The good news for the Otter Creek Communications Union District (CUD) in Vermont is that it has completed its universal service plan to bring fiber broadband to 3,626 addresses, 1,278 of which were unserved. The even better news is that the project was completed under budget and $2.99 million will be used to address affordability across the state.
The Otter Creek CUD, which is one of nine CUDs in Vermont, worked with Consolidated Communications/Fidium and GoNetSpeed on the project.
Communications union districts (CUDs), which are unique to Vermont, allocate funding based on road miles.
“This is an example of a CUD strategically reviewing the current level of service in their area, acknowledging the best course of action was to partner with the existing telecom providers serving most addresses, and then holding them accountable to the community,” Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) Executive Director Christine Hallquist said in a press release.
The Otter Creek CUD includes Benson, Brandon, Castleton, Chittenden, Fair Haven, Goshen, Hubbardton, Mendon, Pawlet, Pittsford, Poultney, Rutland Town, Rutland City, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Wells, West Rutland, and West Haven.
GoNetspeed said in May that it invested $3.5 million in the upgrade, which includes Benson, Castleton, Hubbardton, and Sudbury. Investment firm Oak Hill Capital created the company in 2021 by consolidating Otelco, OTTC, Upstate Fiber Networks, Lentek, GoNetSpeed, and Icon.
Otter Creek CUD and VCBB entered into a construction and service quality agreement with Consolidated Communications for the Vermont project. It includes accountability and quality guarantees, pricing that is no higher than elsewhere in the state, and access to products that are available in northern New England.
Other elements of the agreement include participation in affordability programs, quarterly speed and latency testing, and email notification of network outages.
Additional information about Vermont broadband, including state funding resources, awards made, BEAD news, state specific Telecompetitor coverage, and more can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
