Until recently, something very good for Maine nearly slipped through the state’s fingers. A robust broadband future is truly within the state’s grasp, but thanks to some ill-considered findings in the Maine Public Utilities Commission’s examiner’s report, the high-speed connections so badly needed by Maine’s residents and businesses nearly escaped us.

Thankfully, a surprise last-minute settlement confronted the Maine PUC when it met to begin deliberations on the Verizon-FairPoint transaction on Dec. 13. Talk about a stroke of good timing. Many Mainers were nearly stuck with an old technology, one tried and true: dial-up Internet connectivity.

The settlement, which includes far-reaching concessions, opens the way for Maine regulators to do the right thing: approve FairPoint Communications’ purchase of Verizon’s telephone operations in the state. The settlement is the result of some very hard work by the Public Advocate, the PUC’s advocacy staff, Verizon, FairPoint and other telephone companies.

The compromises in the settlement primarily ensure that FairPoint will have the financial footing it needs to pay down the debt from the acquisition, make the investments promised in expanding Maine’s broadband infrastructure and keep commitments not to overcharge customers.

To that end, Verizon will infuse $235.5 million in added working capital as the transaction closes and will continue its plans to complete a $12 million broadband expansion in Maine. For improved financial stability, FairPoint will make minimum annual debt repayments of $35 million and reduce its stock dividend 35 percent.

FairPoint is a company that has successfully purchased some 30 telephone companies in 18 states and absorbed their operations into its own all while upgrading service for its customers. The company, which specializes in serving rural and small suburban areas such as those that predominate in Maine, offers broadband service to 92 percent of its customers.

FairPoint has determined that the $16 million it plans to invest in improving Maine’s communications infrastructure will be adequate to correct insufficiencies in Verizon’s network and still allow FairPoint to offer high-speed communications. All told, almost 70,000 Mainers would receive broadband service for the first time once FairPoint can operate in the state.

FairPoint clearly has the means to deliver broadband. Maine clearly has the need for broadband. High-speed connections will open worlds of opportunities for our students, who may want to study curricula once available only at distant universities and now would be as close as a broadband connection and the click of a mouse.

Mainers with rare diseases or other special medical needs would no longer need to risk travel to consult with distant specialists. Telemedicine applications, available through broadband, make the sharing of medical records and digital images possible simultaneously with remote video consults between doctor and patient.

And many of Maine’s businesses, once limited to Main Street, can open virtual storefronts on the Internet using broadband to grow their customer reach and their profits. Furthermore, a robust broadband infrastructure will help Maine attract new businesses and industries.

Although some interveners are still resisting the settlement, I encourage them to step forward and negotiate their concerns with the Public Advocate, the PUC advocacy staff, Verizon and FairPoint. The PUC next meets to deliberate on this transaction today. With settlement in hand, that affords the PUC a prime opportunity to do what’s right for Mainers and approve the Verizon-FairPoint transaction. These types of opportunities don’t come along often. To miss this one would leave Maine seriously lagging other states in the region for broadband infrastructure and connectivity.

Sen. Douglas Smith, R-Dover-Foxcroft, represents District 27 in the Maine Senate.