Fred Thys

Northwest Fiberworx, the communications union district (CUD) for 22 northwestern Vermont communities serving 30,000 customers, has signed a deal for fiber-optic broadband with South Royalton-based Great Works Internet (GWI) Vermont. The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) will provide funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Gov Phil Scott (R-VT) announced $48 million in new grants to Vermont’s communications union districts, the municipal organizations working to connect homes that are without a reliable wireline connection to fiber-optic cable. Vermont has an ambitious plan that combines private investment and public funds to connect every resident with fiber-optic cable. For the largely rural regions of the state without access to high-speed internet, Vermont is relying on a strategy

Many Vermonters who live in rural towns have the least access to high-speed internet. And they could be waiting for a while before getting faster service. Vermont is counting on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for an ambitious plan to bring fiber-optic service to every home on the electric grid within five years. But Christine Hallquist, whom Gov Phil Scott (R-VT) appointed in 2021 to oversee the delivery of that service, said that inflation and supply-chain problems could slow the project.