Bremen Broadband Committee Announcements
The Broadband Committee meets virtually the first Tuesday of each month at 3 p.m. Please see video conference and call-in information below. Meetings are open to the public.
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Bremen Community Broadband Update 5.13.21
Progress continues to be made in bringing high speed, fiber broadband access to every home in Bremen! The Broadband Committee would like to call your attention to the following points:
1. Need Financial Assistance for your Broadband Subscription?
To find out whether you qualify for financial assistance, please check out the following flyer.
Broadband Subscription Financial Assistance
2. Free public “Hot Spot” now available
As a part of the ConnectME Fiber Optic Broadband project, Tidewater Telecom is providing two free public Wi-Fi “Hot Spots” that are now available to all town residents. One is at the Fire Station on Route 32, and the other is at the Town Office, also on Route 32. In order not to interfere with fire operations, it is mandatory that residents accessing the “Fire Station Hot spot” park on the south side of the fire station in the gravel parking lot. Tidewater has also upgraded the fiber optic broadband connection at the Fire Station to 100 x 20 Mbps (at no charge to the town) to ensure that there is sufficient bandwidth for the Hot Spot users. Please note, no password is needed to access these service.
3. Emergency Broadband Benefit Program now available
Tidewater Telecom is participating in the new FCC Emergency Broadband Benefit program that will help certain families pay for high speed internet. Households are eligible for the Emergency Broadband Benefit if they have lost a job or significant income in the past year. They may also be eligible if one household member participates in another aid program such as Medicaid, reduced-price school meals, student Pell grants, Lifeline subsidies for telecom service, and low-income or emergency pandemic programs from private broadband providers. Please visit this link from Tidewater for more information: https://tidewater.net/index.php/ebb-program/ Or, simply go to www.tidewater.net and click on the “Contact Us” page for the link.
4. Apply today
Finally, in order to receive a timely installation of high-speed fiber optic broadband service, do not forget to apply to Tidewater. The deadline has been extended to June 15th . Applications received after that date will be processed along with all other normal work orders received, which may result in a delayed installation. Apply at www.tidewater.netThe effort to connect every home in Bremen to fiber optic broadband is progressing! As you may have noticed linesmen have been attaching the fiber to poles across the town and that piece of the project is complete.By the end of April, all approximately 225 applications received thus far will be entered into the Tidewater system for processing. It is important to note that to be considered for this initial round of installations, Tidewater must receive an application from a resident by May 30. An application may be completed online by clicking on this link. Direct link for Bremen residents Applications received after this date will be scheduled for installation as part of Tidewater’s regular workload and may be backlogged.So what is next if you have completed and submitted an application? Tidewater will reach out to you to confirm your application and continuing interest. Following that, likely in May, a Tidewater representatives will be bringing the broadband service from the nearest pole and attaching it to your house. This includes the installation of an ONT box on the side of your house. No one needs to be home for this step as entry into your home is not needed.Following this, Tidewater will be contacting residents in May to begin scheduling individual installations and service activations to occur in May and June. PLEASE NOTE: an adult resident must be at home as Tidewater representatives, following Covid protocols, will need access to your home.The Broadband Committee strongly encourages you to take advantage of this exciting new service and to complete your application by the May 30th deadline.June 2020 Update From The Bremen Broadband CommitteeSee attached Press Release – The Town of Bremen and Tidewater Telecom were awarded a ConnectME grant to make high-speed fiber optic internet accessible for every home and business in the town. The Broadband Committee thanks all Bremen residents who supported this process.
Press Release 6.2.20 Bremen Tidewater ConnectMe Grant
Committee Documents:
Meeting Minutes Sept 2019-July 2021
Tidewater ConnectME Grant App 5-7-20
