AURORA, Maine — What telecommunications company has the most sophisticated network, for both voice and Internet service, in the state? The answer is surprising.
It’s a small, regional provider in northern Hancock County. Union River Telephone Co., based in Aurora, recently finished the state’s first complete fiber-to-the-home infrastructure project. That is, the company has completely replaced its legacy telephone system with fiber-optic cable, all the way up to the end-user’s wall.
The company services 1,200 customers in Aurora, Otis and Beddington. It’s one of only two independent telecom companies in the state, and is one of 22 small, regional providers that service about 15 percent of Maine telephone lines. FairPoint Communications handles the rest.
It’s a milestone for the small company because fiber to the home can support much faster speeds than DSL or cable. It’s also a stronger signal, retaining its integrity for miles and miles, whereas electric signals transmitted over copper telephone lines degrades after about three miles, causing upload/download speeds to decrease.
Fiber optics, a technology in which light, not electricity, is transmitted over glass, not copper, is largely free from that problem.
Though Union River is not the first Maine company to deploy fiber-optic lines — most Internet service providers use the high-speed technology for parts of their networks — they are the first to completely replace their legacy lines.
David Pelletier is the office manager for Union River Telephone. He said the system upgrade is a move to protect the small company’s market into the future, as more and more customers leave wired communications entirely.
“It sets us up for the future,” he said. “We see our future as being a data mover, basically, either as voice data or data which makes up everything you can do over the World Wide Web — the streaming, the gaming, the movement of information.”
For now, Maine law protects Union River Telephone and five other small companies from competition, said Wayne Jortner with the Maine Public Advocate’s office. Time Warner Cable, which offers bundled phone, Internet and cable TV services on its cable network, is fighting those protections at the Public Utilities Commission, he said. The public advocate has come down on the side of the small companies.
Despite legal protections, Pelletier said Union River still is feeling the squeeze of technological convergence. Rural Mainers increasingly have choices for Internet access, from 3G and 4G access via their cellphones to wireless Internet through a number of rural satellite companies.
“There may not be another wire line provider out this way, but with cellular tech and 3G and 4G, there are definitely competitive forces these days,” Pelletier said. “Plus, more and more young people are opting for cellular service over wired service. So we need to put out a good product, but we also need to encourage people to stay on that product.”
Jortner backed up the wire-cutting assertion: About 22 percent of homes that had land-line phones have cut the cord, opting for cellphone use only, he said.
But Jortner said Union River Telephone’s big upgrade may not protect its market share just yet. He notes that while the company has the capacity to offer the fastest, most reliable broadband speeds in the state, its retail offerings don’t show that yet.
The company’s fastest offering is 6 megabits per second, according to its website. Time Warner Cable’s turbo Internet package offers speeds more than three times that, at 20Mb per second. FairPoint’s ultra service offers 16Mb per second.
“There’s an irony here,” Jortner said. “This little company has the most advanced network in the state, but we’re not seeing services commensurate with that on the retail side.”
Pelletier said it’s only a matter of time. The system upgrade was the first step. Future upgrades will be in the light, lasers and electronic units at the central office. He said the network could one day see speeds of 77Mb per second into a home.
“At some time in the future, we’ll be expanding the service,” he said.
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
Oxford Networks has a fiber optic loop from Bangor to Boston. I don’t think a residence can get it but many businesses can.
I wish residents could get it
And those of us stuck with FP are screwed with substandard expensive service and plenty of excuses.
Technical correction: I believe the article should have stated the speeds as “Mb” instead of “MB”. “MB” stands for Megabyte while “Mb” stands for Megabit. A byte is 8 bits so a MB is 8 times larger than a Mb. The Union River web site lists their top speed as “6 Meg” which is not specific but in this context almost certainly means Megabits per second. TimeWarner and Fairpoint both report their speeds using Megabit per second. Therefore, the conclusion of the article stands.
Don’t anyone hold your breath waiting…maybe in our lifetimes?
South Korea has better service than Maine!
I think this would be surprising if it were North Korea, but South Korea has whole lot of better things than Maine.
We have 30mbps Time Warner at home and it’s much faster then what Fairpoint offered
Tin cans and string are faster than what FP offers..
