After years of work and support from the Northern Forest Center and Community Concepts Finance Corporation, 15 western Maine communities are on track for a historic expansion of high-speed internet service.

In November, the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) approved a $5.6 -million grant to enable FirstLight Fiber to provide high-speed fiber at all homes and businesses to deliver universal, reliable, affordable internet service across its service area in western and central Maine. The project will match the grant dollar for dollar, resulting in a more than $10-million investment in rural internet access.

Prior to this grant award, the Center and Community Concepts supported work by the Mahoosuc Community Broadband Committee for three years, providing facilitation, mapping, community outreach and engagement, proposal evaluation, and legal services.

“This grant is a testament to the hard work and commitment of so many partners throughout the Mahoosuc region, including Community Concepts Finance Inc., Northern Forest Center, Oxford County and all of the volunteers and town committees who have done the hard work to drive demand in one of Maine’s most rural areas,” said Andrew Butcher, president, MCA.

The funding came through an MCA program called Partnerships Enabling Middle Mile (PEMM), which is funded by the American Rescue Plan Capital Projects Funds and addresses large-scale, regional broadband needs by leveraging middle-mile infrastructure and maximizing private and community financial contributions to enable last-mile connections.

“The Mahoosuc Broadband Committee, with members from the communities of Bethel, Gilead, Greenwood, Woodstock, Albany, and Oxford County, are thrilled to know that their collective vision of universal, reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service will be realized by a very generous grant from the Maine Connectivity Authority to FirstLight,” said Mia Purcell, vice president of Economic Development and Impact, Community Concepts Finance Corporation, representing the Mahoosuc Broadband Committee. “This will be a game changer for the future of the Mahoosuc area and the other towns in FirstLight’s service area, making them more attractive places to live, work and play.”

The $11 million project is anchored by the work of the Mahoosuc Community Broadband Committee. In the end, though, the funding secured by FirstLight will enable broadband buildout to additional communities outside the Mahoosuc region including Andover, Buckfield, Canton, Hartford, Hebron, Minot, North Norway, North Turner, Roxbury Pond, Sumner, Turner, Upton, and West Paris.

“This is great news for the residents of these communities that currently don’t have access to the infrastructure necessary to take advantage of modern communications, telehealth, online education, and entertainment amenities,” said Patrick Coughlin, FirstLight chief development officer. “Reliable broadband is increasingly considered a necessary component in defining a livable community.”