VTDigger
Northwestern Vermont towns make a deal for broadband
Northwest Fiberworx, the communications union district (CUD) for 22 northwestern Vermont communities serving 30,000 customers, has signed a deal for fiber-optic broadband with South Royalton-based Great Works Internet (GWI) Vermont. The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) will provide funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
The FCC has a new broadband map. Vermont officials say it vastly overstates reality.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, more than 95 percent of Vermont households have broadband internet access. That’s the main takeaway from a newly updated map created by the FCC that tracks internet speeds and provider availability down to individual addresses. But officials at the Vermont Community Broadband Board said that the database overestimates the percent of households with broadband — and that federal funding is at stake.
Vermont announces $48 million in broadband grants to communications union districts
Gov Phil Scott (R-VT) announced $48 million in new grants to Vermont’s communications union districts, the municipal organizations working to connect homes that are without a reliable wireline connection to fiber-optic cable. Vermont has an ambitious plan that combines private investment and public funds to connect every resident with fiber-optic cable. For the largely rural regions of the state without access to high-speed internet, Vermont is relying on a strategy
Google Fiber deal could bring high speed internet to 43,000 Vermont households
Two groups of communities in northwest Vermont are close to reaching an agreement with Google Fiber to bring lightning-fast service to some of the state’s most underserved areas. Communications union districts (CUDs) are towns that have banded together to build communication infrastructure. Two of Vermont’s newest CUDs, Northwest FiberworX (with 21 member communities) and Lamoille FiberNet (with 10 member communities), joined forces last year to build, own and maintain an open-access fiber network that can host multiple internet service providers — a first for the state.
Broadband could take longer and cost more to deploy in Vermont than anticipated
Many Vermonters who live in rural towns have the least access to high-speed internet. And they could be waiting for a while before getting faster service. Vermont is counting on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for an ambitious plan to bring fiber-optic service to every home on the electric grid within five years. But Christine Hallquist, whom Gov Phil Scott (R-VT) appointed in 2021 to oversee the delivery of that service, said that inflation and supply-chain problems could slow the project.
$116 million in grants announced for broadband construction in Vermont
The Vermont Community Broadband Board launched a $116 million broadband construction grant program that is set to fund projects beginning spring 2022. Vermont’s nine communications union districts, plus the small communication carriers and internet service providers that are working alongside the communication districts, can all apply for the funding. “These grants are important to drive down the entry cost,” Christine Hallquist, executive director of the Community Broadband Board, told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.
Broadband availability and affordability are crucial for Vermont
The problem of the digital divide isn’t fixed until we address affordability. The digital divide is not a valley you can cross with fiber. The divide isolates low-income families that don’t have economic access to reliable and convenient service. It disadvantages their children in public education and requires that they incur the cost to travel for low-paying work.