PORTLAND, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage, University of Maine System Chancellor James Page and other state officials are scheduled to speak at the launch announcement Wednesday for wireless Internet provider RedZone Wireless.
The company that moved to Camden has an agreement with the university system to use a wireless spectrum reserved for educational institutions to deliver fixed wireless Internet services to urban and rural areas.
The company has started to offer service to parts of Portland and Bangor, according to a search of its website. It has not started service to the Lewiston area but said it plans to reach more than 25 percent of the state within a year.
The company has landed a string of economic development incentives from the state since securing Federal Communications Commission approval in January to operate on the special wireless spectrum, through a 30-year agreement with the University of Maine System to help expand high-speed wireless Internet service at its campuses around the state.
The company qualified for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development’s Pine Tree Development Zone program in its move from Rockland to Camden and in March secured a guarantee from the Finance Authority of Maine for a $4 million loan it closed with Camden National Bank in May.
The company touted in its news conference announcement that deployment of its 4G LTE wireless network — the same type of network some smartphones use to transfer data — provides “a new approach to solving Maine’s broadband challenge.”
Speed tests compiled by the Internet metrics company Ookla rank Maine last in the country for statewide average Internet speeds.