Eastern Slopes Regional Broadband (ESRB) has been working to bring high speed fiber internet to our local towns, including Sweden. The goal is to get Sweden residents faster, more reliable service, and possibly even options of providers to choose from.
We encourage EVERY resident to put in a pre-order for Fidium fiber internet here. Placing a pre-order does not obligate you to ordering their fiber service, it only authorizes the company to lay lines from the road to the outside of your home. Fidium is a division of Consolidated, and Consolidated has plans to incorporate portions of Sweden in the “Bridgton build out” for Fidium fiber that begins this summer. We know that Consolidated is projecting including roughly 100 Sweden homes in this expansion. While there is no guarantee that signing up for a pre-order will automatically include your home, it will show them the interest level our town has. Consolidated’s problems in Sweden are well known, and it could reasonably be assumed their intention is to transition customers into the Fidium fiber plans, rather than continue to patch up outdated Consolidated phone and internet lines.
In conjunction, the ESRB coalition continues to work towards securing a contract with a fiber internet provider who will guarantee coverage for the entire town and neighboring communities by 2025. We will have more details on this in the coming months; our hope is that the contract would be with a provider other than Consolidated/Fidium, which would give residents a choice of which provider, price and plan they prefer to go forward with.
Reliable, affordable, high speed internet availability for all of Sweden’s residents and seasonal visitors is the objective.
Eastern Slopes Regional Broadband (ESRB) is a coalition serving the towns of MSAD#72, which includes Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Lovell, Stoneham, Stow, and Sweden in Maine, and Chatham in NH. The group was formed following an initial investigation into the challenges of upgrading broadband services by the town of Denmark. Research showed that providers would have better ability to offer efficient proposals for building infrastructure and providing services for a larger population and geographic area. The school district, with its existing connections and affinities between the municipalities, offers an easily defined territory that offers both proximity and common interests. ESRB has a committee made up of volunteers and municipal leaders from all of the member towns. Subcommittee work in communications, grant writing, community engagement, and other tasks is moving forward with representation from each town.
Sweden’s representative, Jamie Popkin, serves on the coalition, and receives support and participation from Sweden Select Board members.
If you are having trouble affording your connection to the Internet, the FCC has programs that may help you. Click above to find out more.
