The governor announced the launch of an interactive website, BroadbandVT.org that uses “crowdsourcing,” or public input, to map dark spots in the state’s telecommunications infrastructure.
That data is crucial to progress, Shumlin said, at a time when a number of areas of the state remain without broadband access.
“I believe that we are working with unreliable data,” Shumlin said.
Shumlin said that according to data from one of the state’s telecom providers his home in Putney is listed as DSL-connected.
“That was news to me,” said the governor. “We cannot solve the problem until we know how big the problem is.”
Shumlin said the state doesn’t have accurate information about broadband coverage because it has relied on self-reported data from the telecommunications industry.
BroadbandVT.org is designed to improve the state’s data through self-reporting from consumers.
Vermonters can enter the addresses of locations where service is unavailable into a database on the website. The state will then, according to the website, make the information “available to providers in the hope that together we will raise their awareness of the level of need.”
As we know, when there’s something in society — and in this case it’s the evolution of technology — that is an absolute necessity to business, to jobs, and to life, it’s the government’s job to make sure that we deliver.”
– Gov. Peter Shumlin
Shumlin said the state’s $80,000 investment in the website is money well spent.
“Vermont is blessed in the fact that we got more money per capita of stimulus money than any other state in the country,” he said. “We’re making up for lost time.”
The state of Vermont has received $410 million in federal stimulus funds for telecommunications service. Most of the money was awarded to private utilities. The Shumlin administration is trying to work with VTel and Green Mountain Power to coordinate deployment of broadband infrastructure in the state’s telecommunications dead zones.
During his campaign for governor, Shumlin promised to bring broadband to “every last mile” in the state by 2013. He has made the fulfillment of that pledge one of the top priorities of his administration.
Internet and cell phone service, Shumlin said, “is about universal access to a necessity in life.”
The Douglas administration also promised to bring broadband to every corner of the state, but failed to meet its deadline of complete coverage by 2010, in part due to a lack of funding. The Vermont Telecommunications Authority was charged to oversee deployment. When Shumlin became governor, he hired Karen Marshall, a former Comcast executive, as chief of ConnectVermont, a state program that is charged with enhancing access to information through technology. The program has funded the development of www.ThinkVermont.com and www.VermontVacation.com. ConnectVermont is funded by the Federal Highway Administration. Now the VTA and ConnectVermont are both responsible for different aspects of the state’s broadband effort.
According to telecommunications providers, about 85 percent of Vermont homes and businesses are connected. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration used census data to determine that broadband is available to 68 percent of Vermont households.
Up to this point, the state has used data reported by telecommunications providers to assess the availability of broadband in Vermont. That data, however, is inaccurate, according to Marshall.
“Each provider reports their data differently, uses different standards,” said Marshall.
BroadbandVT.org will enable the state to improve the accuracy of its database. Users can plug in their location to view connectivity options or report a lack of connectivity. The state collates the data to determine what areas providers haven’t yet developed — that “last mile,” in most cases — and then coordinates with private broadband providers to bring those sites into the twenty-first century. The website, which works with dial-up connections, will be followed by a flurry of letters using the “old fashioned US postal service” Shumlin said, to reach out to Vermonters without Internet access over the next few weeks.
“We’re not pinging our providers” over bad data, said Marshall. “That data is really, really, really important to us as we decide what our solutions are, where we’re going to spend public dollars, and what we should ask our providers to do in terms of filling in the gaps.”
Government’s responsibility?
According to BroadbandVT.org, harsh topography, “sparse population, and slow adoption rates in newly served areas provide lower incentives for private investment.” Many of these locations were areas that telecommunications providers didn’t find profitable.
“As we know, when there’s something in society — and in this case it’s the evolution of technology — that is an absolute necessity to business, to jobs, and to life, it’s the government’s job to make sure that we deliver,” Shumlin said. “Frankly our problem with economic development in Vermont is that we’re behind many other places in the world in getting this done. It didn’t seem like without government intervention it was happening.”
One of the obstacles has been environmental permitting for infrastructure expansion, according to Shumlin.
According to telecommunications providers, the state hinders connectivity by limiting where and how broadband infrastructure can be built. Shumlin said the ecological impact of telecommunications infrastructure “an infinitesimal challenge…compared to power lines.”
The governor said he’ll soon sign S.78, the telecom bill, which streamlines the permitting process for telecommunications infrastructure.
Shumlin was bullish about universal broadband by the 2013 deadline, but he said cellular service will remain a challenge.
“Let’s thank God that 2013 has 12 months in it,” he said.
