Live in Rural Maine? High-Speed Internet May Finally Be Reaching You

One of the best reasons to live in Maine is also one of the worst reasons to live here. If you really want to get away from it all, you can live in rural, remote areas where you are the only one on your dirt road with no nearby neighbors. You're own little piece of Maine all to yourself.

2010 census data showed that Maine was the most rural state in the country with, 61.3% of the population living in rural areas.

That's great until you realize that if you want to stay connected to the world, getting reliable, high-speed internet service in your rural home is a challenge, to say the least. If the cable company doesn't offer service where you are, your options for high-speed internet are limited.

2010 census data showed that Maine was the most rural state in the country with, 61.3% of the population living in rural areas. That's a lot of people who may have limited or no options for high-speed internet in a world that relies on it more and more every day.

Satellite internet is available, but it's pricey and doesn't reach the speeds that cable internet offers. Traditional phone lines might be able to get you a DSL line, but it too does not provide the bandwidth that is available to other Mainers, but that is about change.

According to Maine Biz, Maine is set to receive $110 million in federal funds to get high-speed internet service to residents in rural areas where it's not available. Maine was one of four states that receive the grant from the American Rescue Plan's Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund.

The goal is to provide rural areas in Maine whit internet download and upload speeds of 100 megabits per second or more. Those speeds allow you to stream video from services like Netflix and Disney+, play online games and make video calls on services like Zoom and Skype.

There's no timeline as to when construction on the infrastructure to bring high-speed internet to rural Maine will begin, but at least we know the ball is rolling.