Telecom company VTel Wireless was awarded an $81.7 million grant and a $35.2 million loan in 2010 for a fiber-optic cable project for households and institutions in the Springfield, VT, area, dubbed “World of Wireless.” Additionally, the money was to go toward building 119 towers and antennas for a system of wireless broadband in rural areas in the state. When applying for funding, VTel also promised to invest millions of its own money toward the project, which was to be completed in the summer of 2013 after an extension.
Now, according to VTDigger.org, five Vermont state senators and 46 state representatives are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to audit the project, VTel’s performance in building the infrastructure and the financials of the grant and loan. Additionally, VTel is being asked to finish three remaining promised towers. Dubbed HR19, the House passed the resolution April 15, and referred it to the finance committee, stating that VTel “has failed to meet the stated objectives of the grant to the detriment of many expectant Vermont communities.” The bill’s sponsors claim that the work yet to be completed has left about 33,000 households unserved, with an unnecessary focus on higher speeds in existing networks, instead of new build outs.
VTel Wireless President Michel Guité told VTDigger.org that the project is “largely complete.” He said, “about $24.3 million of the USDA Rural Utilities Service grant and $10.5 million of the loan went toward the wireless project. The company used $22 million in its licensing and $22 million of its own money.” Guité said that 124 towers and antennas were built, which covered 97 percent of the locations promised. He said the project is a “long, slow process,” but that “it’s following the pattern that we had predicted.”
Jim Porter, telecommunications director at the state’s public service department, told VTDigger.org that he too is frustrated. He’s asked VTel for “granular, address-by-address data for its coverage” in order to determine whether certain areas need more funding for broadband. He said that he has not received the data, which Guité said was not a simple request. He said that VTel “uses the same off-the-shelf software to project where its wireless signal reaches, and has shared that with Porter, but the company may not be able to find every rural home that can’t receive VTel’s signal.”
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