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Wireless Internet For All?

Burlington, Vermont - May 29, 2008

During his 2007 State of the State address, Gov. Jim Douglas, R-Vermont, stood before fellow lawmakers, promising wireless internet and cellular phone service to all Vermonters by 2010. It's now been more than a year since the governor's State of the State address. There are still communities throughout Vermont without cellular or internet capabilities, but the Vermont Telecommunications Authority is confidant that will soon change.

"We can cover Vermont by 2010. Can we cover Vermont in a way that's going to satisfy every need and in terms of is it going to be fast enough? I would say almost certainly not. We won't have that ready by 2010," said Robin Lane with the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.

The Vermont Telecommunications Authority is asking Vermont residents to help map out the areas of Vermont that lack broadband and cellular service. One of the barriers to making Vermont an e-state is that it's expensive to bring cell service to rural areas of the state. The Telecommunications Authority has $40 million worth of state bonds that are available to communities to build towers to provide internet and cellular phone service. That money will be doled out in the next two years -- but it will only go so far.

"If we take $10 million out of the 40 and assign it to a 5 town project, then where does that leave the other 260 towns in Vermont?" asked Robin Lane. "We're still at the point of studying which are the most needed projects that will serve the largest population," added David Binch of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.

Several groups that applied for fiber-optic projects have been rejected funding. While fiber optic connections may be the wave of the future. The telecommunications authority says those projects are just too expensive.

"It's more important we get something to people that have nothing," said Binch. "Fiber's fantastic, but we can't see how to make $40 million bring fiber to all of Vermont."

Keagan Harsha - WCAX News