Governor Pushing Statewide Wi-Fi

Rob Newell spends his days fixing high-speed Internet connections. But when he returns to his home office here in the western part of the state, a two-hour drive from a major town, Mr. Newell is forced to use an abysmally slow dial-up connection that takes hours to download material he needs for business and makes it impossible to fix clients’ computers remotely.

High-Speed Internet in the State of Maine

"It’s quite difficult," said Mr. Newell, who owns Newell Consulting, a computer networking company. He cannot get high-speed Internet access from the phone company because the nearest central office, in Farmington, is 10 miles away, too far to maintain a connection. Hooking up his house by satellite would cost about $800 a month, he said. Any time he has to download new programs to upgrade his computer devices, he said, "it’s almost unfeasible."

Mr. Newell and others will finally be able to join the broadband world with help from an unlikely source: the state of Maine.

Gov. John E. Baldacci is leading an initiative to bring wireless Internet service to 90 percent of Maine communities that meet a population threshold (five people per square mile) by 2010. Mr. Baldacci, who announced the initiative, Connect Maine, last January, is also pledging universal cellphone coverage by 2008.

By KATIE ZEZIMA

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/technology/19maine.html

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NYC moves closer to broadband plan

By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

New York City on Wednesday took a step closer to a comprehensive plan for bringing broadband to its citizens.

In the last session of the year, the City Council of New York passed legislation that creates a special broadband commission to advise Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city council on how the resources of city government can be used to help roll out broadband throughout the city. The goal of the commission is to educate the general public about broadband and the newest communication technologies, and to give New York City residents the opportunity to comment on how to close the digital divide.

"Broadband is a fundamental civil right and human right," Bill de Blasio, a city council member, said during the session on Wednesday. "This legislation will start us down this road."

Today only 38 percent of the city’s 8 million residents subscribe to broadband service, according to a report prepared by the New York City Economic Development Corporation in March. This, despite the fact that access to broadband service is nearly ubiquitous throughout the city. Verizon Communications reports that about 85 to 90 percent of New Yorkers have access to DSL service, and Time Warner Cable, the predominant cable provider, reports that 100 percent of its customers have access to cable modem service.

Full Story: http://news.com.com/NYC++moves+closer+to+broadband+plan/2100-1034_3-6004928.html