CVFiber

Content tagged with "CVFiber "

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NEK Broadband’s Big Merger and Bold Vision - Episode 627 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

In this episode of the podcast, Chris is joined by Ry Marcattilio and Christa Shute, Executive Director of NEK Broadband, to discuss the evolving landscape of community broadband in Vermont. They explore the transformative merger of NEK Broadband and CVFiber, now covering 71 towns, and the innovative ways the organization is bridging connectivity gaps in one of the most rural and economically challenged areas of the state.

The conversation highlights NEK’s strides in workforce development, with local job training programs for broadband installation and maintenance, as well as partnerships with the Vermont Community Broadband Board and state funding efforts that have secured over $100 million in grants. Christa shares the importance of affordability programs like the NEK Digital Equity Pilot to sustain connectivity for low-income residents following the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program.

This show is 30 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license

Neighborly Networks - Vermont's Approach to Community Broadband

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Neighborly Networks report

In partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, today ILSR releases a new report examining how the state of Vermont is supercharging its telecommunications infrastructure efforts to reach the unconnected by puttings its weight behind community broadband-driven efforts.

The report - Neighborly Networks: Vermont's Approach to Community Broadband [pdf] - traces the emergence of a unique public-public partnership arrangement that first appeared in the Green Mountain State in 2008. The Communications Union Districts (CUD) model first emerged more than a decade and a half ago among a coalition of towns in the eastern part of the state long-ignored by for-profit Internet Service Providers. There, a collection of community broadband champions came together to prove that the solution to the broken marketplace lay internal to east-central Vermont. ECFiber, a publicly owned, nonprofit ISP was borne of that effort, and began bringing affordable, fast, reliable service to households in the region.

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CUD models

Ten years later, when the state began formulating a plan for the future of Internet access, the progress made by and lessons learned from ECFiber drove a landmark shift in public policy in the state. Volunteers emerged, towns voted, and CUDs were placed at the center of Vermont’s effort to bridge the infrastructure gap in the state. Today, there are ten CUDs covering 216 towns across the state, and Vermont’s leaders have put the lion’s share of public funds behind the communications union district model.

New Report: Neighborly Networks - Vermont's Approach to Community Broadband

In partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, today ILSR releases a new report examining how the state of Vermont is supercharging its telecommunications infrastructure efforts to reach the unconnected by puttings its weight behind community broadband-driven efforts.

The report - Neighborly Networks: Vermont's Approach to Community Broadband [pdf] - traces the emergence of a unique public-public partnership arrangement that first appeared in the Green Mountain State in 2008. The Communications Union Districts (CUD) model first emerged more than a decade and a half ago among a coalition of towns in the eastern part of the state long-ignored by for-profit Internet Service Providers. There, a collection of community broadband champions came together to prove that the solution to the broken marketplace lay internal to east-central Vermont. ECFiber, a publicly owned, nonprofit ISP was borne of that effort, and began bringing affordable, fast, reliable service to households in the region.

Image
CUD models

Ten years later, when the state began formulating a plan for the future of Internet access, the progress made by and lessons learned from ECFiber drove a landmark shift in public policy in the state. Volunteers emerged, towns voted, and CUDs were placed at the center of Vermont’s effort to bridge the infrastructure gap in the state. Today, there are ten CUDs covering 216 towns across the state, and Vermont’s leaders have put the lion’s share of public funds behind the communications union district model.

Tracing the history of this effort from 2008 to today, this report breaks down the conditions that led to this sea change, where the CUDs are at today, and how we might learn from the Vermont case to improve Internet access elsewhere across the country.

Vermont CUD CVFiber Connects First Fiber Customers

CVFiber continues to make progress in deploying affordable fiber to long-neglected rural areas in Vermont, as the state’s effort to embrace CUDs (Communications Union Districts) as a cornerstone of bridging the digital divide also pays dividends.

In late 2022 CVFiber broke ground on an ambitious plan to build a 1,200-mile fiber-optic network to bring affordable gigabit broadband access to 6,000 rural Vermont addresses deemed underserved by commercial broadband providers.

According to an October announcement by the CUD, its first customers have been connected in the central Vermont town of Calais, with construction ongoing in nearby Middlesex, East Montpelier, and Worcester.

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Calais VT Town Hall

“We are enthusiastic about our progress as we bring high-speed Internet to central Vermont communities,” CVFiber Executive Director Jennille Smith said. “The progress that we have made and the impact that we’ve been able to achieve to date could not have been accomplished without the unwavering commitment from our partners. We are optimistic as we expand to other service areas.”

CUDs have proven to be a useful way for municipalities to band together to cooperatively build broadband projects that may have been financially and logistically impossible to try alone. Vermont CUDs can legally fund needed broadband expansions through debt, grants, and donations—but not taxes, though they themselves are tax-exempt nonprofits.  

CVFiber’s fiber deployment is expected to cost $60 million, $27 million of which is being paid for by federal grants made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The remaining cost is expected to be funded by network revenue, loans, and future grant opportunities.