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 this week.

Butcher served as leader of the Maine Broadband Coalition and has worked to boost expansion of high-speed broadband in the mostly rural parts of the state that lack it.

The Maine Connectivity Authority was created via state legislation last year.