High-Capacity Bandwidth Set For Summer

Owned by the Boy Scouts of America, but soon to catapult Washington County into a new phase of technological growth, Black Cap Mountain and its towers signal new beginnings for Downeast Maine.

"Bangor is the largest, closest hub to get what we need. We’ve leased tower access on Black Cap Mountain, located just outside of Bangor, to bring high-capacity broadband into Washington County," said Nelson Geel, Axiom’s chief operating officer. "From the beginning we’ve had no lack of demand, but being so far away, we’ve needed a bigger connection to the Internet."

Although demand has always outpaced the availability of high-capacity circuitry, independent carriers have not offered to provide it -- at any cost. "We just had to go get it. We’re the ones with the vested interest," says Geel. "We’ve been very specific about doing business with Maine companies. Oxford Networks, a telephone company from central Maine, and now in Bangor, is doing a large, fiber optic expansion in Bangor. So we talked to Oxford, and Tilson Technology Management who manages Black Cap Mountain for the Boy Scouts, and then we needed a place to receive the new connection back home."

Worcester Energy Partners Inc., with its power plant past Wyman’s blueberry barrens in Deblois, provided a ready-made solution. "They burn wood chips to power a steam turbine to generate and sell electricity. And they’re high enough to receive a signal here in Washington County," says Geel.

With these four pieces - Black Cap, Oxford, Tilson Technology Management and the Worcester Peat site - Axiom can now provide significantly higher speeds and data capabilities than were previously available Downeast.

"Once this connection is made and we’re up and running with this new band width, all our residential and commercial customers will have a 50% increase in speed," says Geel. "In addition, we’ll be able to offer a whole range of extra-speed products we couldn’t have offered before this project was undertaken."

Such new offerings will include symmetrical business access at 10 mbit; every part of the network will have voice-over IP available; and streamlined digitalization, allowing for reduced paperwork, back-up and recovery.

"And once data is digitized, it can be manipulated, moved around and copied at will," says Geel. "A typical Downeast office could be 75% digitized. We know the prospect of change can be intimidating, but no one wants to go back. These new tools can streamline and make office operation so much easier."

With fuel prices a multiplier and geography constantly detrimental, Geel is quick to point out the challenges of life in Washington County. "The traditional office is paper bound, usually relegated to one person," he explains. "The more you can send instantaneously, the more you save. Companies are now expecting electronically sent data, such as payroll and debt collection. Using technology reduces costs."

As Bangor Hydro and Bud Lee Electric heads to Black Cap to bring electricity to the site, Geel is enthusiastic in his predictions. "This summer our subscribers will have access to high-capacity bandwidth, just as if they lived in Bangor," he says, "and some of the services we can now offer outside of Washington County. Other counties in Maine may be more populated, but they haven’t seen as much development in wireless data technology as we have in Washington County."

Proud that Axiom rose to the occasion to take this next step, Geel adds, "Someone had to bring in high-capacity and have a potentially low buy-in because of the economics of Washington County. An outsider would never see it as worthwhile, but we do, and we did. Obviously, we’re vested in Washington County. We live and die by what happens here."