Vienna, Maine Broadband Faces customerโ Hurdle After Launch
Vienna, Maine, aโฃ town of roughly 600 residents in western Kennebec โCounty, has activated its new municipal broadband network,โข but is actively seekingโฃ more subscribers to ensure its financial sustainability. The Vienna Broadband Authority estimates it needs 270 customers to become viable, and โcurrently has 240 โคsignedโ up. โResidentsโข are being encouraged toโค test โคthe service at the town’s fire station.
The project, years inโฃ the making, reflects challenges โคfaced โby manyโ Maine towns pursuing broadband expansion under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Several communities began โฃplanning networks onyl to encounterโ increased โฃcompetitionโค from existing providersโ who afterward announced their own expansion plans.
Vienna’s โคinitiative stemmed, in part, from a lack of commitment from providers โคlike Consolidated Communications (operating as Fidium) to buildโข high-speed service in the โsparsely populated area andโค its โคsurrounding communities.โ Though, Fidium later introduced fiber service โto portions of โฃVienna, โขand the town’s โฃbroadband authority chair, Jim Anderberg, stated theโข company initially made securing pole access challenging.
Currently, Fidium offers introductory rates of $30 per โขmonth for theโฃ first year,โ undercutting โคthe $60 โmonthly fee charged by Axiom, the Machias-based company managingโค Vienna’s network, forโ comparableโ internet speeds. Fidium’sโ standard rates typically rise to aroundโ $50 perโฃ month after theโข initialโ period.
Despite the price difference,Anderberg is appealing to residents โto support โคthe localโฃ network,framing it as a community investmentโ similar to โคchoosing a local bookstore over a โฃlarge online โretailer. “Maybe you โขpay โmore butโค you’reโ helping out the localโฃ economy,” he saeid.
The rollout will be gradual, withโ approximately 50 customers connectedโ in the coming months โขand full access โคexpected by late fall.
Vienna Selectman Dave Castles, while not directly involved with โthe broadband authority, noted the impressive sign-up โคrate given the town’s demographics, including a important number of residents still relying on landline service. “You have a lot of people that are still using โฆ โขlandlines,” he โขobserved.
Theโฃ Vienna projectโข builds on aโ regional โeffort that faced setbacksโค in 2022 when Readfield votersโ rejected a similar municipal network following a $14,000โ advertising campaign by a broadband industry โgroup, which raised โconcernsโ about the risks of building new networks.
This article is based on reporting from theโข Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor.