In the 18th episode of “Travels With Charlie — Vermont Politics in Real Life,” host Charlie Papillo discusses cell and broadband coverage with Rep. Laura Sibilia and Sen. Ann Cummings.
As Charlie and his guests attempt to solve puzzles at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, they discuss the bigger puzzle of connectivity across Vermont, and whether advances in technology could make traditional broadband infrastructure obsolete.
The cell phone issue is classic Vermont. One group complains about the dead cell phone areas in the state and continue to beat on the cell providers. Yet, when the providers propose a reasonable and workable solution involving the strategic placement of cell phone towers, all the do gooders scream about contaminating their precious ridge lines. The fact that today’s towers are designed to blend in with their surroundings makes no difference. Simple, choose good service with towers or poor service with no towers. Make up your minds because you CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!!!!
May be we could advise / inform them that people are ruining the state. Hopefully they’ll listen and go (please). Just like the Halley’s Comet, those people thought with it’s coming, the world will end and commit Hari Kari. Any new “stuff” in VT will be doomsday.
Well Said, and that extends to much of this country.
It is surprising to hear Sen. Cummings talk about “recreating our rural economy” with a straight face after being one of the primary architects of legislation (Act 46) that has begun a process of shutting down the elementary schools in these rural communities. Young entrepreneurs with families aren’t going to move to a town where they have to put six and seven year old children on long bus rides every morning. But Sen. Cummings has helped give us a governance scheme where bigger towns with the most votes can take students and (and their tuition dollars) at will. It has little to do with the so-called goals of academic quality or fiscal efficiency. If we sincerely care about the rural economy then Vermont’s rural towns need their elementary schools just as much, if not more, than they need broad band and faster internet.