Foundation Explores Telecom Utility Broadband Partnership Economics

Post Road Foundation, an organization funded by The Rockefeller Foundation, will fund studies in five rural communities to explore the economics of the telecom utility partnership. Post Road Foundation was established last year with the goal of spurring broadband deployment and ultimately economic development in unserved and underserved areas. Post Road Foundation President Waide Warner said the foundation has enlisted a team of experts to conduct what he called “pre-feasibility” studies to determine whether there might be opportunities for investors to fund broadband deployments undertaken by telecom providers in partnership with utilities, including electric companies, gas companies and water utilities. Post Road Foundation is covering 90% of the cost of the pre-feasibility studies, which are targeted for completion by late September. Based on the findings, the next step would be full-blown feasibility studies. The community partners include:

• Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation (Georgia and North Carolina)
• Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op (Michigan)
• City of Sanford (Maine)
• Old Town – Orono Fiber Corporation (Maine)
• A collaboration of community groups in the Downeast region, including Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative and Downeast Broadband