[T]he federal government told Vermont’s congressional delegation this month that the Vermont Telephone Co. has met all of the requirements to build its Wireless Open World project.
Brandon McBride, the administrator for the federal Rural Utilities Service, wrote to the delegation May 9 that VTel has built 131 wireless broadband towers in Vermont, and 124 have been tested and are ready to be used.
McBride wrote the letter in response to an April 6 letter from the delegation that asked “what actions” the federal agency is taking to make sure VTel completes the project and “what corrective steps” the agency would take if the company “fails to deliver on its obligations to the federal government and the taxpayers.”
The Rural Utilities Service is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it’s the same federal agency that subsidized rural electrification in the 1930s. The agency awarded VTel an $81.7 million grant and a $35.2 million loan in 2010 as part of the federal stimulus package to bring wireless broadband to “virtually 100 percent of Vermont’s unserved population.”
Wireless Open World was to use a portion of that award package to bring those addresses wireless 4G/LTE service — the same Internet technology that smartphones use. But state officials and Vermont’s congressional delegation continue to raise questions about whether the project is serving the Vermonters who were once promised coverage.
McBride wrote in the letter to Vermont’s congressional delegation that VTel “has met its obligations” to the federal government and “constructed their network in accordance with the award application and loan-grant agreement” and is required to keep bringing service to customers for the term of its loan.
McBride referenced VTel’s original award application and its loan-grant agreement. Those documents total about 900 pages, and more than two-thirds of those pages are redacted, with references to exemptions under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
McBride said in the letter that the Rural Utilities Service “does not field check customer locations unless it funds equipment at the location,” and that it “does not have the resources to test signal degradation, and cannot verify the reliability of service.”
A spokesperson for the Rural Utilities Service had not returned an emailed request for comment as of Wednesday afternoon, a day after it was sent. The spokesperson said previously that the agency “routinely audits all loan projects” and “provided sufficient oversight” of the project.”
Additionally, the letter says that even though VTel has met its obligations, the system is not “fully operational” and VTel has not provided “a definitive time frame” for when it will be. When that happens, McBride wrote, the agency will conduct field checks to check area coverage and speed.
David Weinstein, an aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in an interview that he was disappointed that the federal government considers building wireless towers compliance with the $116 million award agreement.
“To my mind, the federal government did not provide VTel with $116 million to build infrastructure, but to provide Internet access for unserved Vermonters,” Weinstein said.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said the following in a joint statement: “The basic principle behind public-private partnerships is that, in return for scarce federal resources, private sector companies must meet their obligations and be transparent about their challenges and accomplishments.
“While the company may have met the letter of its grant agreement with RUS, there remain questions about whether it has met the spirit of its agreement by reaching all eligible Vermont homes in the targeted service area. Until those questions are answered, and until all Vermonters seeking service have it, the jury is out on this important taxpayer funded project.”
