Discontent at broadband ‘town meeting' in Randolph

Vermonters impatient for high-speed Internet access extracted a hint and a commitment Saturday from the VTel CEO in charge of bringing it, but many didn’t like or even believe what they heard.

Published September 26, 2010 in the Rutland Herald
At broadband ‘town meeting,’ Vermonters are wired for discontent

By David Delcore
Staff writer

RANDOLPH — Vermonters impatient for high-speed Internet access extracted a hint and a commitment Saturday from the CEO in charge of bringing it, but many didn’t like or even believe what they heard.

Michel Guite said it appears that his company, Vermont Telephone Company or VTel, may start installing wireless broadband service in the Rutland area first and move south before the central and northern portions of the state are addressed.

But he said repeatedly that the company will extend high-speed Internet to all areas of the state within three years.

Guite joined Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., in confronting a somewhat critical crowd Saturday at Vermont Technical College in hopes of allaying concerns that have surfaced since the state secured $172 million in federal funding to help provide all Vermonters affordable broadband coverage.

Most of the more than 150 people who attended Sanders’ town meeting said they have waited far too long for the service.

Mette Rea and her husband, Frank, said their remote corner of Stockbridge is still dial-up country despite the state’s three-year-old promise to solve the problem by the end of this year.

“I feel enormous frustration and exasperation,” she said. “I’m ready to move the hell out of this state.”

Like many others, Rea and her husband said they were troubled by the fact that a “shovel-ready” project proposed by the East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network was not funded with stimulus money available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service program.

“The idiots gave the money to someone else,” Rea complained, moments before Sanders stepped to the podium in the heart of EC Fiber country to explain how he played no role in deciding which Vermont projects were funded.

Sanders was joined at the meeting by state Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex-Orleans; Jonathan Adelstein, administrator of the USDA Rural Utilities Service; and Guite, president and chief executive officer of Vermont Telephone Company, the Springfield company that was the single largest recipient of federal money being funneled to Vermont.

Plans to bring high-speed broadband to “unserved and underserved” areas of Vermont are in VTel’s hands now, according to Sanders, who defended residents’ right to quiz Guite given the fact the company will receive an $81.2 million federal grant and $35.2 million loan.

Residents peppered the panel with questions and concerns about VTel’s multi-pronged proposal.

Guite said the company plans to use state-of-the-art technology to provide high-speed wireless Internet to areas of the state where it is not available. The price to subscribe will range from $10 to $35, and the work will be finished in three years, he said.

However, many in the audience were openly skeptical about whether VTel could, or would, keep its commitment. Some were dubious about wireless technology, and others were frustrated by what they described as the lack of good information about VTel’s plan.

Calais resident Marge Garfield suggested VTel could alleviate mounting frustration by publicizing its plan of attack.

“Being told to wait is not an effective answer,” she said.

Guite said that plan is still being developed, though he suggested the work may start in the Rutland area and move south. He hedged when asked whether in the end, the company would provide high-speed access for all Vermonters.

“Our goal is to serve as many people as we can,” Guite said in response to a Strafford man’s concern that wireless might not generate a signal he could access from his home.

Guite’s guarded response did little to instill confidence among those who questioned VTel’s commitment to ensuring universal access to broadband.

“When we say ‘everybody,’ we mean ‘pretty much functionally everybody,’” Guite added.

Meanwhile, some expressed concern over what Guite admitted was a shortcoming of the wireless system: its inability to seamlessly stream video.

“I want to know why we’re using a wireless technology that will not meet today’s needs,” one college administrator asked.

“Wireless is of no use to me,” added Dr. Carol Boerner, who said she is a micro-surgeon.

A Reading resident, Boerner said her ability to work from home would require the sort of fiber-optic service EC Fiber had hoped to bring to residents of a community-run 22-town consortium.

“Why did the government not fund EC Fiber?” she asked Adelstein, who repeatedly sidestepped the question.

“I’m not in a position to talk about a pending application in public,” he said, noting that while EC Fiber’s request for stimulus funding was denied, the project is still eligible for other USDA funding.

Norwich resident Stan Williams was among those who questioned whether VTel could keep its pledge of creating universal broadband access with the 119 towers it has proposed statewide.

“Good luck with your coverage,” said Williams, who described himself as the former chief financial officer for a wireless telephone company and said trying to reach remote areas of Vermont with wireless Internet was nothing more than a “stopgap.”

Sanders said he called the meeting to spread the word about an initiative he believes will promote economic development and create jobs, as well as to put Guite “on the record” in terms of VTel’s plans.

The meeting, which saw residents raise issues ranging from “net neutrality” to “electromagnetic pollution,” featured a testy exchange between Sanders and Chelsea resident Caleb Rick.

Rick questioned what he perceived as Sanders’ support for the VTel proposal, while noting Guite was one of the senator’s political contributors.

“I don’t see a lot of transparency here,” he said, prompting a rapid response from Sanders.

Sanders reiterated that he fought for stimulus money in general, not the VTel application in particular, and did not learn until recently that Guite was one of his “50,000” political contributors.

“I’ll give (Guite) his thousand dollars back if it makes you happy,” he told Rick, defending his effort to help make sure Vermont received its fair share of the $7.2 billion the Obama administration set aside for broadband.

“We ended up getting more money per capita than any other state in the country,” he said. “That’s not bad.”