TheVermont Telecommunications Authority(VTA) has announced an award to cable service providerComcastof $247,000 to expand broadband services in three Vermont communities. An additional 56 locations in Braintree, Shaftsbury and Pownal will have access to broadband at speeds up to 100 Mbps because of the project, substantially exceeding the grantâ s minimum requirement to offer a combined upload and download speed of 5 Mbps. The project is scheduled to be completed prior to December 31, 2013.
The grant will help fund cable line extensions identified in its grant application. â In some communities cable-based broadband services are literally â just down the road’from unserved homes and businesses,’said VTA Executive Director Christopher Campbell. â This project will bring broadband service from just out of reach to right within grasp.â
In Shaftsbury, new service will be available along all or portions of the following roads: Ehrich, Horton Hill, Lawrence, Mattison, Myers, Nicolleâ s Way, Rollin.
In Pownal, new service will be available along all or portions of the following roads: Atwood, Brookman, Cedar Hill, Crow Hill, Lavino, Lincoln, Mann Hill N, Mann Hill S, Mason Hill N, Montgomery, Nicholas, Owl Hill, Route 346, Sweet, Welch Woods, White Oaks. New service will also be available on Fowler Road in Braintree.
â Comcast is proud to partner with the Vermont Telecommunications Authority to expand our advanced broadband network to areas of Vermont that previously had no access to broadband and to help make the stateâ s broadband goals a reality,’said Mary McLaughlin, Senior Vice President of Comcastâ s Western New England Region, which includes Vermont. â This extension of our network allows more and more residents and businesses in these rural communities to have access to our cutting-edge Xfinity products and services, including Xfinity Internet, TV and Voice.â
Topsham Communications
VTA also has announced a $378,200 grant award toTopsham Communications, LLC. The company is a subsidiary of Topsham Telephone Company, Inc., which operates in the East Corinth area and traces its roots to 1907. The grant supports deployment of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband infrastructure over 36 miles in the Northeast Topsham and North Bradford communities. By December 31, 2013 an additional 138 locations will have access to broadband at speeds up to 10 Mbps because of the project, exceeding the grantâ s minimum requirement to offer a combined upload and download speed of 5 Mbps.
â We are pleased once again to support Topsham Communications as it expands its fiber network in rural Vermont,’said VTA Executive Director Christopher Campbell. â This project will build on the success of the last fiber project built by Topsham with VTA grant assistance, in West Fairlee, which was completed in 2011.â
Topsham Communications will contribute over $345,000 toward completion of the project. Charlie Davenport, General Manager of Topsham Telephone explained the companyâ s participation this way: â Weâ ve been watching our neighbors try to get by without real broadband for many years. This grant gives our company the opportunity to work with the VTA to reach those neighbors and to begin creating new economic opportunities for this very rural area.â
The grant will help expand Topsham Communications’existing fiber optic cable network to eligible locations identified in its grant application. The list of eligible locations was compiled using data that was collected from providers through Vermontâ s Broadband Mapping Initiative. Vermonters are invited to help complete the dataset of unserved locationsby reporting unserved addresses atBroadbandVT.org.
In Topsham, new service will be available along all or portions of the following roads: Fiske, Clarks and John White.
In Bradford, new service will be available along all or portions of the following roads: Birch Ridge, Chase Hollow, Fairground, Goshen, Goshen East and Goshen Spur, Ogorman, Old Route 5, Rabbit Track, Roaring Brook, Rogers Hill, Sky Meadow, Solid Oaks, South, Tarbox, Upper Plain, Upper Rogers, and Wrights Mountain.
The VTA made the award through the broadband grant round it announced on March 13, 2012. This grant program provides incentives to broadband providers to reach the most rural locations. Funding for the grant program was made possible by an appropriation of the Legislature in the FY2012-2013 Capital Budget requested by Governor Peter Shumlin as part of the Connect Vermont initiative.
â Itâ s important to recognize that our telecommunications providers are the ones who get broadband built to homes and businesses. With this action by the VTA Board, the leveraging of state capital and contribution of the company allow us to roll out solutions to bring broadband to unserved Vermonters. These are the first of many funding decisions that will be made over the coming months. Weâ re pleased to get these projects in the pipeline and another step closer to meeting our goal of universal broadband.’said Karen Marshall, Chief of Connect VT.
Orange County
The VTA also announced today that it will invest in the construction of fiber optic cable along key routes in Orange County and a neighboring portion of northern Windsor County. The VTA plans to build the fiber optic facility, approximately 36 miles in length, along State Routes 110, 113 and 132 in the Towns of Chelsea, Vershire, West Fairlee, Thetford, Strafford, and Sharon.
These areas have been identified by Connect Vermont, a part of the Agency of Administration, as having the Stateâ s greatest need for fiber optic facilities. These communities contain some of the most significant concentrations of homes and business that do not have access to broadband in the State. They also contain substantial and difficult-to-cover areas without cellular service.
VTA is authorized to spend up to $800,000 to plan and construct the dark fiber project. Strands from the project will be available from the VTA to broadband and mobile service providers. By lighting up these strands, providers will be able to connect â last mile’broadband customers along the fiber route, as well as connecting their own additional broadband or cellular network facilities to state and regional telecommunications networks. The VTA project will enable service providers to reach more deeply into the communities along the project route cost-effectively. Funding for the projectwas made possible by an appropriation by the Legislature in the FY2012 Capital Budget.
Christopher Campbell, Executive Director of the VTA described the decision: â The VTA is making an investment in fiber optic facilities that can be shared by multiple service providers. We see this as an opportunity to work together to lower the capital costs for providing broadband and mobile service in this region and to help those service providers stretch their own dollars further, reaching more Vermonters.â
Karen Marshall said of the Board decision: â This is a strategic investment of state funds in a fiber backbone to provide new broadband connections and consumer choice in the most unserved area of the state.â
VTA
The VTA made the award through the broadband grant round it announced on March 13, 2012. This grant program provides incentives to broadband providers to reach the most rural locations. Funding for the grant program was made possible by an appropriation of the Legislature in the FY2012-2013 Capital Budget requested by Governor Peter Shumlin as part of the Connect VT initiative.
â The VTA, Department of Public Service and Connect VT have been working diligently on our Target Communities and locations, and with this action by the VTA Board are now rolling out funding of solutions to bring broadband to unserved Vermonters. These are the first of many funding decisions that will be made over the coming months. Weâ re pleased to get these projects in the pipeline and one step closer to meeting our goal of universal broadband.’Marshall said.
The list of locations eligible for the grant program was compiled using data that was collected from providers through Vermontâ s Broadband Mapping Initiative. Vermonters are invited to help complete the dataset of unserved locationsby reporting unserved addresses atBroadbandVT.org.
Soruce: VTA 6.27.2012