COMMUNICATION

	OUR VISION
	We envision a region where all citizens and organizations have access to a full range of communication tools and skills, to support their well-being.

 

	GOALS
	Media outlets focused on the KEYS region will be expanded Living and doing business in the KEYS region will be made easier and more cost  effective because of the telecommunications infrastructure Community life will be enhanced through increased use of technology by government, nonprofits, and other organizations, enabling citizens to participate more fully, and build new relationships. Education/learning resources will be made available across town borders to as many students and residents as possible

 

	NEXT STEPS
	Teleconferencing facilities in one or more of the KEYS towns Public Access Cable TV in all 4 towns, with ability to view each other’s town government meetings KEYS Region news on Community Radio station Cable or DSL available on all roads, all four towns. Full cell phone coverage

 

	REGIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
	Print Media: a new regional weekly Public Access TV Kittery & York Radio - Portsmouth Community Radio with KEYS staff Cable - Comcast and Time Warner Cable TV and Internet; Verizon Fiberoptic (2006) in Eliot and Kittery Cell Phone Coverage improving Read more

 

REsources

World Wide Web

• This website and e-News
• The Weekly Sentinel
• The Portsmouth Herald/York Weekly
• Fosters Daily Democrat/York Times
• The York Independent
• More Resources

 

Community Indicators

How can we measure progress in regard to our KEYS region communication resources? We are only beginning to think about measuring these services here. As we learn more, we will post it on this linked page: Read More About the Indicators.

Teleconferencing Availability and Use

We are not aware of any group teleconferencing sites available to the public in the KEYS towns. We have no way to measure the teleconferencing people here do on their personal computers.

Public Access Cable TV Availability and Use

• York has one public access cable TV channel, via Time Warner. They have a broadcasting studio in the public library, and Board of Selectmen meetings are broadcast live. They also have scrolling messages.
• Kittery tapes their Town Council meetings, and they are broadcast at a later time on the Portsmouth/Kittery public access TV channel vis Comcast.
• Eliot and South Berwick have no public access cable TV channels. They are served by Comcast, but this service is not in their contracts. Eliot has a town committee looking into ways to establish a channel.

High Speed Internet available on all Roads & Use of the Internet

The US Census asks urban citizens about their internet use, but not citizens of our towns. We have heard that over 50% of homes here have internet access. Some roads in South Berwick do not have access to broadband.

Cell phone coverage

Cell phone coverage is generally good in the KEYS region, but there are many dead spots.

Citizens say...

"The community is disconnected. We don't know what's going on."
--Participant comments, Our Future By Design Community Forum, Sept. 29, 2005

Link to all citizen comments about communication

 

it's all connected

Communication was initially part of Community Life, but we pulled it out to emphasize the frequently heard comment about people in the KEYS region not knowing what resources exist in our area. (Both the 1997 KEYS Future Search Conference and the 2001 Foundation for Seacoast Health Community Needs Assessment found that improving communication was a high priority for our area. This is still the case in 2006, but there have been improvements.) High quality communication systems are key to economic and social well-being.