State of Maine Opens Competitive Application to Improve Internet Connections for Nearly 30,000 Homes, Businesses, and Community Institutions

Applicants will bid on project areas and commit to serving the remaining 4% of locations in Maine with slow and unreliable, or no internet

PORTLAND –Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), the public agency leading the statewide expansion of broadband and digital equity in Maine, today announces the opening of the BEAD Project Application, where applicants will submit bids to provide high-speed, reliable internet to locations still struggling with slow or unreliable service, or no internet connection at all.

Maine was allocated $272 million in federal funding from the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This is the largest grant in Maine’s history for internet expansion.

“Maine is now on the precipice of connecting the most rural and remote locations with high-speed internet through the BEAD Program,” said Andrew Butcher, president of Maine Connectivity Authority. “MCA has been deliberately planning and preparing for this moment when qualified applicants will make bids on some of the hardest-to-reach areas in Maine and ensure no one is left in the digital dark.”

This fall, MCA conducted preliminary reviews of applicants’ technical, financial, operational and managerial capacity leading up to the competitive BEAD Project Application phase. Sixteen applicants were pre-qualified, including Maine-based, regional and national companies providing internet service through a variety of technologies.

Qualified applicants will now request BEAD funding to serve approximately 26,000 homes and businesses and 2,500 Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) such as libraries, community centers, and healthcare facilities across the State with high-speed internet. These locations were determined through Maine’s BEAD State-Led Challenge Process with direct engagement from nonprofit organizations, local and Tribal governments, internet service providers, and individuals across Maine.

"Maine’s rural municipalities, and even less populated sections of cities and towns, have seen substantial growth in recent years, as people realize they can live in a place they love, and they choose Maine. While communities strive to meet this opportunity without sacrificing Maine’s unique quality of life that draws people here, access to broadband is an essential service for work, healthcare, and personal connections,” said Clara McCool, Chair of Maine Broadband Coalition Advisory Committee. “This BEAD funding is vital to those places where internet access is not sufficient for these needs, expanding economic opportunities across the state. From farmers’ ability to reach their markets and suppliers to those Mainers who work from home for businesses based in Maine or outside of the state, BEAD will advance Maine’s economy."

Since 2022, MCA has made significant progress to improve internet connectivity in Maine, facilitating the investment of nearly $250 million in public and private funding to connect 86,000 locations to high-speed internet. Most notably, Maine was one of the first states to deploy U.S. Department of Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund investments in broadband, which has served as a helpful test case for how to efficiently and effectively deploy public broadband funding.

"As an eleven-community rural region with limited financial resources that otherwise would have been left almost completely without broadband, the public investment through MCA and a willing provider has been a crucial part of our future,” said Dwayne Young, Chair of the Broadband Task Force for the Greater East Grand Economic Council. “Education, telehealth, remote work, and so much more are now a reality where they were just dreams before. Being connected is another tool for individuals, companies and communities to empower themselves and help make economic and personal growth truly attainable goals."

Maine’s BEAD Project Application will open on January 17, 2025, and is currently scheduled to close on February 28, 2025. Applications will be competitively scored based on the minimal BEAD outlay (the request for public funds relative to the applicant’s financial match), affordability, fair labor practices and other digital equity and technical criteria.

“Quality internet broadband connectivity, made possible through the BEAD Program funding, enables rural Maine people, families and businesses to participate fully in Maine’s 21st century economy,” said Carlos Mello, Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) CEO and Maine Connectivity Authority, Board Member. “As our local, national and worldwide economies grow ever more interconnected, quality broadband internet is needed to access this evolving digital worldwide marketplace.”

To learn more about Maine’s deployment of the BEAD Program, please click here. Provisional selections of BEAD-funded projects in Maine will be announced in summer of this year, followed by a public comment period. These selections will ultimately require approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) through Maine’s BEAD Final Proposal.


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About MCA: Focusing on projects, places and people, the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) advances digital equity and works to improve connectivity for all Maine people. Established in 2021, MCA is Maine’s public agency charged with achieving universal access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet service statewide. MCA has three statutory goals:

1. Expand effective, accessible connectivity in every part of the state;
2. Support the creation of secure, affordable, reliable, competitive, sustainable and forward-looking internet infrastructure that can meet future needs; and
3. Ensure that all residents, businesses and institutions in Maine are able to take full advantage of the economic, health, educational and other opportunities available through connectivity services.