BIDDEFORD — Earlier this month, the city of Biddeford learned it was awarded a $15,000 grant that will be used to create a broadband plan and identify the high-speed internet needs in the city’s low- to moderate-income neighborhoods.

“We don’t even know where high-speed internet is” in the city,  Economic Development Coordinator Brad Favreau said.

The city will use the grant funding to hire a consultant to collect data and create a map of where broadband connections exist, where there are gaps in high-speed internet service, and expansion opportunities as well as obstacles to expansion.

Biddeford’s proposal was “especially interesting,” Maine Community Foundation Senior Program Officer Maggie Drummond-Bahl said, because of its focus on “equity and inclusivity.”

Biddeford is one of 11 municipalities and organizations awarded a total of $130,000 by the Maine Community Foundation. This was the first year the foundation awarded grants through its Broadband Fund, said Drummond-Bahl. She said the foundation will award grants through 2021 and then reassess whether to continue the program.

The grant was created because “ a lot of communities (are creating broadband access) without a lot of support,” said Drummond-Bahl.

About 20,000 homes in Maine do not have access to high-speed internet, said Mark Ouellette , CEO of broadband provider Axiom Technologies.

About 83,000 of the state’s 722,000 don’t have access to the minimum speed of internet considered to be usable, said Heather Johnson, director of ConnectME, a program of Maine state government that works  on internet access issues.

She said she believes that the number of homes without minimum speed internet is “quite a bit higher” than 83,000, and ConnectME is in the process of conducting a more thorough mapping of Maine.

“Broadband is important for “economic growth, education growth,” Community Development Coordinator Linda Waters said. “Everything is going broadband.”

Mayor Alan Casavant agrees. “When it comes to applying for jobs, completing schoolwork, and more, broadband is as important of a utility in 2018 as electricity and water,” he said. “It is important to know which members of our community are lacking access so that we can work to expand access in targeted areas.

The city is forming a Community Broadband Team formed to hire a consultant as well as oversee implementation of the grant.

While broadband mapping will begin in the downtown, “we are hoping we have enough money to the whole city,” Waters said.

Once the mapping is complete, the city will work to fill in the gaps where broadband is absent. Federal grants are available and could help with implementation, Water said.

— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 780-9014 or [email protected]