State looks to push broadband into all rural areas

But it’s not an ideal setup, and limitations on speed and data make using a popular service such as Netflix impossible.

"It’s not reliable. It isn’t always strong," Pennington said, adding that "it’s not even fast enough to watch a YouTube video."

That soon may change for her and others who gathered Monday evening at Putney’s fire station for an update on efforts to connect all Vermonters with broadband service by the end of next year.

Leading the session was Karen Marshall, chief of Connect VT and the person responsible for overseeing implementation of Gov. Peter Shumlin’s vision for a universally broadband-connected state.

Marshall acknowledged "a lot of moving parts" in the process but contended there is no moving target: All homes will have broadband access by Dec. 31, 2013, she said.

While more than 92 percent of the state’s addresses now are covered, Marshall added at Monday’s meeting that "we’ve got a lot of work to do down here, quite honestly."

The maps she brought proved her point. They broke the area into census blocks and employed a three-color scheme: Green meant every home in a given block has broadband; yellow indicated that there are "projects in process" to make that happen; and red market blocks where some residents have no broadband option.

A map that took into account both fixed and mobile broadband access showed some red areas in southeastern Vermont. When mobile access was factored out, much more red seeped in.

State Rep. Mike Mrowicki, a Democrat and Putney resident, said the broadband effort’s initial maps seemed to indicate that the area was well-connected.

"I said, ‘That’s not accurate,’" Mrowicki said. "And we were able to make the case that we should be on the list of targeted communities."

In addition to Putney, those "targeted communities" covered by Monday’s meeting included Brookline, Dummerston, Newfane, Rockingham, Townshend and Westminster. About 30 people attended; a show of hands indicated that most reside in Putney and Dummerston.

Officials are on a tour of such communities statewide, and they want residents to speak up if they don’t have broadband access.

While Marshall noted before Monday’s meeting that officials have broadband data "down to the address level," she also encouraged everyone in attendance to check their addresses and verify whether they do or do not have service.

"Part of why I’m here tonight is to proof our data," she said.

Officials expect to use that data to meet three goals: First, "the No. 1 mission is, how do we get everyone connected" with broadband via a fixed or mobile service, Marshall said.

Next, each home should have access to both types of service, she said. And finally, officials want to increase broadband speeds as consumers use more data in coming years.

"It’s about, going forward, how do we deal with the level of (data) consumption," Marshall said.

Meeting the initial goal of universal connectivity must happen by the end of 2013, she said, because that’s the "expiration date" for $410 million in funding for the effort.

That funding is critical because bringing broadband to rural areas is not cheap. For example, putting fiber-optic cable on existing poles costs $40,000 per mile, Marshall said.

"People are far-flung," she said. "It’s a challenge."

Marshall spent part of Monday’s session discussing the efforts of Springfield-based Vermont Telephone Co., or VTel, to spread high-speed, wireless broadband service.

That project includes local towns. For instance, when the VTel project is finished, it’s expected that 72 percent of Putney’s "rooftops" will have broadband access, Marshall said. That number rises to 87 percent in Townshend.