Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – Grant will make fiber internet available to every address in Francestown

Francestown has been approved for funds from the state’s Broadband Matching Grant Initiative (BMGI) that will result in fiber internet being available to every address in town.  

The town is working with Consolidated Communications (CCI), which uses Fidium for its fiber internet service. In October 2023, CCI was one of three applicants that presented proposals to Francestown’s Broadband Committee of Chair Alfred Eisenberg, Sue Jonas, Thomas Burke, Mary Murphy and Laura Abrahamsen. The committee recommended CCI to apply for the grant with the town, noting that it had “the most comprehensive plan.” 

The Broadband Committee’s October 2023 minutes state, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the town to be built out with current ‘futureproof’ technology instead of the old copper cable. Fiber has the speeds and capacity now, as opposed to waiting some unknown time for currently unproven results. Fiber is lower maintenance and can work underwater, where cable does not do well with water, increasing the potential for outages.”

Town Administrator Jamie Pike said 80% to 90% of Francestown is served by Comcast, with a small portion of the north end of town served by TDS. 

“We currently have 91 underserved properties, or 19% of town. The underserved properties only have dial-up provided by Comcast,” Pike said. 

In February 2023, Consolidated Communications received $40 million in funding from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to bring fiber internet to about 25, 000 underserved homes across New Hampshire. 

“Consolidated received the grant for the underserved properties and is now committed to wiring the entire town, with the exception of the area currently served by TDS,” Pike said. 

Eisenberg said the grant will most likely be finalized after the one-month “challenge period, ” which opened March 4 and closes April 3. According to the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, competing internet providers can challenge a BMGI-proposed territory if the area is already served with internet speeds above 100/20Mbps, or there is already broadband infrastructure construction underway at the proposed location.

Challengers are required to provide evidence that the grant application for a specific location is in violation of state law regarding grants for broadband providers.

Pike noted that TDS does not have any plans to expand service in Francestown.

“Comcast, which currently provides service in Francestown, is realistically the only challenger in the area,” Pike said. 

Once the challenge period is ended, if a competitor has not provided adequate evidence that the BMGI application is invalid, Consolidated will start the process of building out Fidium high-speed internet for the entire town. Consolidated plans to complete the process by the end of 2025.