By Dave Fidlin | The Center Square

Within the next half-decade, most of Vermont should be connected to high-speed broadband.

Christine Hallquist, executive director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board, stated the target timeline as she outlined the agency’s goals before a group of legislators on Wednesday.

The presentation was the last in a series of briefings Gov. Phil Scott initiated as 2023 gets underway.

Christine Hallquist, executive director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board

“We will get every Vermont address connected to broadband internet,” Hallquist said. “The challenge, of course, is affordability.”

The broadband board is the outgrowth of Scott’s Act 71, which outlined a series of initiatives related to broadband expansion across Vermont. Scott in 2021 named Hallquist to the then-newly established entity.

“For the most part, we’re going to get it done in five years,” Hallquist said of broadband accessibility. “There might be some stragglers.”

Grant procurement will be a key component to achieving the goal of statewide broadband access, Hallquist said, particularly in some of Vermont’s most rural enclaves.

“This is about equal access for all,” she said. “The way that we are going to achieve this is through grant funding. The more grant funding we can get, the more it drives down the cost for the end consumer.”

One specific grant that is on the broadband board’s radar is a potential $67.45 million award from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration agency.

State officials have submitted an application for the NTIA’s so-called middle mile program. If the funds are awarded, a 30% state match in the range of $30 million will have to be applied.

Dashboard information, last updated in November, from the Vermont Public Service Department indicates less than one-third – 30% – of the state’s population has access to top-tier high speed broadband, equating to 100/100 Mbps.

On the lowest end of the scale, 96.8% of Vermonters have access to the most primitive level of high-speed broadband, which is 4/1 Mbps.

In addition to the broadband board’s grant procurement efforts, Wednesday’s presentation touched on the role communications union districts play in bringing internet to underserved and unserved areas of Vermont, including some of the sparsest populated areas in the Northeast Kingdom.

To date, there are 10 established communications union districts – each representing a collective cross-section of communities within a particular geographic area. According to officials, the districts represent 75% of the areas of Vermont considered unserved and underserved.

Rob Vietzke, program manager with the Vermont Communications Union District Association, touched on the genesis of the groups, which began 15 years ago and gained momentum by an act of the General Assembly.

“Over time, as they were able to build up a little bit of revenue, they were able to go to the municipal bond market and borrow revenue bonds to expand networks,” Vietzke said.

As the broadband board charts its path forward in the coming years, Hallquist said it will be done methodically.

“We’re not going to overbuild fiber with fiber, that’s for sure,” she said.