Telecom goals stir debate
Gov. sets revised goals for e-state
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: September 3, 2008
MONTPELIER - The Vermont Telecommunications Authority will soon begin construction on cell and wireless Internet towers and is still on track to complete Gov. James Douglas' goal of universal cell phone and broadband Internet coverage by the end of 2010, officials said Tuesday.
But Democrats in this election year questioned whether that goal would actually be achieved, particularly since the state did not complete another benchmark established by Douglas in 2004.
"Working with private sector partners we will create a wireless network that covers all of our major transportation arteries, and extend broadband Internet access to 90 percent of our homes and businesses by 2007," Douglas said in 2004.
Douglas spokesman Jason Gibbs said the 2007 goal established in 2004 has been modified as technology has improved and it has become clear there remain pockets that need attention because of the state's topography.
"In 2007 there is no doubt our goal changed and became universal access to these services," he said. "I think it is fair to say that the goal evolved."
"That 2004 goal was very bold and very aggressive," Gibbs added. In addition, how close the state is to that goal depends on whether coverage is measured by land area or by population.
Cell phone coverage is nearly complete along the interstate corridors, Douglas said Tuesday. Although final estimates have not been completed by the authority, it is unlikely that 90 percent of the state is covered for cell phones or broadband, however.
"What the Vermont Telecommunications Authority has found in the case of broadband, for example, is that the industry standard for what is considered high speed has nearly doubled," Gibbs added.
Jill Krowinski, campaign manager for Douglas' campaign challenger Gaye Symington, said that the question is a sign that the governor does not meet the objectives he sets.
"Jim Douglas is unable to deliver on his promises to Vermonters and instead moves the goal line to make his meager record appear in a better light," Krowinski said. "But Vermonters deserve real results and real leadership, which is why we need a new governor."
Gibbs countered that Douglas' Vermont Telecommunications Authority - approved by the Legislature in 2007 - is the only strategy proposed to create complete cell phone and high speed Internet coverage.
"If they don't like what we have laid out, what is their alternative?" he asked.
Part of the problem facing the authority, which has been at work for less than a year, is that the "easy" or profitable parts of the state with dense populations have already been reached by private companies offering Internet and cell phone service.
"Our goal is everywhere else," said Mary Evslin, chairperson of the authority. "Our task is not downtown Burlington; our task is Eden," she said, using a small and remote town in the Northeast Kingdom as an example.
That means the authority must come up with new financial and technical ways of getting the towers built to provide the wireless service.
One way is to put them on top of wind turbines. That means they are already reachable by electrical lines. Another may be to use radio sending and receiving units based on newer technology, she said.
There are two basic paths open to the authority, which has $40 million available from a type of bonding authority and some new tweaks to permitting regulations to help it along. The authority can build towers - perhaps 200 or more - in places now without cell phone and Internet coverage (now being mapped by the authority) and lease space on them to companies.
Or it can put up towers (some on church steeples or barn silos) complete with radio equipment, acting as a roaming service provider to other companies and charging them when their customers access their signals.
Meanwhile, the ability to issue bond debt dependent on potential revenue - the kind of bonds the authority can use - has changed as well. With the tightening of the credit markets, issuing bonds has become more difficult, although what the impact of that will be on the telecommunications plan remains to be seen.
Along with the Vermont Public Service Department, the authority has encouraged telephone, wireless and cable companies to completely build-out the areas where they expand services so the state will not be left with a series of small "Swiss cheese holes" of isolated pockets that are not served and are hard to fill in.
Despite the obstacles, the authority and the state remain optimistic there will be universal coverage by the end of 2010.
"We are confident it is going to work," Evslin said.
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