"During the pandemic, I was a fourth-grade remote teacher, and I discovered that a lot of my families did not have good internet or had slow internet.”
– Cindy Boguen, Chairperson, Swanville Select Board
Connecting Communities in Rural Maine
High-speed internet can unlock life-changing opportunities. That’s why Charter is making substantial investments to extend our network, especially in rural communities.
The towns of Swanville, Etna, and Newburgh sit approximately twenty miles outside of Bangor, Maine, and for many years did not have access to reliable, high-speed internet. When the pandemic hit, residents of these small towns had to rely on friends and family to get connected, sharing spotty Wi-Fi and hotspots, but this was not sustainable during a time when much of life was almost entirely remote.
Charter has invested more than $3 million to extend our network to more than 1,500 homes across Swanville, Etna, and Newburgh, whose homes and small businesses now have access to starting internet speeds of 300 Mbps and connections up to 1 gigabit per second — with no modem fees, data caps, or contracts.
Since then, residents have had access to the benefits that our advanced Spectrum services provide, whether it’s tapping into educational resources online, remote work, high-quality video streaming, or virtual telehealth appointments.
“Before Spectrum, it was rough. We had to jump from internet provider to internet provider. It made virtual meetings and learning for my children impossible. This has been a really positive change for our residents.”
– Fred Black, Swanville Town Selectman
Our buildout in Maine’s Mid-Coast and Highlands regions is one small part of our broader effort to invest in rural communities that lack broadband access. Since 2021 Charter has worked in partnership with 15 additional towns across Maine to expand internet access to those who remain unserved. And we’re just getting started. Charter’s multi-year, multi-billion-dollar rural construction initiative will bring reliable, high-speed broadband service to more than 1 million currently unserved, mostly rural homes and small businesses, enabling new opportunities for communities from coast to coast.
Learn more about Charter’s investment in rural Maine.