If we could step back a decade and replicate the Vermont Communications Union Districts (CUDs) nationwide, our national broadband policy options and broadband maps might look very different today and going forward. The CUDs, combined with the New England structure of towns that incorporates both urbanized areas and their surrounding rural countryside, provides an interesting model to provide ubiquitous fiber broadband infrastructure in very rural places. The CUD framework allows regional leaders to think about the public-sector role at scale on a time frame that includes consideration of a regional publicly owned network. This is quite different from most federal and state policies and the resulting funding programs that deal with address-specific connectivity strategies rather than taking a more comprehensive regional approach.
Initially, Vermont’s broadband initiatives began in the most developed communities, with a goal for better business broadband or for higher speeds than those being provided by the incumbent internet service provider. In a next phase, the goal was to bring better broadband throughout a school district or county. The geographic scale of these efforts inhibited a regional approach as each county tried to solve its own problem. Counties generally viewed subsidization of the private sector as their shortest and best route to better broadband.
ECFiber was a national public broadband pioneer, beginning its efforts in 2007. ECFiber emerged from the melding of two groups: local leaders who determined that a regional approach was the best way forward, and ValleyNet, a nonprofit ISP that was formed by the Dartmouth technology community.
F. X. Flinn, chair of the ECFiber CUD, cites a confluence of factors for its success. ECFiber initially operated as a joint-powers organization across the towns in the region. Using a very hyper-local approach, ECFiber recruited area residents to invest $5,000 to $10,000 each to provide early-stage capital. The goal was to use local investor funds to reach a scale that would demonstrate going-concern status. in 2014, that was achieved, and ECFiber sought to issue its municipal revenue bond. An obstacle emerged when bond issuers determined that ECFiber needed to have a more formal status to be bondable. At the request of ECFiber, the legislature created the CUDs, special purpose municipalities, as a bonding vehicle.
In 2019, when ECFiber went back to the legislature for “one-touch make-ready” rules to streamline pole attachment rules, the legislature recognized the success and the potential for statewide broadband deployment. As a result, the legislature provided grants for organizational support, feasibility studies, and loans. The work of ECFiber had laid the foundation for statewide action.
ECFiber now provides service to more than 8,000 customers and passes more than 18,000 previously unserved locations over a 2,000-square-mile area encompassing 31 towns. The district contracts with GWI to manage the network and to deliver ISP services.
The COVID pandemic accelerated regional leader interest in CUDs, and seven new CUDs were formed, joining ECFiber and CVFiber, which was established in late 2019. The legislature allocated both Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support CUD planning and deployment using the public infrastructure ownership/private ISP model.
The CUDs meet regularly through the Vermont CUD Association (VCUDA), which supports shared learning and spurs enhanced collaboration. CUD staff and board chairs meet regularly to get smarter, avoid pitfalls of rapid broadband expansion, and consider opportunities to do joint purchasing of services, like accounting services. The Center on Rural Innovation provides training for CUD staff and board members.
Maple Broadband is a relatively new CUD, having just launched service in February 2023. Maple’s fiber network has 38 route miles and reaches 405 locations. Maple Broadband partners with Waitsfield and Champlain Telephone Company to deliver ISP services.
According to Maple Broadband Executive Director Ellie de Villiers, “Don’t outsource what you don’t understand!” She believes that it is essential for the CUD staff and boards to adopt best practices in governance and oversight.
The CUDs are making big decisions in a fast-moving and dynamic environment that will have long-term impacts on their regions. De Villiers always wants to ensure that both she and her board fully understand the complicated choices that they are making. This leads to careful investigation and sound decision-making. She believes that there will be a growing number of opportunities for the CUDs to collaborate so that both large and small CUDs can operate effectively.
Each Vermont CUD has its own unique territory. Northeast Kingdom (NEK) is one of the most rural and faces terrain, demographic, and density challenges. NEK partners with Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom, a privately owned telephone company.
Executive Director Christa Shute says the CUD struggles to achieve a balance between ubiquitous coverage and affordability across the region. Those goals are both negatively influenced by the condition and ownership of utility poles, a challenge that is enhanced due to having multiple electric utilities serving the region. In some parts of the NEK CUD, there are gaps in pole availability due to electric boundaries. Trees and rocks make widespread fiber burial challenging and expensive.
The CUD service areas combine many residents with low incomes with part-time property owners who use their camps for year-round outdoor recreation. The network is a critical part of the region’s economic development strategy.
The State of Vermont has created and supported regional public broadband development through the Communications Union Districts. These regions are all engaged in identifying their best opportunities to ensure high-quality broadband deployment and operations, making decisions about technologies and partnerships. The unique Vermont strategy of creating and supporting the regional CUDs might provide an interesting contrast with other state broadband deployment strategies over the next five years of BEAD funding.
If we could step back a decade and replicate the Vermont Communications Union Districts (CUDs) nationwide, our national broadband policy options and broadband maps might look very different today and going forward. The CUDs, combined with the New England structure of towns that incorporates both urbanized areas and their surrounding rural countryside, provides an interesting model to provide ubiquitous fiber broadband infrastructure in very rural places. The CUD framework allows regional leaders to think about the public-sector role at scale on a time frame that includes consideration of a regional publicly owned network. This is quite different from most federal and state policies and the resulting funding programs that deal with address-specific connectivity strategies rather than taking a more comprehensive regional approach.