I have consistant 50mbps + from TW, I get in the 70’s some times
What and where are you downloading from that proves you get those speeds at a consistent rate?
http://www.speedtest.net/
Kevin, I have a SamKnows modem, that constantly reports, and records speeds to the FCC. I can log in to the web site and see what my speeds are over time, and at different times of day.
SamKnows has been awarded a ground breaking contract by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to begin a new project researching and collecting data on American fixed-line broadband speeds delivered by Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) – until now, something that has never been undertaken in the USA.
The project will see SamKnows recruit a team of Broadband Community members who will, by adding a small ‘White Box’’ to their home internet set up, automatically monitor their own connection speeds throughout the period of the project. The specially developed ‘White Box’ does not monitor the home network or web traffic, but solely focuses on the relevant ISP’s network. In addition people who volunteer for the project are given access to their own data so that they can track the performance of their broadband connection comparing it against what their ISP is billing them for.
Thanks for the information.
Overseas the cell service blows the US away. Even in the most remote locations. we are backwards here. Here we are stuck and under the thumb of the government. All the antiquated infrastructure that the phone companies don’t want to improve or have replaced.
Hey, I’m up here in The County and I’m still waiting to see anyone offer any type of service besides satellite service. I call FP and all I get is a run around right up there with an Olympic marathon. As far as TWC is concered, they are making noises but that’s all they’ve done so far. As far as I’m concerned that $ 3 million dollar grant for the Fiber Optic system is a perfect example of runaway Federal spending that needs to be stopped dead in it’s track’s. Now if anyone wants to come up here in the boonies of SW Aroostook and show us different, fine. DO IT. But have more than good looks and a promise when you do. We know what smells and we call it as we see, and smell, it…………
Well if you are using TWC who I dropped many months ago you are now paying a monthly fee for your modem. With that said. Why was not this mentioned in the article.
http://www.gwi.net/Residential/Gigabit-Maine-Street-Ultra-High-Speed-Internet-in-Maine.php
GWI will begin constructing the first Gigabit Main Street Networks in Orono and Old Town in cooperation with the University of Maine System and community leaders. This effort is in association with Gig.U, a nationwide effort to build ultra-high-speed in communities surrounding research universities. No public money will be used in the construction of the network.
Quarter Gig250Mbps by 250Mbps symmetrical connection$59.95
Per MonthHalf Gig500 Mbps by 500Mbps symmetrical connection$99.95
Per MonthFull Gig1000 Mbps by 1000 Mbps symmetrical connection$139.95 Per Month
Could you please bring your service to Swanville? :-)
The 1-mbps rates here, which are laughably called “broadband”, simply are insufficient. And it’s a 900mhz wireless signal to a mountaintop (Mt. Ephraim) in Searsport. It works, but, costs more, delivers less, than wired options. But even though I’m on a major road through the town, the local telephone service provider (Failpoint) hasn’t seen us as worthy of providing even DSL service in our fair town.
And yet Fairpoint was a major beneficiary of the $ 3 million dollar grant to bring the high speed fiber optic system to rural Maine. Makes you wonder just who really benefited from that Grant doesn’t it ?
It does.
I should clarify, I do not have any Fairpoint services myself (at my residence, though I did use them as a service provider for my employer…at least until we could unload that burden and go with another carrier, which we did last year…)
My home internet service is through another provider. It’s better than dial-up, by far, but, by technology terms, ancient.
What, again? FP or the state did not have anything to do with some $3M grant, if you are talking about the Three Ring Binder ARRA grant. Which was actually $25 million, with the project completed early and on budget. You never can get your facts right. If you say the wrong thing often enough, will someone believe it? Hopefully not. Check out http://mainefiberco.com/.
I don’t care if it is coax, fiber, wireless, or whatever, to me what matters is download and upload speeds. While an all optical network CAN offer terrific speed I would say what is described here is in no way the “most advanced” internet service in the state until they can provide the fastest service, and 6 Mb is nowhere near that.
I have roadrunner turbo, and I love the 20Mb downloads.. the upload is still slow, but not bad as before the upgrade to their network.. I can remember being on Adelphias 248kbps cable modem sevice.. fine for surfing or small downloads, but ugghhh.. then we stepped up to 1.5Mb ADSL through verizon/FP it was ok.. but had it’s issues.. I still think I pay too much for a service that I have already paid for through my taxes..
