SUSAN JOHNS Tue, 01/19/2021 - 7:30am
Westport Island selectmen Monday night agreed to sign a letter supporting an effort to expand broadband access in town. About 195 homes do not have access, Ralph Jacobs of the broadband and cable TV committee said.
He said the committee is pursuing a ConnectME Authority grant with Spectrum. Still to determine are how much to seek and how much the town and Spectrum might each need to kick in toward a project, Jacobs said in response to board questions. He said the committee has not discarded the idea of a town-owned fiber system instead, “but it’s definitely a heavier lift, both in terms of cost and responsibility for operating it.”
Broadband expansion a challenge
SULLIVAN The $900 billion coronavirus relief bill President Trump signed on Dec. 27 includes $7 billion to help expand broadband access.
The funding, which includes a subsidy of up to $50 per month for eligible families to help pay for internet services and $300 million to expand rural broadband access, is intended to help keep Americans connected as the pandemic rages on.
Adequate internet connectivity is an issue that many Mainers, especially those in rural areas unserved by internet providers, have experienced for years.
“Without broadband access, people are going to be left behind,” said Don Snoke, a Sullivan resident and member of the group Age-Friendly Sullivan, which works to provide services and supports for people of all ages in the town.
Broadband advocates ready to award projects with bond money
Maine voters in July approved a $15 million bond for broadband expansion projects, and the first proposals are expected next month.
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Last month, the Mills administration awarded $5.6 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to connect more than 700 students and teachers in rural Maine with high-speed internet service to support remote learning.
The ongoing public-private partnership, dubbed ConnectKidsNow!, involved seven internet service providers, 71 towns and a two-month window. It also provided a few lessons for how the state can best allocate the $15 million approved by Maine voters in July for broadband expansion throughout the state.
Maine Broadband Efforts Prep to Reward Bond Money
Last month, the state awarded $5.6 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to connect more than 700 students and teachers in rural Maine with high-speed Internet service to support remote learning. by Glenn Jordan, Portland Press Herald / December 16, 2020 Mercedes Mehling/Unsplash
(TNS) Last month, the Mills administration awarded $5.6 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to connect more than 700 students and teachers in rural
Maine with high-speed internet service to support remote learning.
The ongoing public-private partnership, dubbed ConnectKidsNow!, involved seven internet service providers, 71 towns and a two-month window. It also provided a few lessons for how the state can best allocate the $15 million approved by
December 14, 2020
As University of Maine students end a semester steeped in pessimistic news coverage, it’s easy to look back at a semester of Zoom meetings and Brightspace and question whether it was all worth it. However, that sort of thinking is ultimately useless. Hindsight is 20/20. All students, faculty, and administrators can do now is figure out what they learned and how to use it going forward.
According to UMaine’s student financial aid webpage, the price of tuition for the 2020-2021 academic year is $9,240 for in-state students and $30,030 for out-of-state students. These prices represent an increase of $240 for in-state students and $720 for out-of-state students from the previous academic year. One might look at this information and think that students are overpaying for an education that has been, in more cases than ever before, strictly online, but the debate over price is irrelevant. Revenue losses associated with COVID-19 mean that tuition won’t be coming