Vermont Moves Forward with $2.5M Fiber Drop Initiative

WASHINGTON, September 9, 2024 – Vermont broadband officials unanimously agreed Monday to move forward with a plan to use $2.5 million of the state’s remaining federal COVID-19 relief money to help low-income residents connect to nearby fiber internet networks. 

The decision came after the Vermont Community Broadband Board solicited ideas from the state’s Communications Unions Districts. The top request from CUDs was for the money to be used for long and underground fiber drops to address an affordability barrier for many low and middle-income Vermonters. 

During the VCBB meeting on Monday, the Board decided to remove a reference to 'aerial' fiber from the program’s bylaws, to focus on 'funding drops' as a general best practice. The proposed ‘Long Drop’ program will prioritize the deployment of fiber drops to homes located more than 400 feet away from existing fiber lines. 

“It was quite the process,” said VCBB Deputy Director Rob Fish, reflecting on the decisionmaking around how to allocate the remaining relief funds. “There were ideas of using it for federal matches, trying to complete universal service plans, funds for CUDs, and workforce [development].”

However, VCBB staff ultimately decided to use the funds to support the ‘Long Drop’ initiative after it surveyed CUDs and found that there were nearly 1000 locations along constructed broadband routes where a customer had requested service, but could not afford to fund the construction of the long drop necessary to attain it. 

“Having the fiber go by is not enough if you are in a manufactured home or if you have an extra-long driveway,” Fish said. “We wanted to address that.”

This story was updated at 12:10 p.m. on September 13, 2024 to clarify that the program will not prioritize underground fiber drops, as was previously reported. The board decided to remove 'aerial' from the bylaws to focus on 'funding drops' as a general best practice, according to VCBB Deputy Director Rob Fish.