Timeline of Events

While the Broadband Committee continues to work towards bringing the communities high speed internet, here is a recap of what we have achieved so far

  • Winter 2021 - Winterport town council votes to form an Internet Accessibility Committee in response to residents raising concerns about insufficient internet access within the town

  • Summer 2021 - Winterport town council appoints members to the Internet Accessibility Committee (the Committee). The Committee begins meeting biweekly.

  • Summer 2021 - the State of Maine establishes the Maine Connectivity Authority to achieve universal access to affordable high-speed broadband across the state. 

  • Fall 2021 - the Committee meets with representatives from Charter Communications (Spectrum) and Consolidated Communications, the two incumbent internet service providers (ISPs) active in the Town of Winterport.

  • Winter 2021/2022 - Frankfort joins the committee.

  • Spring 2022 - Stockton Springs joins the committee.

  • Spring 2022 - Frankfort, Stockton Springs, and Winterport execute a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly pursue broadband improvements and funding.

  • Spring 2022 - Waldo County grants $10,000 in ARPA funds to each town for broadband.

  • Spring 2022 - Mission:Broadband is contracted to support the towns with technical expertise.

  • Fall 2022 - The towns jointly issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to expand high-speed internet in the towns. The RFP draws robust responses from multiple ISPs.

  • Fall 2022 - The committee submits an application on behalf of the towns to the Maine Connectivity Authority for the Get Ready grant program, which provides funding and technical assistance to towns conducting broadband planning efforts and preparing to seek future broadband expansion funds. The three towns are selected for one of the twelve awards under the program.

  • Winter 2022/2023 - the Maine Connectivity Authority announces the first round of Connect the Ready grant recipients, awarding approximately $33 million to twelve projects across the state for deployment of broadband infrastructure. The MCA announces a second round of Connect the Ready applications will commence later in 2023.

  • Winter 2022/2023 - The committee works to interview ISPs that responded to the RFP and prepare a recommendation for the towns.

  • Spring 2023 - The committee works with the town governments on recommended ISP for public-private partnership and receives unanimous support to move forward with Direct Communications, owner of UniTel based out of Unity, Maine. UniTel has been providing telecommunications services in Waldo County since 1902. Direct Communications is an Idaho-based fiber ISP that expanded to Maine in 2022 and has already expanded UniTel’s existing network to more municipalities in Waldo County through successful grant-funded public-private partnerships.

  • Summer 2023 - The committee continues to prepare for the Maine Connectivity Authority Connect the Ready grant based on FCC data and infrastructure mapping now supported by Direct Communications. Additionally, the committee expands community engagements with local discussion meetings in each of the towns, planned for July-August.

  • Fall 2023 - 1A Waldo/DC Connect the Ready - Cohort 2 application has been submitted to MCA on Sep 14.