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No internet: The high cost of connecting Maine
This two-part report is part of a continuing series on poverty in Maine, and the strangling effect poverty has on our communities. We look at how vital broadband accessibility is for our schools, our businesses and our health. The work is being done in cooperation with the Investigative Editing Corps.
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State and federal maps offer little more than a vague impression of where high-speed internet exists and where it does not.
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State broadband officials hope the proposed hydropower transmission project will boost efforts to bring high-speed internet to unserved areas.
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Carthage, Weld, Temple, Wilton and Perkins and Washington townships face that question at town meetings over the next several months. All six need to agree to make a proposed $10 million project a go.
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A $4 million project to bring $30-a-month high-speed internet to the small island off Lincolnville has made a heavenly difference, residents say.
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As we look back on decades of campaign promises and administrative wobbling, and on tens of millions of dollars in broadband investment, Maine is behind and getting behinder.
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State's bid for better access has been stymied by high cost, misleading maps and Maine's rural nature.
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'(A lack of broadband access is) a huge disadvantage to the people who really could stand most to benefit from it,' says Maine Dr. Karen Saylor.
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With the internet service providers' data contradicting residents’ experiences, area towns have taken it upon themselves to conduct internet speed tests and map out broadband availability.
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Cambridge and the Somerset Economic Development Corp. worked to bring internet access to the small town.
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Maine's internet access is bad. to fix it will cost millions. But the cost of not fixing it could be greater as students and work move more online. What's your take?
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