*NEW* VT Broadband Report

Your World Delivered to Vermont

AT&T has taken its first steps into the Green Mountain State.  In late December of 2008… AT&T bought out Unicel giving Vermont residents the choice for their wireless coverage.  AT&T will share towers with Verizon to keep a monopoly from occurring. 

And with this new wireless player…Vermont is one step closer to achieving Governor Jim Douglas’ e-state vision. 

“It really helps establish the foundation and the platform that is needed to support any kind of e-state initiative to attract new businesses to Vermont,” said Stephen Krom, the AT&T Vice President and General Manager of the New England Market.

Governor Douglas is looking to cell service providers to create uninterrupted coverage of broadband and wireless service from boarder to boarder… and the innovations and support from AT&T may bring this vision one step closer.

“We’ll bring 3G which is our wireless broadband to Vermont by the end of this year so that’ll provide you know a level of service that people in Vermont haven’t seen up to this point and time when it comes to wireless networks,” said Krom.

Being the last state to acquire service from AT&T in the United States… the company was surprised at how quickly they were able to start setting up their service for Vermonters.

“We closed the deal to acquire the property the 22nd of December and here it is January 15th and we’re open… stores are refreshed, selling the iPhone so it’s actually been very easy for us to get into the state and we look forward to working more closely with the VTA and the other authorities on all of their broadband initiatives,” said Krom.

With AT&T’s move into Vermont 75 new jobs were created… something that is rare in this bleak economic environment.

Concord Wireless

Jim Gibbons - Reporter

Andy Shepeluk - Photographer

 

As you know, high speed broadband access is only a dream to many people in the Northeast Kingdom, and the town of Concord is no exception.  However one man is looking to change that, but is encountering some delays

Both Dave and the Concord select board hope that the court will arrive at a final decision at some point this summer.

Wireless Internet in the NEK

Catherine Story and Blair Wolston-Reporters

 

Upgraded wireless broadband access is now available to some residents in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom through their cellular connection. Recent upgrades to the existing towers and a few brand new ones now allow residents of the Northeast Kingdom to get near-broadband speeds on any computer as long as they are within the coverage area. This service is provided by Verizon.

The first indicator that something was changing came last summer when cell phone customers in the Burke areas experienced an interruption in their service lasting nearly a week and when their phones started working again there was a different symbol on their screen. The towers were upgraded from standard digital, represented by a 1X on the screen, to an enhanced digital signal that appears as an EV on the cell phone screen. EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals. This allows wireless Internet access where no cable or DSL service is available. What you need to know: Verizon says connection speeds are between 600 Kps and 1.4 Mbps (Charter Communications offers speeds of up to 5 Mbps for cable modem users). The cost is $59.99 a month for unlimited use; it does require a 24-month contract with Verizon Wireless. The modems are either PCI cards, for laptops only, or they now offer USB modems that will work in any device that has a USB 2.0 port built in. Windows or Macintosh is fine, and you can move the modem from device to device depending on your wireless needs.

Who should be interested:
This service is good for travelers, and for the rural resident who previously had no way of getting high speed internet at home. The cost is comparable to Charter's high speed pipeline service but is not limited to one location. You can take your laptop anywhere in the country and receive the same connection you do at home.

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Universal Internet in Vermont

Ryan Cray-Reporter

Andy Shepeluk and Chris Nachtwey-Photographers

 

The internet is a powerful tool that can make life a lot easier, and Vermont could greatly benefit from universal broadband. We got a chance to talk to some people who are working towards making Vermont an e-state.......

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Governor Douglas on E-State Initiative

Jim Gibbons-Reporter

Andrew Shepeluk-Photographer

 

In May of 2007, the Vermont State Legislature approved a bill to make the state of Vermont a total E-State by the end of 2010.  An E-State is one that has universal cellular and high speed broadband internet access available to every portion of the state.  Governor Jim Douglas pushed hard for this, saying it's a necessity for residents to have access to high speed internet, both in their homes and businesses...

Once the bill was passed, Governor Douglas created the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.  A group responsible for designing a statewide infrastructure.  The VTA is not responsible for becoming a retail ISP (Internet Service Provider), instead they encourage both private and public ISP's to set up infrastructure throughout the state.  Funding for the program is provided by the VTA, which has $40 million dollars in revenue bonds provided by the state.  The state does not regulate what type of infrastructure needs to be used, though wireless and fiber lines appear to be the most efficient.  No matter what type it is, Governor Douglas wants to see that broadband access is available to every person in the state...

