Unquestionably the major reason people relocate to Vermont is the quality of life. So much is known, written and romanticized about the quality of life here, I will not digress. Many reasons exist as to why the quality of life is so apparent, not the least of which is the relative low population of Vermont. As larger metropolitan areas such as Burlington are growing in population, the more rural areas are actually declining in population. However, demographics aside, the very element that makes Vermont so attractive to visitors and residents is not so attractive to large national and international businesses that supply our basic needs. Vermont has always had a very hard time attracting and keeping health insurers. The fundamental reason is simple, we are not big enough of a marketplace to make operations profitable. And this prevailing corporate attitude extends to all areas of our daily lives.

One of the greatest boons of recent years to the development of Vermont has been the internet. Many people who have bought homes with the hope of retiring here are finding that they can make their permanent move now and continue to work by way of the internet. The diversity of businesses that are conducted out of Vermont homes is staggering.  And what a great economic boost, no impact and the ability to conduct business here. Just as the internet helped to spurn this new growth, it has been proved difficult for internet providers to keep up with the daily changes to internet business. At first we were elated to have dialup, finally we were connected. But it didn’t take long before dailup was inadequate much too slow for most of what people typically need for communications. So, we rent a space in town and drive in the have a DLS connection. A little deflating for the bucolic scene of sitting on the porch with a laptop conducting trades. Yet, a week doesn’t go by that we don’t get a flyer in the mail from Comcast, Verizon among others offering us great broadband access along with bundled phone service and television. A quick phone call confirms what we already knew, “you don’t have service available in your area”. Enter the Vermont State legislature. In a very forward thinking move, they passed an initiative for all of Vermont to have broadband connection. Simply put, they streamlined the regulatory hurdles usually associated with such projects. This has enabled Vermonters to take on the business of developing, installing and managing broadband service on their own. and if we are going to do such a thing, lets replace the existing infrastructure with the very latest, very best, a Fiber-Optic network. What is in essence a grassroots effort, Vermonters are in the process of forming their own community owned, subscriber funded state of the art network. Currently, Burlington, VT is fully connected through Burlington Telecom. East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network , is well on its way to connecting 22 towns and communities in central Vermont. I strongly recommend that you visit their website. It certainly demonstrates the resolve of Vermonters to get the job done on our own. This is not only the way of the future for Vermont in terms of telecommunications but the premise could very well set the stage for other independent projects to benefit Vermonters without needing reluctant out of state corporations.

Posted by Wade I. Treadway