Vermont Has Awarded All Its CPF Broadband Funds; Some CUDs Won’t Need BEAD

The state of Vermont has awarded all the broadband funds that it received through the federal Capital Projects Fund (CPF), said Rob Fish, deputy director for the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB). As a result of the construction, some previously unserved and underserved areas of the state won’t need funding through the rural broadband Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, according to Fish. VCBB awarded more than $184.5 million through its CPF-funded Broadband Construction Program, which was supplemented by funding raised by individual communities and network operators. When the VCBB started several years ago, there were about 64,000 unserved and underserved locations in the state. Only about 20,000 remain—and with the $229 million that Vermont will receive in BEAD funding and matching funds in that program, Fish is confident that the state will be able to achieve the goal of universal broadband.