The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) awarded $58.9 million in rural broadband grants this summer. The VCBB released a listing of the awards, all of which went to communications union districts (CUDs) in the state.
CUDs are comprised of at least two rural communities that come together with the goal of gaining high-speed broadband. The state has 10 CUDs. Five of them won funding over the summer, which will go toward buildouts to 13,000 underserved locations.
“We are now up to eight out of 10 CUDs that are in construction,” said VCBB Executive Director Christine Hallquist in a prepared statement about the Vermont broadband awards.
“That, along with our work in digital equity, is fast-tracking our progress toward getting all Vermonters connected and bridging the digital divide.”
The five CUDs that won funding over the summer are:
- NEK Broadband, which was awarded over $17.9 million in July
- Maple Broadband, which was awarded over $2.1 million in July
- ECFiber, which was awarded over $13.2 million in August
- Otter Creek, which was awarded almost $10 million this month
- Lamoille FiberNet, which was awarded almost $13.6 million this month
Telecompetitor previously reported on the NEK Broadband and Maple Broadband wins, both of which came on top of previous VCBB awards to those CUDs. As we reported, both CUDs work with Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT) on their buildouts.
We reported on Lamoille FiberNet’s win last week and noted that the Lamoille CUD works with Consolidated Communications.
According to VCBB’s press release about the Vermont broadband awards, Otter Creek is also working with Consolidated, which uses the brand name Fidium Fiber for its fiber broadband offering.
ECFiber is the network serving the East Central Vermont CUD. The network was initially managed by ValleyNet, a nonprofit internet provider, but is now operated by Great Works Internet, a unit of Biddeford Internet, a broadband provider that also serves rural locations in Maine.
Great Works Internet also works with at least one other CUD, the Northwest Vermont CUD.
Additional information about Vermont broadband, including links to state funding resources, awardees and previous Telecompetitor coverage, can be found on the Broadband Nation web page for Vermont.