Now that the bills have been passed, and the plans have been maid, it is up to both the state and local ISP's to see to it that proper infrastructure is laid out so that every Vermonter can log on and stay connected.

Fiber to the Upper Valley

Jim Gibbons-Reporter

Chris Nachtwey-Photographer

 

On town meeting day, twenty seven towns in the upper valley voted in favor of allowing ValleyNet to do some research for setting up a fiber infrastructure throughout the area.  The non-profit organization started in 1994 as a dial-up ISP for the region, but has since turned to fiber with a goal of providing universal access.  Now that they have been given the go ahead from the towns, the next step is to begin raising funds......

Valley Net has set a goal to begin hooking up customers by 2009, and hopes to have an entire system set up by 2010 to fall in love with the Governors E-State goal.

Vermont's Digital Divide

Jim Gibbons-Reporter

Andy Shepeluk-Photographer

 

We took a trip to the state capital where municipal officials were discussing ways to close the digital divide in Vermont.

Here's a look at some of the information we learned during the day...

Congressman Peter Welch on Broadband

Ryan Colleen Cray-Reporter

Chris Nachtwey-Photographer

 

Recently Congressman Peter Welch took time of out his schedule to snowmobile the VAST trails in Danville, VT.  We decided to take advantage of Representative Welsh’s visit to ask him about his thoughts regarding broadband access in Vermont’s North East Kingdom.  Rep. Welch compared the internet to electricity, as technology has become a crucial part of everyday life.  He believes government should take similar steps to those of the Roosevelt administration, however making the internet the essential utility this time.

 

Since Vermont is an extremely rural state with a challenging geographic profile, wireless broadband access is difficult at best.  Interestingly, this rural element that so effectively attracts tourism is the same one that often interferes with economic growth.

 

Many Vermont businesses would not be able to survive without the internet. Online advertising alone plays a huge part for the survival of small businesses. Legislation will continue on making Vermont an e-state by Governor Douglas' goal of 2010.

 

Join us for an interview with Congressman Peter Welch

 

"About Us" Link Updated Yet Again

Check the pictures of the "VTBbReport" crew posted under the "About Us" link above.  We're pleased to announce that we've added two new crew members to the VT Broadband Report staff.

Chair of Vermont Telecommunications Authority Optimistic

Joshua James Gervais – Reporter
Chris Nachtwey - Photographer

Mary Evslin is confident that Gov. Jim Douglas' goal of universal cellular and broadband coverage by 2010 will be met.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that,” says Evslin, the chair of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.

"We started in August," Evslin says. "We are actively interviewing for an executive director right now."

Due to the length of the search for the director, the authority is looking for consultants to launch small projects that can be started immediately. The authority has established an office in Montpelier, and has begun hiring staff. The authority also needs to deal with the same issues as any business, such as providing insurance to its employees and purchasing office supplies.

The authority's first endeavor will be constructing a map of cellular coverage and broadband availability in Vermont. From this map it will be able to determine which parts of the state require attention.

"We have a survey out to all the current players to say where are your networks today," Evslin says. That survey will help the authority build their map.

"The goal is to hit the ground running," Evslin says. "We're going to need the help of the current cellular companies, the landline companies, ISPs (internet service providers), WISPs (wireless internet service providers), and other companies who are getting into the game.

"We're trying to get the current players to go beyond where they are today," she adds, saying one thing the authority can do is ease regulations. "If they choose not to or cannot, then we’ll find someone else who can."

Evslin says she wants to get companies to expand their coverage beyond their current coverage.

"If we can get them to do that the holes get smaller, but there still are going to be holes where it makes no economic sense [for large companies to invest]."

The authority is not allowed to offer telecommunications service to the public, but it can build infrastructure and then rent its use to companies willing to provide service. The authority is authorized to issue $40 million in revenue bonds to create projects to make it more economically feasible to bring service to rural areas. It also has the ability to lease state property such as rooftops, right of ways, and land.

The authority's minimum standard for broadband speed is 1.5 megabits per second in at least one direction.

"In theory 1.5 megabits per second means that a 10-megabyte file could be downloaded in a minute and a half – in practice probably twice that," Evslin says. "In practice – assuming the ISP has good connections to the Internet – most Web sites will look snappy at that speed.”

She says music downloads will take a reasonable amount of time and YouTube will work well. High-quality video will take a long time.

"This job isn't ever done," Evslin says, adding that even after Douglas' 2010 goal, technology will continue evolving and Vermont will need to change with it to keep up.

The Vermont Telecommunications Authority website can be found at http://www.telecomvt.org/.

Join us for an interview with the Chair of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority .

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