The internet company GoNetSpeed expects to finish a Kennebunk fiber optic project this spring and when that happens, about 2,000 homes and businesses will be able to connect, company officials said. Above, a GoNetSpeed crew working in a Connecticut community. Courtesy photo/GoNetSpeed
KENNEBUNK – The community has long sought better internet connectivity within its boundaries and the town’s Economic Development Committee has recently heard from one company in the process of getting ready to connect some residents.
GoNetSpeed, formerly named Otelco, is installing fiber in some portions of town, said Stephen Sawyer, chair of the Economic Development Committee. Sawyer said another company has indicated it is looking at offering service in Kennebunk next year and representatives plan a conversation with the committee this spring.
According to information from David Allen, GoNetspeed’s general manager and senior vice president of Network Operations, the company is investing $2 million in the Kennebunk project. There is no cost to the town, the company official said.
“Once the build of our 100 percent fiber infrastructure is complete, our high-speed fiber will be available to more than 2,000 homes and businesses” in Kennebunk, Allen said.
The build in Kennebunk is part of a larger project by GoNetSpeed that includes communities such as Orono, Old Town and Brewer in Penobscot County, parts of the Midcoast along with inland communities Gray, and New Gloucester, and southern Maine including Westbrook, Windham, Yarmouth, Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, Saco, and Biddeford.
The Kennebunk project is expected to be completed this spring.
Allen said he expects the company will begin serving more communities throughout the region in the coming months.
Sawyer said it is his understanding that GoNetSpeed will serve the denser portions of the community.
He said none of the providers that have shown interest in Kennebunk plan to serve 100 percent of the town and the committee has been contemplating how all of the community can be served.
“We’re excited people are showing interest, and a number of residents have an opportunity try it out, and that may help guide us,” said Sawyer.
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