Broadband should be Maine’s No. 1 development priority

Forget Interstate 95, Searsport or Bangor International Airport for the moment. The Bangor region’s future economy will depend on far less “concrete” infrastructure. The region’s ability to generate and receive digital information is critical to the competitiveness of many businesses already located here and for others who may never locate here unless we can offer adequate, affordable broadband connectivity.

Nearly all new major economic activity in the foreseeable future will depend on the exchange of data, whether such activities involve private businesses or industries, research labs, universities, hospitals or government agencies.

This should be of great concern to all Maine regions north of Portland. As a state we have marketed ourselves as a region that offers an agreeable lifestyle, social stability and ample natural attractions. While those features may lure more than a few retirees, they won’t attract significant business enterprises unless we can also offer digital connectivity.

While we may think that the availability of high-speed Internet or HD cable service equates with digital connectivity, the aggregate of such services currently available in central and northern Maine does not begin to meet the predictable needs for digital business communications and, to the limited extent that they might, such services are priced at levels that are far higher than elsewhere in the country. Currently Maine ranks 45th in terms of digital connectivity (Alaska ranks sixth), and the problem is already so acute that a number of local businesses soon will be moving aspects of their business out of state.

One might ask: “Where are the service providers in all of this?” The simple answer is that the once-touted “Telecommunications Deregulation Act” allowed national service providers to exit rural markets in search of greener pastures, leaving the smaller markets to smaller operators. But these smaller operators do not have the financial capacity to develop significant new infrastructure in anticipation of economic growth.

The recently announced departure of Verizon from the Maine market illustrates this all too well. The successor company, FairPoint, can do little more than expand popular DSL residential services. This technology, however, is already outdated and no longer suitable for most businesses. Today’s businesses need to be able to transmit highly detailed engineering drawings, high-volume images, maps and medical records at very high speeds because that is what the customer, client or partner elsewhere in the United States or the world expects.

What are Maine’s options? Other regions have similar problems, and some have arrived at creative solutions. One approach is to treat digital transmission systems like other infrastructure and build it with public financing. Just as with highways and airports, the digital infrastructure can be maintained to accommodate multiple service providers rather than compete with them. After all, public agencies maintain roads and bridges, but they don’t normally own or operate commercial transport services.

Creative and mutually beneficial private-public solutions will be required if Maine is going to be successful in the 21st century knowledge-based economy. By combining existing infrastructure with newly installed systems, the size of the digital pie can be expanded and more activity attracted. That also should help bring prices down to levels where existing and newly attracted businesses can afford them.

To remain competitive in the global economy, the Bangor region must have meaningful broadband capacity that is affordably priced. Although parts of northern Aroostook County and eastern Washington County may fare better because they have access to well-developed Canadian infrastructure, without adequate broadband connectivity, most of rural Maine will not be able to attract new investment by employers with large digital communication requirements.

The challenge of developing adequate and competitively priced broadband connectivity in central and northern Maine must be met head-on by the business community, by state government and by our congressional delegation. To succeed, this effort requires a plan of attack, a timetable, and most of all, strong, determined political leadership.

For the past six months the Eastern Maine Development Corp. has provided a platform for the discussion of the relevant issues involved. Out of those meetings we’ve developed an initial consensus to identify the opportunities for connectivity that already exist, to assess the broadband needs of businesses in our region, to identify public policies that inhibit the rapid and efficient spread of our broadband network, and to seek any combination of federal, state and local funds to subsidize connectivity of the Bangor region to points south or to Canada.

Area businesses, agencies and organizations, including Sewall Co., Jackson Laboratory, the Greater Bangor Chamber of Commerce, Eastern Maine Healthcare, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and the University of Maine are actively engaged in the effort. All participants acknowledge a strong sense of urgency.

This effort must show progress soon if we expect to maintain our core of local businesses that require adequate and affordable broadband access to remain competitive. The effort’s overall success – bringing connectivity to Maine’s rural heartland – will determine the economic future of this region. To meet the challenge, we need the full support of the business community and existing service providers, but most of all we must have the attention and commitment of our political leaders.

Bob Ziegelaar, president of Telford Aviation, is a member of the Bangor Regional Businesses for Broadband, businesses pursuing improved broadband connections. The group can be reached through Eastern Maine Development Corp., 942-6389 or www.emdc.org/bb.