UPDATE The Vermont Department of Public Service has terminated its partnership with cell service provider CoverageCo, leaving several thousands of state residents temporarily without cell coverage, according to VTDigger.
Commissioner June Tierney issued a statement on Thursday, saying the agreement has ended.
“After giving CoverageCo a fair opportunity to demonstrate its ability to meet its contractual obligations to the state, I made the decision to terminate our master lease agreements with CoverageCo,” she wrote. “On August 22nd, I sent CoverageCo notices terminating the three master lease agreements with the company.”
Other service providers may apply to replace CoverageCo. The deadline for applications is September 30 with services expected to resume by the end of October. The state will contribute up to $900,000 for the project according to the RFP.
Richard Biby, CoverageCo’s CEO, when reached for comment by Inside Towers, said he has no comment at this time but will be issuing a statement in the next week.
“The big issue right now to me is the 911 service,” Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin told VTDigger, “Where there is a void … those calls can’t be made and that should be a concern to all of us.”
Vermont’s Enhanced 911 board reported that in 2017, 804 emergency calls in Vermont were made through CoverageCo, up from 763 in 2016.
CoverageCo cited AT&T’s decision not to buy into the service and lack of call volume as factors that led to its overall failure in Vermont the VTDigger reported.
August 28, 2018
