The next frontier in Maine’s ‘David and Goliath’ fight over broadband expansion

After a regional effort to bring broadband to the lakes region west of Augusta (ME) fell through, the town of Vienna, population nearly 600, decided to go it alone. Around five years ago, major broadband providers, including Consolidated Communication,s declined to extend cables there, citing its small population. In March 2023, voters approved a municipal network. On August 1, 2025, Vienna Broadband will switch on for its first customers. It opens with new competition. In 2024, Fidium Fiber, a Consolidated Communications brand, which declined to expand before and owns some of Vienna’s utility poles, began offering its own broadband to locals for $30 per month. It undercuts the local offering at least for the first year. The surprise competition amounts to a “David and Goliath” situation, said the chair of the Vienna Broadband Authority, Jim Anderberg.