Brattleboro, Vermont, Looking at Muni Broadband Options

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that the town of Brattleboro (pop. 12,100), located in southwest Vermont, has decided to investigate the possibility of developing a regional or municipal project to improve Internet access for residents and businesses.

Examining New England

According to the Reformer:

For more than a year, [Assistant Town Manager Patrick] Moreland has been looking at different projects in New England. His work had been sparked at an earlier board meeting after a resident described benefits of a municipally owned internet service including higher speeds and lower costs while also keeping a net-neutral environment.

Moreland and community leaders have researched publicly owned networks in Leverett, Massachusetts; Concord, Massachusetts; and the regional network EC Fiber in Vermont.

During a Select Board meeting in early October, Moreland presented research and potential options to his fellow board members. Board member David Schoales expressed keen interest in pursuing the issue further, describing fiber optic connectivity as “a basic utility.”

"Fiber optics has created a technology revolution and we are not being allowed to participate," he said. "We're locked into copper cables, which are like a 2-inch pipe compared to the 15-mile-wide river that fiber represents. It's a miraculous technology that means unlimited, real-time communications, no interruptions, at a much lower cost. It enables new applications, new ways of making a living, innovation, economic development, equity of opportunity, new ways of accessing health services and educational opportunities and much more that we can't yet imagine."

He encouraged the board to move forward on a feasibility study. After further discussion, members of the board decided to carry the discussion further.

Read more about the meeting and the discussion in the Brattleboro Reformer.