Initially, Vermont’s broadband initiatives began in the most developed communities, with a goal for better business broadband or for higher speeds than those being provided by the incumbent internet service provider. In a next phase, the goal was to bring better broadband throughout a school district or county. The geographic scale of these efforts inhibited a regional approach as each county tried to solve its own problem. Counties generally viewed subsidization of the private sector as their shortest and best route to better broadband.
ECFiber is a national public broadband pioneer, beginning its efforts in 2007. ECFiber emerged from the melding of two groups: local leaders who determined that a regional approach was the best way forward, and ValleyNet, a nonprofit ISP that was formed by the Dartmouth technology community.
F. X. Flinn, chair of the ECFiber CUD, cites a confluence of factors for its success. ECFiber initially operated as a joint-powers organization across the towns in the region. Using a very hyper-local approach, ECFiber recruited area residents to invest $5,000 to $10,000 each to provide early-stage capital. The goal was to use local investor funds to reach a scale that would demonstrate going-concern status. in 2014, that was achieved, and ECFiber sought to issue its municipal revenue bond. An obstacle emerged when bond issuers determined that ECFiber needed to have a more formal status to be bondable. At the request of ECFiber, the legislature created the CUDs, special purpose municipalities, as a bonding vehicle.
In 2019, when ECFiber went back to the legislature for “one-touch make-ready” rules to streamline pole attachment rules, the legislature recognized the success and the potential for statewide broadband deployment. As a result, the legislature provided grants for organizational support, feasibility studies, and loans. The work of ECFiber had laid the foundation for statewide action.
ECFiber now provides service to more than 8,000 customers and passes more than 18,000 previously unserved locations over a 2,000-square-mile area encompassing 31 towns. The district contracts with GWI to manage the network and to deliver ISP services.
The COVID pandemic accelerated regional leader interest in CUDs, and seven new CUDs were formed, joining ECFiber and CVFiber, which was established in late 2019. The legislature allocated both Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support CUD planning and deployment using the public infrastructure ownership/private ISP model.
The CUDs meet regularly through the Vermont CUD Association (VCUDA), which supports shared learning and spurs enhanced collaboration. CUD staff and board chairs meet regularly to get smarter, avoid pitfalls of rapid broadband expansion, and consider opportunities to do joint purchasing of services, like accounting services. The Center on Rural Innovation provides training for CUD staff and board members.
Maple Broadband is a relatively new CUD, having just launched service in February 2023. Maple’s fiber network has 38 route miles and reaches 405 locations. Maple Broadband partners with Waitsfield and Champlain Telephone Company to deliver ISP services.
According to Maple Broadband Executive Director Ellie de Villiers, “Don’t outsource what you don’t understand!” She believes that it is essential for the CUD staff and boards to adopt best practices in governance and oversight.
The CUDs are making big decisions in a fast-moving and dynamic environment that will have long-term impacts on their regions. De Villiers always wants to ensure that both she and her board fully understand the complicated choices that they are making. This leads to careful investigation and sound decision-making. She believes that there will be a growing number of opportunities for the CUDs to collaborate so that both large and small CUDs can operate effectively.
Each Vermont CUD has its own unique territory. Northeast Kingdom (NEK) is one of the most rural and faces terrain, demographic, and density challenges. NEK partners with Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom, a privately owned telephone company.
Executive Director Christa Shute says the CUD struggles to achieve a balance between ubiquitous coverage and affordability across the region. Those goals are both negatively influenced by the condition and ownership of utility poles, a challenge that is enhanced due to having multiple electric utilities serving the region. In some parts of the NEK CUD, there are gaps in pole availability due to electric boundaries. Trees and rocks make widespread fiber burial challenging and expensive.
The CUD service areas combine many residents with low incomes with part-time property owners who use their camps for year-round outdoor recreation. The network is a critical part of the region’s economic development strategy.
The State of Vermont has created and supported regional public broadband development through the Communications Union Districts. These regions are all engaged in identifying their best opportunities to ensure high-quality broadband deployment and operations, making decisions about technologies and partnerships. The unique Vermont strategy of creating and supporting the regional CUDs might provide an interesting contrast with other state broadband deployment strategies over the next five years of BEAD funding.
In 2019, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) named Pharr, Texas, the worst-connected city in the nation based on the extent to which Pharr residents were provided access to the internet. Unfortunately, this statistic had been previously evident to community leaders. In 2015, Mayor Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez recognized that the digital divide was a result of lack of affordable service and accessibility. Due to the absence of cost-effective internet access, the city of Pharr classified the pertinent issue as a critical community project, with the intentions of bridging the digital divide in Pharr.
In 2017, the City of Pharr, in collaboration with Pharr–San Juan–Alamo Independent School District, Region One Education Service Center, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and private entities such as BBVA Compass bank, announced a pilot project, Pharr Life Net, that brought free internet access to 50 families in their homes. The City of Pharr invested $90,000 in the household study on external devices and equipment for each home, and $100,000 was invested through a Federal Reserve partnership with BBVA Compass for a financial-impact feasibility study.
Team Pharr.Net is off to an exceptional start, with more than 4,000 active household subscribers. Additionally, due to the high volume of business, the city continues to install internet service in an average of 120 homes per week.
Own Your Internet 