BRUNSWICK, Maine — Maine Fiber Co. today announced the completion of the Three Ring Binder project, the construction of a statewide fiber-optic backbone that will provide economic development opportunities and has the potential to bring broadband Internet service to some of the most rural communities in the state.
The 1,100-mile fiber-optic network was completed ahead-of-schedule and on budget, Dwight Allison, CEO of Maine Fiber, told the audience gathered at Oxford Networks’ data center, located in a former Navy building in Brunswick Landing. The network runs from York County to Calais and Presque Isle, and is connected to 30,000 telephone poles along the way, Allison said.
Allison said there were already 12 customers leasing fiber on the network and another 29 contracts in the works.
Customers include telecommunication companies such as Biddeford-based GWI, Oxford Networks, Axiom Technologies in Machias, and Pioneer Broadband in Houlton; the University of Maine; Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick; as well as municipalities such as the towns of Scarborough and Greenwood.
Whereas the existing fiber-optic networks in the state were owned privately by companies such as FairPoint Communications, Maine Fiber built what’s known as an open network, which means anyone is able to lease the fiber.
That open availability of fiber will drive innovation and economic development in the state, Allison said. “We built a highway through the state and said as long as you pay the toll anybody can get on this,” he said. “That means more competition, more startups. You can start a GWI-type of company now and have, in essence, a $30 million fiber network at your disposal without having to write out a $30 million check.”
It will not only help existing Maine businesses grow, it also has the opportunity to attract more businesses to the state. Tim McAfee, CEO of Pioneer Broadband, told the Bangor Daily News a cloud computing company is considering leasing space at the Loring Commerce Center, something that would have been impossible a few years ago. Maine Fiber, though, built the fiber backbone right through the middle of the commerce center, which allows Pioneer Broadband to offer broadband to every business there.
The commerce center is “entertaining cloud computing companies looking for 10 gigabits-per-second service because I can make that available, where I couldn’t before,” he said. “Who knows if this cloud computing will come, but the fact they’re talking with the Loring Commerce Center is huge, because they would have been out in the first meeting two years ago because there wasn’t 10-gigabit service available.”
The fiber network also will allow Pioneer to bring broadband service to some rural communities, such as Big Lake Township, that would never had access otherwise. The response from Maine’s rural communities to his company’s services has been enthusiastic, McAfee said. “One lady said, ‘I’m going to bake us a cake.’ One lady just hugged me,” he said. “It’s amazing. It’s that powerful for them because they didn’t have an option before.”
Also attending the event were U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, State Sen. Cynthia Dill and George Gervais, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
The new fiber network “allows more companies in the state to access the rest of the world, and nothing but opportunity can come of that,” Gervais told the BDN. “And it brings rural Maine closer to the high population centers, both in Maine and outside of Maine.”
Allison said Maine Fiber Co. plans to continue to work on connecting its fiber network with those in neighboring New Hampshire, which it plans to do in 2013. Last week, the company completed a connection between its fiber network in Calais and one in New Brunswick.
Will this bring any competition to the Brunswick internet provider market? All we have now are FairPoint and Comcast, both lousy and overpriced.
Could be worse, where I live we don’t even have the option of Comcast. We’re held hostage by Fairpoint, because they own the telephone wires. The only options available are their DSL or dialup.
When it includes the St John Valley it will be statewide.
It does.. the article is not quite accurate. Looks like it got to Van Buren in 2011.
http://www.mainefiberco.com/
Thank you for the correction.
Gee, a press conference with Michaud there ? Not a big surprise since Maine Fiber and all of the Companies involved in this were on the hook for $ 3 MILLION DOLLARS if this network hadn’t been completed on time. But to say that they are all hooked up and in up here in Northern Maine is being generous to the point of stupid. A great many community’s are still not connected, despite all of the hoopla and press release’s, and anytime that a carrier or ISP is called we are told “Well it’s just not profitable enough to connect there” or some such nonsense. The 3 Ring Binder Project was funded by the Fed’s Commerce Dept. to get ALL COMMUNITY’S hooked up to broadband, not just a few commercial firm’s. Maine Fiber’s statement that they are now fully connected is, when actually investigated, about as far from the truth as LePage is from working with the Legislature on a balanced budget. The Project was funded to get the community’s hooked up, not guarantee Maine Fiber a profit. Profit is what you get when you market and manage the network responsibly and in the best interest’s of the consumer, not some Board of Director’s who are only looking at a 90 cash flow balance sheet.
