Skowhegan-Madison area gets fiber-ready, as Fidium comes to towns
Fidium Fiber is now available to more than 11,000 homes and businesses in Skowhegan, Madison, Anson, Canaan and Cornville
SKOWHEGAN, Maine — Dec. 14, 2023 — More than 11,000 homes and businesses in the Madison-Skowhegan area can now access symmetrical, multi-gigabit fiber internet from Fidium Fiber. In partnership with the towns of Skowhegan, Madison, Anson, Canaan and Cornville, $8.8 million in grant funding was secured through the Maine Connectivity Authority’s Connect the Ready grant program to complete the build of the new all-fiber network.
“The Town of Skowhegan is happy to have worked with Consolidated Communications to obtain the grant from the Maine Connectivity Authority’s Connect the Ready program,” said Jeff Hewett, director of economic and community development for the Town of Skowhegan. “Consolidated has worked with the Town on providing new service for the Public Safety building to ensure that all the services are in place to keep the town safe. Now that the project for building the main fiber lines throughout Skowhegan is finishing up and Consolidated starts to sign up homeowners to make the final fiber connection to the homes, we are starting to see a growing excitement from the citizens. This project will help all citizens from the elderly with health issues, to students working on schoolwork and everyone in between to access new online resources.”
The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) Connect the Ready program encourages proactive partnerships and collaborative efforts to design, fund and build universal broadband service to mostly underserved and unserved communities in Maine. MCA announced grant funding to support Fidium expansion in the area earlier this year.
"Within one year of MCA's Connect The Ready award to CCI, the fact that now over 9,300 households and businesses are enjoying the benefits of fiber to the premise as funded through MCA's deployment of American Rescue Plan's Capital Projects Funds is an excellent demonstration of the Maine way of getting things done,” said Andrew Butcher, president of Maine Connectivity Authority. “Many thanks to the Consolidated team, subcontractors, community volunteers and partners for stepping up to meet the moment."
Fidium Fiber is bringing reliable, fiber broadband services to rural Maine, and has expanded fiber coverage to over 250,000 more homes and small businesses in the state since 2021. Expansion has included partnerships with Maine Connectivity Authority for communities such as Blue Hill Peninsula, Rangeley Lakes Region, Farmington and Searsport.
With Fidium Fiber service now available, residents and businesses are now connected to all the economic, educational and community benefits that come with access to high-speed fiber connection.
“Bringing fiber to these communities is providing this and generations to come with a future-proof network,” said Sarah Davis, vice president of government affairs for Consolidated Communications. “We value the support of Maine Connectivity Authority and the support of each of these communities and the partnership with Skowhegan. We’re excited for them to be able to experience the next phase of their gigabit future. Fiber provides better educational opportunities, a host of economic benefits, better entertainment options and more community connection, assets that are invaluable to growing communities.”
Fidium Fiber delivers multi-gig-speed internet without contracts, installation fees or data caps. All Fidium plans offer reliable, symmetrical speeds from 100 Mbps to 2 Gigs (2000 Mbps). Fidium Fiber also offers VoIP phone service plans, and features speeds that allow customers to seamlessly stream their preferred TV and entertainment.
Fidium@Work delivers the same reliability, multi-gig speeds and ease of use our residential customers love, with the addition of more robust features entrepreneurs need to keep their business connected.
To learn more and sign up for Fidium today, visit FidiumFiber.com/GotFiber. Follow Fidium at Facebook.com/FidiumFiber, Twitter.com/FidiumFiber, Instagram.com/FidiumFiber and YouTube.com/FidiumFiber. Discounts are available to qualified customers through the Affordable Connectivity Plan and Lifeline.
About Fidium Fiber
Fidium Fiber is a customer-centered, consumer fiber broadband service offering symmetrical multi-gig speeds and exceptional service. Fidium is available in California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont with new locations available daily. Fidium is a brand from Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSL). Consolidated is a leading broadband and business communications provider serving consumers, businesses, and wireless and wireline carriers across a 20-plus state service area. Learn more at FidiumFiber.com.