Broadband availability map
The Vermont Broadband Mapping Team has recently released 2009 data on High Speed Broadband Availability compiled from requests of all providers and major institutions in Vermont. From this data we created a map that presents a picture of internet access throughout the state and highlights the “unserved” and “underserved” communities in Vermont by Census Block. Not all providers indicated their speed. As of June 2009 there were 41 Vermont towns with less than 10 percent high speed broadband access and 20 of those towns that have no broadband coverage. While there are a large number of ‘unserved’ and ‘underserved’ areas throughout Vermont, it is estimated that of the 293,096 serviceable buildings, 79 percent have access to high speed broadband. High speed broadband access, in this case, is defined as a maximum advertised download speed of 3 Mbps or greater.
PDF of Broadband Availability Map
The Vermont Broadband Mapping Team, which includes public, private, and academic entities, has developed a comprehensive and verified geographic inventory of broadband service availability throughout the state. The purpose of this mapping effort is to support broadband development programs and to enhance broadband access in Vermont. As a part of the Vermont Broadband Mapping Team’s goals is the development of a broadband web mapping tool that will allow users to search and visualize the broadband services in their area. The completion of the web-based mapping application is slated for September of this year. This project is a part of a larger, national, initiative by the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service’s Broadband Initiatives Program and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The National Broadband Plan includes six goals including that “every community should have affordable access to at least 1 Gbps broadband service.”
For more information about Vermont’s Broadband Mapping Team, visit: http://www.vcgi.org/about_vcgi/?page=./projects/bmi/default_content.cfm. For more information about the National Broadband Plan, visit: http://www.broadband.gov/
Map prepared by Katie Budreski, Stone Environmental Inc., Montpelier VT 05602, 802.229.1870, kbudreski@stone-env.com.
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This broadband map is not as misleading as the one that the Vermont Telecommunications Authority has published, but it is wrong, at least as regards the town of Fletcher (where I am chairman of the Select Board and of the Broadband Committee).
Fletcher has satellite service and sporadic cellular modem service, but no cable or DSL service at all. I do not consider cellular modems to be “broadband” due to their low data rates (out here), their exorbitant cost, and their limited data volumes (“unlimited” means “<5 GB/month" when you are dealing with a cellular company).
The danger of maps like this is that people may start to think that the problems are getting solved, while in fact they are not. We need 5 MB/second with unlimited total data at a cost of $20/month, not 700 KB/sec with a limit of 5 GB for $60/month. The status quo is making it impossible for people to do real work on the internet in rural Vermont.
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It is interesting to note that the area served by Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom is nearly 100% covered. This company made the financial commitment to its customers to provide this coverage and do it with all fiber optics. They should be seen as THE model that Fairpoint and all others should aspire to. Write something about them.
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I have to second what Jon Bondy is saying for our community here in East Dover as well. While West Dover is currently served by broadband cable largely along RT 100, East Dover over the hill from West Dover is only fed by cable at the very top of that hill. The local cable company is refusing to run any further cable lines, even though they have essentially a completely untapped market to serve (Our TV is satellite service only too).
The rest of East Dover is either dial-up (on very old, lossy copper lines) or has similar results as what was mentioned to the latter, satellite internet and NO cellular option either.
I’d actually take the cellular broadband, even with its data cap limit, over satellite which has no guaranteed data rates and typically becomes unusable between 430pm and 12 am due to their Net Operations Center flow control actions necessary because they’ve essentially oversold their satellite transponder space.
You end up having to adjust you work/life schedules around when rates are fastest and download limits are not in effect. This all for only $70 per month (or more) for (an un-guaranteed) 1 MB/sec download, 200 KB/sec upload and 300MB daily total download cap. And installation can cost up to $1000 depending on whether company will have to mount on a ground pole (most will have to) and how far said pole is from house (more $ over 100 feet of cable). Satellite internet by its very nature has too much signal latency to allow use of Skype/Vonage phone services and similar applications like multi-player gaming and stock trading.
I’m an internet marketing consultant to local businesses and certainly echo his sentiment about the impossibility for people to do real work on Vermont’s internet. Not only in dealing with it for me, but also what ever setups my customers have and trying to help them market their businesses to the world.