ARROWSIC (WGME) – Over the next year or so, Maine is expected to get more than $300 million from the federal government to bring high-speed internet service to every corner of the state.
Right now in the neighboring towns of Arrowsic and Georgetown, the only internet they have is through the phone lines, which have limited speed and capacity.
"I'm on with Consolidated,” Terry Taylor of Georgetown Broadband said. “If we get one megabyte download, we're lucky. It really curtails things you can do."
"If you're uploading a big file, it cuts out," Don Kornrumpf of the Arrowsic Broadband Authority said.
Kornrumpf and Taylor are leading the push to bring high-speed internet access to their communities.
Nearly two years ago, the Arrowsic Broadband Authority got a $600,000 grant and $600,000 loan through the USDA, but as of Wednesday, not one broadband line has been laid.
"There's been a lot of delays that really can be laid at the USDA's feet,” ConnectMaine Authority Director Peggy Schaffer said. “They are very bureaucratic. Takes them a long time to make decisions."
Georgetown Broadband got an $850,000 state grant through ConnectMaine, and in four weeks raised $2.5 million to pay the entire cost of the project.
"We have ordered all the materials for the system already, two-thirds of which are already on the island, including 92 miles of fiber optics," Taylor said.
The hope is to have high-speed internet service by next summer in Georgetown.
"That project will be lit, up and lit, before the Arrowsic project is, even though it was granted a year later," ConnectMaine Authority Director Peggy Schaffer said.
"They don't have to deal with the federal government," Kornrumpf said.
Towns can expect other delays as well, from a shortage of manpower or supplies to getting utility companies to make space on the poles.
Kornrumpf says 25 years ago, in the early stages of the internet, people in Arrowsic worried about the town growing too much.
"That hasn't happened,” Kornrumpf said. “The population has actually declined somewhat. And we're an aging population with fewer schoolchildren. So having broadband is important for the future of the town and its viability."
ConnectMaine believes within a year, broadband lines will start going up in communities that have never had access to high-speed internet before. They say in four or five years, most Maine towns will be connected to broadband.