Pioneer Broadband seeks high-speed access grant

New DSL expansion will allow more rural high-speed access to the Web
    HOULTON – Rural broadband expansion projects will allow more residential customers to obtain high-speed access to the Internet. Pioneer Broadband has applied to the Connect Maine Authority for a grant to build service into 17 rural areas surrounding Houlton. 
    The grant will cover up to 50 percent of the capital construction costs. Without the grant, the projects would not be feasible, due to the size of the areas served and the low potential number of customers in these rural areas. If approved the project is slated for construction during the summer of 2010.  
    According to Timothy McAfee, engineer/CTO for Pioneer Broadband, the grant would allow for:
    • Expanded service — Residents in the towns of Amity, Cary, Hammond, Hodgdon, Linneus, Littleton, Ludlow, New Limerick, Orient and Weston will be able to get high speed Internet access via a DSL connection on the existing telephone lines.  
    • New fiber optic lines — Each area will be served via new fiber optic lines to provide the amount of bandwidth needed to support customer demand. Also, during the fourth quarter of 2009, Pioneer Broadband invested private funds to expand rural coverage in the Nickerson Lake area, portions of East Grand Lake, Oakfield and Smyrna.
     • Expanded service — Residents in the Nickerson Lake area of New Limerick can now get high speed wireless Internet access from a new tower site. This tower serves the Nickerson Lake area with non-line of sight wireless broadband service.  
    • New tower site — A new broadcast point was installed on a tower at the north end of East Grand Lake.  The East Grand Lake broadcast point will serve the upper portion of the lake with non-line of sight wireless broadband service.
    • New cable modem service — High speed Internet has been established in Oakfield and Smyrna on the Polaris Cable system. Broadband delivery to rural Maine continues to be a core business strategy for Pioneer Broadband, serving rural Maine since its inception in 2001.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
BRANCHING OUT — Pioneer Broadband is hoping to expand its coverage of high-speed internet to 17 rural areas of surrounding Houlton by applying for a grant to build service. Staff members at Pioneer Broadband include, from left, Tim McAfee, CTO; Travis Hill, installer; Mike McNutt, project manager; BJ Barton, operations manager; Amy Quint, receptionist; Karter Kenney, vice president of operations; Cameron McNutt, installer; Paul Beaulieu, tech support rep; and Don Flewelling, account executive. Absent from the photo is Jordan Schools, tech support rep.
    Pioneer Broadband is an industry-leading provider of communications services to communities across northern and eastern Maine. Today, Houlton-based Pioneer Broadband owns and operates facilities in 50 locations and delivers residential and business connectivity solutions.
    Pioneer offers innovative and affordable telecommunications options, including fixed-wireless, DSL, cable and fiber connectivity solutions, all with local technical support and service staff. Pioneer’s Datacenter in Presque Isle provides a secure co-location facility for Web servers, data storage and disaster recovery purposes.
    Pioneer is the only Internet Service Provider in Maine to have international connectivity to the Canadian Internet backbone, thus offering diversity and redundancy that is unique among Maine’s providers.
    Founded in 2001, Pioneer Broadband is a privately owned, local Maine company. For more information, visit www.pioneerbroadband.net.