States reach the unreachable with broadband line extension programs

Think about internet access in a community like a plate of crumbly cookies: Even if an internet service provider (ISP) takes a big bite out of each of the treats by servicing most addresses, the plate will still have broken pieces left behind. Such is the logic for statewide line extension programs around the US. The purpose of these programs is connecting homes and businesses just out of reach of existing last-mile infrastructure. However, delivering service to even the closest outlier isn’t so straightforward. From 2020 to 2022, the state of Vermont initiated a pandemic-era Line Extension Customer Assistance Program (LECAP) using an initial round of funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, with an additional boost from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). A go-to image to describe the need for line extensions in Vermont is a dirt road with a dead end. The entire road may have five houses on it, but only four have internet access. The house at the dead end may be left with DSL, dial-up, laggy satellite or no internet access at all. Even fixed wireless solutions have trouble reaching them because of the density of trees and mountains. Due to that fact, small towns across the state were historically left to fend for themselves, which led to the creation of Vermont’s Communications Union Districts (CUD). Each CUD contains bands of towns that work together as a municipality to negotiate with ISPs and find community-driven broadband solutions. As for whether Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program projects will go after the remaining line extensions necessary across the state, Rob Fish, director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board doesn’t believe that the previous program’s framework lends itself to BEAD very well.