[L]awmakers are prepared to seek a refund on a $2.6 million grant the state gave Vermont Telephone Co. in 2012 to augment its wireless Internet project to also provide cellphone service to unserved areas of the state.
The Senate passed legislation as an attachment to one of this year’s utility bills, H.577. The bill would require VTel to pay back the money if it doesn’t finish providing cell service to at least 2,000 Vermont customers by Nov. 1, 2017.
The Vermont Telecommunications Authority, an independent branch of government that started under Gov. Jim Douglas, awarded the grant in December 2012 as a way to add to the company’s $116 million telecommunications project that included the Wireless Open World initiative.
The original grant was for $5 million, but the state cut it in half in May 2013 when it turned out VTel could not build as much as it had originally promised. The original deadline for the work was Dec. 31, 2014.
The Vermont Telecommunications Authority folded on June 30, 2015. The authority’s power now lies in the Public Service Department. And if VTel doesn’t meet the requirements set out in H.577, the state would use the $2.6 million for the Connectivity Initiative, the program the department uses to award grants for the expansion of broadband.
Michel Guite, the president of VTel, told the Senate Finance Committee on April 28 that he can get voice service through the Wireless Open World project, but implementing the voice service has been slowed because VTel needed to set up Enhanced 911 service first. Guite also said it would be fair if the state took the $2.6 million back if the work isn’t completed.
VTel has also been under legislative scrutiny for the Internet portion of the massive $116 million project. On Tuesday, Guite submitted new information to the Legislature on his company’s progress on the Internet portion of Wireless Open World. He sent a letter that day to Sen. Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Bill Botzow, D-Pownal, who chairs the House Commerce Committee, saying his company’s wireless Internet project covers the vast majority of the territory where it built towers.
But he did not provide data on which specific addresses in Vermont can get service through the project; the Public Service Department says it has been trying for months to obtain that information from the company. Instead, Guite offered projections on what percentages of relevant addresses would be served when the company finishes the project.
Guite said VTel has built 152 wireless towers, “135 of which are providing commercial service today.” In the areas VTel serves “or will soon make available,” coverage reaches 95 percent of the square miles, 98 percent of the population and 98 percent of the total housing units, he said. He did not provide information on how many people are served as compared to the 2010 grant application.
“We are happy to share with you and the (Public Service Department) the specific data underlying these calculations, if that would be helpful,” Guite said. “However, VTel is hopeful that this analysis will finally put to rest any concerns about the robustness of VTel Wireless’ network, or the scope of its service coverage.”
Guite asked lawmakers not to move forward with Senate Resolution 13, which asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to audit the Wireless Open World project. The Legislature adjourned before the Senate Finance Committee took any action on the resolution.
Guite said April 28 that the company had built 131 wireless towers, and 123 were functional. He also walked back a 2010 promise to cover “virtually 100 percent of Vermont’s unserved population,” saying any promise to “serve absolutely every home” was a misunderstanding.
On April 15, Guite said the company had about 1,000 customers. The May 3 letter says the number of VTel wireless customers is now up to 1,200.
Neither Guite nor his Montpelier-based lobbyist responded to an email Friday asking why he now says the number of wireless customers is 1,200, or why it is so difficult to provide address-by-address data.