Maine Towns Select Pioneer Broadband for Municipal Network

HOULTON, ME — Downeast Economic Development Corporation (DEDC) has engaged Pioneer Broadband, a local provider of internet, telecommunications and cable television services to communities across Northern and Eastern Maine, to create an open-access dark fiber optic network design to serve the city of Calais and the town of Baileyville. With offices in Baileyville and Calais, Downeast Economic Development is a not-for-profit corporation that was organized in May of 2015 whose mission is to actively recruit new businesses and to support the area’s existing businesses.

Starting in 2015, DEDC invited Pioneer Broadband to meet and discuss possible improvements for local internet access. It was noted there were limited choices in Woodland Village and the Calais metro area, but many outlying areas were severely limited, and no service available in some areas. The DEDC board of directors decided to commission a plan to study what could be done to achieve higher speeds and symmetrical internet access to attract businesses and residents to the area. Upon studying the options, they concluded the best path would be for the municipalities to create a dark fiber optic-based infrastructure. Pioneer provided a feasibility study that showed that the infrastructure project could work and provide radically improved speed and service.

Open-access Dark Fiber Network Infrastructure
Pioneer Broadband will design an open-access dark fiber network infrastructure. The intent is to make fiber optic service available to each home or business in both communities. Compared to the legacy copper-based networks, fiber optic lines can provide tremendous capacity for growth. By design, the open-access concept of this network will allow service providers to lease fiber strands at a reasonable cost to serve individual customers.

Julie Jordan, director of Downeast Economic Development Corporation said, “I’m pleased to say that the Baileyville Town Council, Calais City Council and Downeast Economic Development board of directors have all endorsed this exciting project. We look forward to working with Pioneer and developing results that can dramatically improve service in our towns. With the construction of the fiber optic infrastructure, Calais and Baileyville businesses and residents will have access to state of the art, high speed, reliable internet and these communities will be poised for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Telecommuting options, telemedicine, online education, and media streaming will all be greatly enhanced.”