Maine Connect the Ready Grants

Chris Boniakowski
cboniakowski@maineconnectivity.org
207.200.6577

Connect the Ready Grants will provide funding for projects to address gaps in broadband service availability within Maine. Grants will be awarded to applicants who are ready to implement proposed projects resulting in last-mile broadband service within eligible project areas, which include rural and remote areas.

Eligible expenses include:

• Professional services or staff costs necessary for implementation, including engineering, consulting, environmental, cultural, legal, accounting, and project management costs needed to design, build, and test the proposed network
• Reasonable permitting, make-ready, and other one-time facility, pole and conduit licensing costs, excluding recurring pole attachment or conduit license fees
• Outside plant costs, including materials and labor to install fiber, strand, lashing, splice cases, splicing, and other outside plant needed to offer last mile services
• Equipment costs, including: core optical and networking equipment needed for backhaul and middle-mile and last-mile services such as optical line terminals, splitters, routers, switches, network monitoring equipment, and customer premises equipment (CPE)
• Facilities costs, including: Shelters and cabinets, land purchase or long-term leases for required facilities, site preparation, building construction, repair, or rehabilitation, site restoration, new towers and tower update costs, new utility poles and conduits and the costs of their installation
• Costs to operationalize the network, encourage adoption, improve digital literacy, support community engagement and public feedback processes, equity assessments and planning, and needs assessments or improve digital equity but excluding subscription subsidies
• Costs associated with collecting and measuring performance data and conducting activities needed to establish and maintain a performance management and evaluation regime related to CPF-funded projects
• Documented internal labor costs, including fringe benefits, but excluding indirect costs, for time spent exclusively on project activities and not otherwise reimbursed
• Debt costs not otherwise ineligible incurred after award for debts directly related to the construction of the project
• Other directly related costs not otherwise included above, including sales taxes on purchases, shipping and warehousing, miscellaneous minor materials, grant preparation, grant administration, and project close-out

Eligible applicants include:

• Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that meet the other program eligibility criteria
• A governmental entity, including a town, city, or county
• Any broadband utility district or corporation, wholly or partially owned by a unit of local government

Connect the Ready encourages partnerships between multiple public and private entities. While one legal entity must be the official applicant, all partners will be required to participate in the application process.

Estimated total program funding: $20,000,000

Links to additional guidance, application instructions, and the online application portal are available on the program website when applications are being accepted.