According to the Maine Public Utilities Commission, 36 percent of Maine\u27s munici

According to the Maine Public Utilities Commission, 36 percent of Maine\u27s municipalities lack high-speed broadband Internet access, hampering efforts to attract business. DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Service is available through much of rural Maine only through Verizon phone lines. Big Pipe, an initiative started by a group of Jackson Laboratory employees in Bar Harbor, is working to increase Maine\u27s broadband access. J. Dwight of Wilton formed the Rural Broadband initiative in Franklin County; Mike Bush of the Eastern Maine Development Corporation is working on the issue in Hancock County; and Judy East, planner for Washington County\u27s Council of Governments, is doing the same in Washington County. Richard Avery, town manager of Stonington, lobbied Verizon for two years to activate its DSL lines in his town and expects the new service to bring more jobs to town