FF sees headway in internet struggle
When Tim Goff came back to Fort Fairfield in October 2014, after working as a television journalist in southern Maine, he started noticing people sitting outside the library or nearby in their cars — using the internet. Once, he saw a teenager set up with a sleeping bag and snacks playing online video games.
New to the job of town economic and marketing director, Goff realized that many of the approximately 3,500 residents in his hometown have limited options for reliable fast internet, with speeds far short of the state’s definition of high-speed internet and often at a cost of more than $50 per month.
Three or four miles outside of downtown Fort Fairfield, where reasonably fast connections are available, “you fall back down to dial-up speeds,” Goff said.
As a young Mainer and parent, Goff has made it a mission to help bring the agricultural border town of Fort Fairfield better, more affordable internet, hoping that it will help stem a brain drain.
He conducted a survey, going door to door to every house in town north of the Aroostook River, to learn how people use the internet or why they don’t have it, and to pitch the potential benefits of good internet options — say for an older couple trying to sell their home.
“The number of people who telecommute here was surprising, even with poor internet connectivity,” Goff said. He found a number of residents working from home at least part time, including employees from a customer service call center, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Limestone and a number of home-based businesses. Some people, he said, will buy two or three separate connections in order to have reliable internet.
Meanwhile, Goff said he occasionally gets inquiries from people looking to buy a home in the town asking about the internet speeds at various properties. They, like some residents, would like to or are able to work from home, but need to have a good internet connection.
“Technology has really changed the face of the office,” Goff said. “Businesses don’t really need people to be physically there. They can work from out on Peak’s Island or up in Fort Fairfield.”
While Goff said he is still shocked at the slow internet speeds predominant in much of the town’s rural area, “it’s getting better and it will continue to get better.”
About 90 homes and businesses in Fort Fairfield are set to get faster internet soon, thanks a $250,000 grant from the state ConnectME Authority for Pioneer Broadband, which was announced in May.
The Houlton-based internet service provider is extending the fiber-based broadband — capable of gigabit speeds — to Maple Grove, Presque Isle and Houlton Roads in Fort Fairfield, as well as to a section of Route 161 in Presque Isle that includes the Nordic Heritage Center.
Fort Fairfield officials have been collaborating with Pioneer Broadband for several years, and Goff said he thinks the extension will “serve as a starting point for additional investment” — possibly helping nudge other telecommunications providers that have been unable to expand high speed internet infrastructure to such a small customer base over a large area.
Throughout Aroostook County, Maine and indeed the country, there are many communities in situations similar to Fort Fairfield, with slow internet and long-term demographic and economic challenges — issues that Goff argues are related.
Small and even large municipalities “can’t wait and hope for a large manufacturing company to set up shop,” Goff said. “Now, you can be located anywhere and do a lot of different things.”
“More communities are starting to realize, if they don’t take an active role it may not get better in a timely fashion,” Goff said. ”
