Vermont Community Broadband Board works to install 2,000 miles of fiber optic cable during 2022

A group working to expand broadband internet services across rural Vermont says there will be at least 2,000 miles (over 3,200 kilometers) of fiber optic cable ready for installation during the 2022 construction season. Christine Hallquist, executive director the Vermont Community Broadband Board, announced Monday that three groups were working together to provide 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of cable. NEK Broadband, the state’s largest communication union district, has arranged to buy another 1,000 miles of cable, Hallquist said. Vermont communications union districts are organizations of two or more towns that join together as a municipal entity to build communication infrastructure. The need to improve broadband internet services was highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, when people across Vermont and the country were forced to work or get schooling from home using inadequate internet connections. The push to expand broadband internet services across Vermont and the country has been given a big boost by federal COVID-19 relief funding. Hallquist estimates Vermont needs a little over 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) of fiber to connect everyone in the state, at a total cost of about $510 million. There is currently about $250 million in federal money available. She hopes they'll be able to bring the cost down to where the existing funds will be able to complete the project.