It is also interesting that since this 3 Ring ‘cluster’ has begun that the current satellite provider’s, namely DISH and Hughes, are now both expanding their bandwidth but also cutting rate’s. DIRECT hasn’t done anything yet but the writing is clearly on the wall. Maine Fiber’s little plan to create their own little kingdom up here might just blow up in their corporate face if this connection to the smaller communites doesn’t get fixed real soon. There are a great many smaller community’s that still do not have Internet access to their respective Town Hall’s. That alone is is a big ‘WHY’ question that should have been asked, and made a part of the 3 Ring performance criteria, before 1 ft of fiber cable was strung. And with the State going more and more to on-line managing and reporting for local Gov’t’s, this 3 Ring fiber was supposed to solve that problem. Well guess what ? Maine Fiber has come up short and now they are left with their yoo-hoo hanging out if anyone starts to ask questions and doesn’t accept press release’s as proof. Michaud’s staff up here needs to start asking, and looking, instead of accepting face value statement’s. That’s what got the Country into the financial mess with the bank’s and theor supposed liquidity when the mortgage mess hit. It’s time for some objective truth and real answer’s, not press release’s issued as a band-aid to cover a $ 3 million dollar hole.
Mike, you are pulling back the curtain of this facade! The king is naked, he doesn’t have new clothes!!
So much $ was spent in areas that already have fiber by FairPoint, Oxford Net and OTT. They ran this in areas that they felt would be profitable rather than places where these services are not provided, which was the intent of the grant… Augusta foolishly approved this enormous waste of our $ for 3rings folly.
Mike, Mike, Mike,
Wrong again on so many aspects of the 3RB. I and many others have pointed out your malicious attacks and misstatements many times. 25 million, not 3 million, plus private money. Why do you insist on being stupid? You have just about everything about the 3RB wrong. Oh, and for kenny, there was very little overbuild. Just very high capacity dark fiber where it was not or not available or not affordable.
“A Little”???? I wonder how much more of RURAL Maine would have had fiber access if so much $ wasn’t spent on WASTEFUL redundant fiber lay…
What part of very little do you not understand? None of the FP, TW, or OTT fiber was available to independent ISPs. And none of their fiber is in the very rural areas of Maine, contrary what you think. Or maybe you are just a shill for the big companies.
Fine, prove me wrong. I’m out here in rural Maine right on Rt 2A and I have 2 pole’s right outside my house. But whenever I call Fairpoint and try to get fiber optic service to replace my Internet satellite service all I get is a brush off and a claim that the service is not available in my area because of equipment issue’s. Yet the service people, you know, the people who actually do the work and do the installation’s, tell me that my Town’s switch box was replaced just last year to be able to take the 3RB service. So either they are lying, and they have no reason or motive to do so, or Maine Fiber is and is now going to see how much they can extort by teasing the local Town’s with a rate system so confusing it all but begs for a State PUC accountant and auditor to unravel. Do us all a favor and don’t try to call moosepoop Chanel just because of the smell. We might be out here in the booies but even we know what ‘it’ is when we see it and smell it. Oh and not to be too picky but it was real interesting to see these same crew’s string the fibre cable off the big drum cable trailer’s and flatbed’s. Took’em all of 3 days to do the Town. You wanna call me a liar then you need more than press release’s and whatever good looks you have to back it up. Just call Fairpoint’s Service Center and just find out about the service’s actual availability And for those who look down the road, like the lawyer’s and Public Advocate’s, eventually this whole issue is gonna be seen as a cause for the State’s PUC to get into it and, drum roll please, make it a PUC regulatory issue. And why ? Because the State, and the Fed’s who bankrolled this, both failed to keep MF and the other company’s accountable for what they were supposed to do and instead relied on the very Company’s to monitor themselves. Like having a fox guard the chicken coop. And the business community wonders why the public is increasingly hostile, in this case being outright lied to, to the point of having the PUC take over this service as a public utility ?
And if I were Mike Michaud I’d start very seriously re-thinking about what business’s he get’s in political bed with. This one is very likely, when it’s finally looked into and brought to light, to be giving him a nasty case of the ‘crab’s’. Whoever got you involved with this Mike is not your friend. More likely they sold you a press statement and a idea and had your trust you wouldn’t look into it. Like Reagen said, Trust, but verify’. Even the GOP can get it right from time to time. This was one of them………
Mike,
Your foil cap is a bit too tight again. Many have told you that FP has nothing to do with 3RB. MFC is an independent company funded with a federal grant and private investors, no state money involved. The 3RB is a backbone wholesale network that will allow local providers (FP, GWI, Axiom, Pioneer, etc.) to more economically serve rural areas. The MFC rate schedule is simple and posted on their website. All this was contained in their grant application. According to their website they have followed the grant requirements to the letter, although unfortunately they finished early. A little research and reading comprehension goes a long way. “PUC take over this service…” What?
Rob Walker wrote: “none of their fiber is in the very rural areas of Maine”
… which was made evident amidst the early planning and (glamour-hype) announcements …
I’m 12 miles out from FailPoint’s “local switching station” … with only about 75 households (and very few businesses) along that entire route. I’m certainly not going to feel assured – until I see it – that anyone (FailPoint or “other”) runs DSL or (preferably, fiber optic) cable out here … which would be about like putting a car dealership in a very tiny city: not enough buyers to make it worth the investment.
At this location – it’s just a pipe dream – bunch of false hope.