Christine Hallquist was well-qualified to serve as the Executive Director of the Vermont broadband office when Governor Phil Scott appointed her to the position in 2021.
Her previous experience included serving as CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative, which deployed a considerable amount of fiber broadband under her tenure. And in 2018, she ran for governor on a platform that aimed at making the state more carbon-free — a platform that included getting fiber to every address in the state.
Telecompetitor talked to Hallquist recently about her continued pursuit of universal broadband and the unique path that Vermont, a highly rural state, is forging in pursuit of that goal.
The CUD Approach
“We’re in a fortunate position,” said Hallquist, who noted that the Vermont broadband office has a staff of 11 and that the state got a head start on reaching broadband deployment goals by being early in establishing broadband funding programs.
Vermont’s broadband office, known as the Vermont Community Broadband Board, was established by legislation in 2021 that also established the concept of communications union districts (CUDs).
CUDs are groups of two or more communities that are self-organized by the communities for the purpose of making high-speed broadband available throughout the CUD. A CUD can raise money through grants, debt, and donations but not taxes.
The state directed money that it received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to a program known as the Broadband Construction Grant Program and allocated funding among the state’s 10 CUDs based on the number of road miles in each CUD.
Some of the CUDs are partnering with local service providers, including WCVT and Consolidated, on buildouts funded through the program. And, unlike with many state funding programs, the CUD generally owns at least part of the infrastructure.
The exact ownership split depends on whether funding went to the incumbent provider — who generally retains some infrastructure — or if it’s an overbuild, in which case, the CUD may own all the new infrastructure and pay the provider a per-customer fee for operating and maintaining the network.
“The CUDs are trying to own as much as possible,” Hallquist said.
As of now, the VCBB has awarded almost all the ARPA funding, and plans to reserve the remainder to use as matching funds for the upcoming BEAD program.
It’s worth noting that Hallquist referred to Consolidated using the Fidium Fiber name, which the company has been emphasizing to differentiate its fiber offerings from its traditional DSL services. But Telecompetitor prefers to use the Consolidated name, as that is the name under which the company’s stock trades.
Getting Ready for BEAD
Vermont’s Broadband Director says the state will be receiving $229 million in BEAD funding and most of it will go toward fiber broadband.
The state plans to define project areas based largely on CUD boundaries. But while only CUDs and unaffiliated towns (partnering with service providers) were eligible for the Broadband Construction Grant Program, the BEAD program will be open to a wider range of applicants, including service providers.
As the Vermont broadband director explained, BEAD applicants will first submit a pre-proposal that includes a range of information about the proposed project, including the technology that the applicant plans to deploy.
“If they will be all-fiber, they can go to bid,” Hallquist said. “If you’re a mixed solution, we will put it out for a competitive bid.”
By “mixed solution,” Hallquist was referring to buildouts that include other technologies besides fiber. She anticipates funding some fixed wireless, some LEO satellite service, and even some copper-based offerings.
“With existing copper, you can get 1-Gigabit service up to about 1200 feet,” Hallquist noted.
Interestingly, if the only high-speed service available to a location is fixed wireless, the location will be eligible for BEAD funding — a different approach from what we’re seeing in other states.
“Fixed wireless doesn’t work well in Vermont,” said Hallquist. She argued that the Sierra Nevada mountains would be easier to serve than parts of rural Vermont, because “we have more valleys and deciduous trees.”
She added, however, that there may be situations where fixed wireless could work to serve small groups of addresses.
Another unique aspect of Vermont’s BEAD plans: Rather than having a single extremely high-cost threshold throughout the state, each project area will have its own high-cost threshold. That threshold is important because it will determine whether an applicant must use fiber or can deploy an alternative technology.
BEAD administrator NTIA has approved Vermont’s five-year plan and Volume 1 of its initial proposal. Hallquist hopes to see Volume 2 approved soon and will begin accepting applications for a single round of BEAD funding after the pre-proposal process is completed.
Hallquist expects to see BEAD deployments begin next spring.
Additional information about Vermont broadband, including state funding resources, awards made, and state specific Telecompetitor coverage can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
