South Burlington, Vermont - December 12, 2012
Massive damage to Vermont's infrastructure from Tropical Storm Irene left many communities cutoff and unable to communicate with the outside world. On Monday, the crews that helped reconnect Vermont were honored for their efforts.
For many communities cutoff by Tropical Storm Irene, the feeling of isolation was compounded by the loss of telephone and Internet access. Crews at FairPoint Communications were honored Monday for their efforts to reconnect Vermont after the storm.
"The response was simply amazing. The men and women got into the mode that -- we have to get this done and we have to get this done fast -- and they worked 24/7 to do that," said Mike Smith with FairPoint.
FairPoint worker Tom Zoufaly described the scramble to restore communication as unlike anything he had ever experienced in his 25 year career with the company. "We were given free reign to get things going. It wasn't about the finances of the situation. These people were hurting," he said.
Governor Peter Shumlin was on hand to extend his thanks to the telecommunications crews that worked tirelessly, like so many other Vermonters, in the days and weeks following Irene. "You got there, you hooked them up. From Wilmington to Waterbury, from Brattleboro to Burlington -- or at least Richmond You have been an extraordinary team in a really tough time," Gov. Shumlin said.
Despite the spring flooding and Tropical Storm Irene here in 2011, FairPoint was able to complete the state's largest broadband build out in history, installing more than 1-thousand miles of fiber optic cable.
"This 79-million dollar investment, the thousand new miles of fiber is unprecedented. The things we did this year to bring broadband to more Vermonters was incredible," Smith said.
Ninety percent of FairPoint customers now have access to broadband Internet. The company is now working to bring new service to the remaining leftover communities -- like East Dover, where high-speed Internet is now an option. "We collaborated with the town to share some of the expenses in how we bring broadband and that's probably the model we're looking at as me move forward," Smith said.
A partnership bringing Vermont online one community at a time.
