will provide recommendations and guidance as to which projects will be most beneficial, but the final decisions on grant awards will be left to the federal government.
The Three Ring Binder addresses a long-identified need in Maine. The lack of affordable, high-speed Internet service is seen as a threat to the rural Maine economy. Even the smallest of Maine businesses need affordable, broadband service to survive. Yet, there is inadequate broadband service throughout much of rural Maine, and rural customers who request broadband service are often told the service is unavailable. Building a high-capacity fiber network like the Three Ring Binder will directly address this problem.
The state established the ConnectME Authority in 2006 to address the need, and since that time, GWI has been working with state officials on the problem. The lack of so-called “middle mile” fiber optic facilities – a high capacity fiber-optic network that can carry traffic from a range of telecommunications providers – has been identified as a primary obstacle to improved access to broadband in rural Maine.
Passage of the federal stimulus package provides the means for solving this problem. And by setting up a middle-mile network open to all competitors, the Three Ring Binder will leverage federal money into the creation of a competitive private market for “last mile” service to individual customers. Those federal grants will be passed on to customers in the form of more affordable Internet connections.
Years ago, providing such backbone infrastructure was the job of Ma Bell. The telecommunications landscape has changed since then, and phone companies today are focused on what they perceive as more profitable enterprises.
The Three Ring Binder will create a true, “dark fiber” network. The private company owning and operating the system will only be in the business of acting as a wholesaler. The wholesale customers of the network would be Internet Service providers and telephone companies, all of which will have access to the network on an open and nondiscriminatory basis. The Three Ring Binder also includes rules that would prevent any one company from monopolizing the capacity of the network
.“The Three Ring Binder does not represent ‘unfair’ competition,” notes Kittredge. “Rather, it establishes an open system that all providers can use on an equal basis. In this regard, Three Ring Binder will promote ‘fair’ competition to the benefit of Maine people.”
