Scott signs broadband bill in ‘very appropriate’ place

This article by Chris Mays originally appeared June 20 in the Brattleboro Reformer.

DOVER — Gov. Phil Scott considered it “very appropriate” to sign legislation intended to expand broadband in the Deerfield Valley.

Scott said when he visited the valley in September 2017, the day started with a community forum in Readsboro, where initiatives and concerns around broadband had been discussed, as had the economically thriving times of a town that once had a hospital and two theaters.

Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan

Dover Town Hall

“Community effort to bring back those days remain,” Scott said, calling pride in the local area and hope of revitalization “inspiring.”

At Dover Town Hall on Thursday, Scott signed into law H.513, saying it “increases funding to the Connectivity Initiative, which provides access to internet services in unserved or underserved areas. Because communities have the best understanding of what they need, it enables the Vermont Economic Development Authority to lend money for build out by community groups. It also creates a new broadband innovation grant program, which will fund grassroots solutions for rural Vermont and provide communities with technical assistance from the Vermont Department of Public Service.”

Read full article at the Brattleboro Reformer.

(Fair use with written permission from the New England Newspapers Inc.)

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan

2 thoughts on “Scott signs broadband bill in ‘very appropriate’ place

  1. When I lived in VT, which happened to also be in the most populous county in VT the FASTEST internet I could buy was 1.5mbs DSL. That wasn’t that long ago, and that is STILL the fastest you can buy as I still keep in contact with my neighbors. For the same price I was paying in VT I can get 100 mbs.

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