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United States : SUPER-fast Internet network revealed by Rockport [TendersInfo (India)](TendersInfo (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The town of Rockport disclosed its own ultra-high-speed Internet network a 1.6-mile string of fiber-optic cable that officials expect will encourage economic growth and make the midcoast town an entrepreneurial destination. For the first time in Maine, a town spent public dollars to construct an Internet network that, albeit small, represents a break from business as usual in the state, where there is comparatively little consumer choice when it comes to acquiring Internet access. Fletcher Kittredge, CEO of GWI, the Biddeford-based telecommunications company that provides Rockport with Internet access said, Infrastructure runs the economy . There are all sorts of companies that can t start up in communities without this. Even though merely 70 households or businesses have the choice to acquire the service, proponents of faster, more equitable Internet access say the model in Rockport is expected to be replicated more and more in Maine and throughout the nation, as Internet service becomes less a privilege and more a staple of modern life and business. At approximately $69 a month for 100 megabits per second of upload and download speed, Rockport s service outpaces Time Warner Cable, whose fastest advertised service is 50 megabits per second for downloads and 5 megabits per second for uploads, at about $65 per month, plus the cost of leased hardware. If other towns follow Rockport s lead, Maine could start to pull itself from the bottom of national rankings for access to quality Internet service. A report by Montana-based Ookla NetMetrics, which measures network performance, pegged Maine at 49th out of the 50 states for quality and availability of high-speed connections. Other such assessments put Maine near the middle or lower half of the pack. As other nations, particularly in Europe and Asia, leap forward toward faster basic Internet service, Kittredge said that Maine communities are working to catch up in an attempt to create the economic engine that Internet startups bring. Rick Bates, Rockport s town manager said, The old model of economic development was businesses needed water, sewer and natural gas . That model has gone away. We re hoping we can bring in those new, young entrepreneurs who are all about place first and then connectivity. The project is a result of a year long teamwork among the town, the Maine Media Workshops & College, the University of Maine System, and GWI. Rockport s fledgling network will offer Internet speeds faster than even the fastest residential services. The Maine Media Workshops & College, a nonprofit institution that educates photography, videography, filmmaking and other visual storytelling methods to about 1,500 students a year, was a driving force behind the network. Its campus is regarding a mile from Route 1 in Rockport Village. (c) 2014 Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |