ECFiber: Building a Fiber-to-Premises Network in the Rural United States

Early in 2008, a group of people living in east-central Vermont, who understood the importance of the Internet to economic development, decided to act independently. They formed ECFiber, the EC standing for East-Central Vermont, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation with the goal of providing fiber access to every premises in 23 contiguous towns and one municipality in central Vermont. At the end of 2020, almost all of the roads in the original 23 towns have been provisioned with fiber. The network extends over 1400 miles of roads, allowing approximately 18,000 premises to connect. ECFiber is now seen as a success story in Vermont. Recently ECFiber voted to admit eight new towns into its organization for a total of 31 member towns, and it has just successfully completed another round of additional funding of about US$11 million to, among other things, extend its network to these newcomers. With the help of local volunteers, town and state governments that understood the transformative nature of the Internet, an advancing technology, and some serendipity, ECFiber is now making a significant part of Vermont ready to participate in a digital future, as well as leading the way in helping its neighbors and their Communications Union Districts to follow in its footsteps.

[George Sadowsky is an Information Communication Technology Consultant. He was a member of the ICANN Board of Directors during 2009-2018 and is a member of the Internet Hall of Fame]