AUGUSTA — An advocate for improved internet access will serve as the first president of a Maine authority tasked with improving high-speed broadband in the state.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills swore Andrew Butcher in as the first president of the Maine Connectivity Authority on Wednesday. Butcher served as leader of the Maine Broadband Coalition and has worked to boost expansion of high-speed broadband in parts of the mostly rural state that lack it.

The Maine Connectivity Authority was created via state legislation last year. Mills’ office said in a statement the authority’s objective is “achieving universal availability of high-speed broadband in Maine.”

The authority is governed by an eleven-member board. The board is fully in place, Mills said.

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