Manchester Journal

The Southern Vermont Communications Union District (CUD) says its partnership with Consolidated Communications — and investments by that company, and federal and state government — will make the goal of finally making universal high-speed internet access possible. The Southern Vermont CUD, one of several statewide, is a municipal government entity representing 14 towns in Bennington County. In 2021, it partnered with Consolidated Communications in a plan to extend high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved communities, leveraging state and federal funds.

Public access stations such as Vermont's Greater Northshire Access Television (GNAT-TV) are facing an uncertain future following a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission that would change the way subscriber fees are collected to fund programming and broadcast services. On Sept 25, the FCC issued proposed rulemaking — Docket 05-311 — which, if adopted, could allow cable operators to reclassify certain in-kind services and subtract their monetary value from the 5 percent that cable companies are required to pay to fund public access stations.