An Act to Eliminate the ConnectMaine Authority by Repealing the
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1975
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: DUCHARME, DAUGHTRY
Amends: 5 MRSA §1541-B, 5 MRSA §12004-G, 5 MRSA §12021, 10 MRSA §9902, 14 MRSA §6000, 30-A MRSA §5225, 30-A MRSA §5403, 35-A MRSA §711, 35-A MRSA §2503, 35-A MRSA §2524, 35-A MRSA §7104-B

Legislative Document
No. 1975
H.P. 1319
House of Representatives, May 13, 2025
An Act to Eliminate the ConnectMaine Authority by Repealing the 
Advanced Technology Infrastructure Act
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative DUCHARME of Madison.
Cosponsored by President DAUGHTRY of Cumberland and
Representatives: ANKELES of Brunswick, CAMPBELL of Orrington, CROCKETT of 
Portland, GREENWOOD of Wales, ROLLINS of Augusta, RUDNICKI of Fairfield, SAYRE 
of Kennebunk, WADSWORTH of Hiram.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §1541-B, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 468, §1, is 
amended to read:
A.  "Advanced communications technology infrastructure" has the same meaning as in 
Title 35‑A, section 9202 9402, subsection 1.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §12004-G, sub-§33-F, as amended by PL 2019, c. 625, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §12021, sub-§6, ¶B, as amended by PL 2019, c. 625, §2, is 
repealed.
Sec. 4.  10 MRSA §9902, sub-§3, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 622, §1, is 
amended to read:
A.  Property and equipment, including related support facilities that provide service to 
more than one customer or person, owned or used by a public utility as defined in Title 
35‑A, section 102, subsection 13 or by a communications service provider as defined 
in Title 35‑A, section 9202, subsection 4.  For purposes of this paragraph, 
"communications service provider" means an entity offering wireline voice, satellite, 
data, fixed wireless data or video retail service to customers in the State.  
"Infrastructure" includes, without limitation, real and personal property such as 
buildings, offices, power lines, poles, pipes, structures and equipment; and
Sec. 5.  14 MRSA §6000, sub-§3-A, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 594, §5 and 
affected by §13, is amended to read:
C.  Services provided by a communications service as defined in Title 35‑A, section 
9202, subsection 3 wireline voice, satellite, data, fixed wireless data or video retail 
service; and
Sec. 6.  30-A MRSA §5225, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2023, c. 142, §§1 to 
3, is further amended by amending subparagraph (10) to read:
(10)  Costs associated with broadband and fiber optics expansion projects, 
including preparation, planning, engineering and other related costs in addition to 
the construction costs of those projects.  If an area within a municipality or 
plantation is unserved with respect to broadband service, as defined by the 
ConnectMaine Authority as provided in Title 35‑A, section 9204‑A, subsection 1, 
broadband and fiber optics expansion projects may serve residential or other 
nonbusiness or noncommercial areas in addition to business or commercial areas 
within the municipality or plantation;
Sec. 7.  30-A MRSA §5403, sub-§15, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 108, §5, is amended 
to read:
15.  Communications services systems; community broadband systems.  Construct, 
maintain and operate a municipal or multimunicipal system composed of infrastructure 
capable of being utilized by communications service providers for the provision of 
communications services.  For the purposes of this subsection, "communications service" 
has the same meaning as in Title 35‑A, section 9202, subsection 3 and "communications 
service provider" has the same meaning as in Title 35‑A, section 9202, subsection 4 means 
any wireline voice, satellite, data, fixed wireless data or video retail service.  For the 
purposes of this subsection, "communications services provider" means an entity offering 
communications service to customers in the State.
Nothing in this chapter restricts a municipality from purchasing, leasing, constructing or 
equipping facilities that are designed to provide communications services.  Nothing in this 
chapter restricts a municipality from using community broadband systems for internal 
municipal government purposes or, by written contract, leasing, selling capacity in or 
granting other similar rights to communications service providers to use the facilities in 
connection with the provider's offering communications services.
Sec. 8.  35-A MRSA §711, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2017, c. 199, §1, is further 
amended to read:
4.  Rules.  The commission shall adopt rules governing the resolution of pole 
attachment disputes and the rates, terms and conditions of joint use. The rules must promote 
competition, further the state broadband policy set forth in section 9202‑A and ensure safe, 
nondiscriminatory access on just and reasonable terms. The rules must also include a 
process for ensuring that a new joint use entity seeking access to the poles, ducts, conduits 
or rights-of-way of another joint use entity meets the requirements of subsection 1, 
paragraph D. In establishing rates, the commission shall consider various formulas, 
including, but not limited to, the formula adopted by the Federal Communications 
Commission as codified in 47 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1, Subpart J, as amended.  
Rules adopted or amended pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined 
in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
Sec. 9.  35-A MRSA §2503, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2019, c. 625, §4, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Notice.  The applicant may give public notice of the application by publishing its 
description of the proposed facility once in a newspaper circulated in the municipality or 
municipalities encompassing the limits of the proposed location.  The applicant shall send 
a copy of any application filed with the Department of Transportation to the municipal 
clerk of each municipality in which the facilities are located, or to the clerk of the county 
commissioners in the case of facilities within an unorganized township, except that the 
applicant may, without publication of its application, place its facility described in its 
application on receipt of a permit from the licensing authority as may be otherwise 
provided.  If a proposed facility is located underground and is in excess of 500 feet in 
length, the applicant shall, within 5 business days of submitting an application to the 
applicable licensing authority, provide the ConnectMaine Authority established in Title 5, 
section 12004‑G, subsection 33‑F a notice that includes a description and the location of 
the proposed facility.
Sec. 10.  35-A MRSA §2524, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 127, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 11.  35-A MRSA §2524, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 127, §1, is 
amended to read:
A.  For a governmental purpose consistent with the police power of the municipality; 
or.
Sec. 12.  35-A MRSA §2524, sub-§2, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 127, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 13.  35-A MRSA §7104-B, sub-§5, ¶I, as amended by PL 2019, c. 625, §5, 
is further amended to read:
I.  To provide, within existing resources, support for qualified libraries in rural areas of 
the State with greatest need, as determined in consultation with the State Librarian, and 
the Commissioner of Education and the ConnectMaine Authority, to offer portable 
wireless access points, or hotspots, for mobile Internet access.
Sec. 14.  35-A MRSA c. 93, as amended, is repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill repeals the Advanced Technology Infrastructure Act, which is codified as the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, chapter 93.  Repeal of this chapter eliminates the state 
broadband policy, the ConnectMaine Authority, the ConnectMaine Fund and the Municipal 
Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund.  The bill removes cross-references to the 
repealed provisions.