Waterville downtown free wifi passes 500,000 connections mark

WATERVILLE — The free outdoor public wifi has connected more than 500,000 users snce its inception in August 2018, those behind the effort recently announced.
Conceived by Colby College and Central Maine Growth Council, Downtown Waterville Wi-Fi is owned and operated by CMGC and is sponsored by Kennebec Savings Bank, MaineGeneral, Northern Light Inland Hospital, and Thomas College’s Harold Alfond Institute for Business Innovation.
DWW provides high-speed outdoor internet access north-south from Post Office Square to the Hathaway Creative Center and east-west from Head of Falls to The Concourse. DWW collaborates with Axiom, an internet service provider based in Machias focused on delivering broadband to rural communities, and FirstLight, an internet service provider in the northeast.
“Remote accessibility is more important than ever and we want to give people the opportunity to connect downtown,” Mayor Steve Daly said in a news release. “Likewise, bridging the gap between affordability and availability is critical to community members who rely on broadband accessibility as they visit the downtown district for business, the arts, dining, and shopping,”