“Maine law protects Union River Telephone and five other small companies
from competition, said Wayne Jortner with the Maine Public Advocate’s
office.”
So we the consumers are screwed — here in Stetson, TDS has been “promising” DSL for 3 years now, so satellite (which totally sucks the big one, trust me) and dial-up are the only alternatives. Why should I care about “protecting small companies from competition” when those small companies are incompetent and can’t deliver what I need? As a freelance copy editor, I’ve missed more than a few opportunities for work because I didn’t have high-speed Internet.
Whatever happened to antitrust laws? Lack of competition is unAmerican, and it just means We The People get mediocre service. We need to bug our state representatives about this until they allow other providers into the market–unless they want Maine to stay backward and out of the loop indefinitely.
The phone companies spend a large amount of money lobbying the Congress and legislatures to keep this protection. They are also heavily subsidized by tax money. Even the small phone companies get in the millions of dollars per year to provide service. So they receive a large cash cow and monopoly protection by the government.
It is laws like this that keep other ISP’s from investing in infrastructure and technology.
Mr. Jortner is only talking about local exchange service above. Any area can have competitors in the Internet Service Provider business – CLECs and Cable companies do this all the time. Areas without competition are that way not because of the incumbent provider, but because competitors believe the areas are not commercially worth the investment (area is too rural, too low in population, etc.).
Companies like Union River, independent telephone companies (I work for one), exist because the large commercial telephone companies (AT&T/Bell and others) did not want to invest in rural, prohibitively expensive to reach places. The independents were built on the spirt of universal service, funded initially by local citizens.
The ongoing support mechanism designed for these independent telephone companies recognizes the expense of providing universal telephone service and helps offset the cost so ratepayers/customers don’t have to bear the expenses directly.
There is no monopoly protection from ISP competition. The protections available are limited to local exchange service (and the protection doesn’t create a monopoly) and that’s a shrinking market as cell phones make great inroads into most of Maine.
Union River has a great way to keep their phone base. Currently I have their basic phone service for around $30 per month and internet for $45 or so.
When I inquired about droppiing phone service I was informed my internet would go up to $75 a month.
I’m no math major, but it looks to me like if they’re the only provider allowed they can put the screws to you no matter what.
If you are getting Internet and phone for $ 75 a month quit and whining come up here to The County. I can’t even get FP or TWC service so I have to go with satellite. And the phone bill alone can choke a moose. You got both for $ 75 then you should be thanking God and enjoying it.
They have lost hundreds of the camp owners who do not need seasonal or year round phones anymore due to improved cell phone service,. They expect you to pay for that.
Simply not true…Count the number of telephone lines going to camps on the WestShore and re-post…
I would hardly call it screwing the customer….Land lines are subsidized by USF (Universal Service Funds) which is why you are enjoying a 30$ month land line.
without these funds, your basic service would be over 90$ a month. USF funds are not applied to internet service but it still costs the same to provide the service so the phone company would have to eat 45$ for every 45$ service without a phone. (It’s basic math)
Believe it or not…It does cost the phone company a ton of money to provide service to you.
3G and 4G service only exist in areas surrounding Portland. Otherwise, old 2nd gen cellular service is all that exists in Maine. Considering the expense of 3G and 4G technology and lack of customers, in rural areas, it will be quite some time before we see 4G, or even 3G, anywhere north of Portland.
I have verizon wireless through an iPhone 4.. I get 3g signals here in knox county.. that’s nowhere near portland.. I’ve hooked my phone via wifi to my laptop and gone online at 3g speeds. albeit its 1.5-3Mb/s.. depending on signal it drops to around 700-900kbps. but I have hooked up to my PS3 when the cable modem went down, and was able to play COD MW3 with little lag at all. TTL was actually better than my cable modem…
Meanwhile, still dealing with smoke-signal speed modem here in Clifton. FP doesn’t stray off RT. 9 with anything.
Is this technology provided by Huawei?
I don’t believe so. I believe Union River leveraged their long term relationship with Calix in this case.