(PCMag/Brian Westover)
Maine has decided to offer free Starlink dishes to residents living in the state’s most remote areas that currently have no access to reliable broadband.
The program comes from the Maine Connectivity Authority, which has been charged with expanding high-speed broadband in the state. On Thursday, the agency announced it’ll harness SpaceX’s Starlink to supply internet to “Maine’s hardest-to-reach locations.”
“Maine has more work to do to build out our broadband infrastructure – but by the end of this year, everyone in our state will have the opportunity to access a reliable connection,” said the state’s governor Janet Mills.
The Starlink dishes will be offered to about 9,000 homes and businesses based in locations without access to cable, DSL or fixed wireless. In November, the Maine Connectivity Authority will start accepting applications from eligible residents to receive the subsidized Starlink equipment.
Maine is offering the Starlink dishes to help 1.5% of the state’s most remote locations receive reliable broadband. The technology from SpaceX works by relying on satellites, instead of ground-based cables or cell towers to deliver internet, making it particularly well-suited for users in rural and remote areas.
But it looks like the Starlink service won’t be entirely free for eligible users in the state. Maine Connectivity Authority’s senior director Brian Allenby told Broadband Breakfast that “each customer will manage their own subscription with Starlink,” implying that eligible residents will need to pay the monthly internet fee for the satellite internet access.
In the US, SpaceX is currently charging $349 for Starlink dishes and usually $120 per month for the internet access.
In an email to PCMag, Allenby added: "MCA is covering the cost of the LEO (low-earth orbiting Starlink) hardware, is providing optional installation support, and is also covering the additional cost of ensuring the Starlink network has the capacity for these new subscribers."
Maine plans on bulk buying the Starlink dishes from SpaceX, after selecting the company for the program during this past summer. To publicize the deal, “MCA will conduct outreach to all eligible locations through a marketing campaign, targeted advertising, direct mail, and coordination with local and regional organizations,” the agency said.
For next year, Maine’s connectivity authority also plans on investing another $350 million in internet funding from the US’s $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The goal is to bring high-speed internet to “the remaining 5% of locations in Maine that currently have slow and unreliable internet service,” the agency said. But it was left unclear whether Maine will continue to tap Starlink or if it’ll attempt to fund other providers.
The BEAD program has been prioritizing fiber deployment. But in August, the US opened the door to using some of the funding for alternative technologies, including satellite internet, for select areas.