(Host) Vermonters may soon see a lot more telecommunications towers on the landscape.
That’s because the state authority charged with delivering universal broadband and cell service is looking for up to 200 more tower sites around the state.
VPR’s John Dillon reports:
(Dillon) The Legislature last year set an ambitious goal to reach every corner of Vermont with high speed Internet and cell coverage by the end of 2010.
The state Telecommunications Authority is rushing to meet that goal. Bill Shuttleworth is the authority’s executive director. He says the same towers that can provide cell phone service can also be used to provide wireless Internet.
(Shuttleworth) “When we focus on mobile voice, we also get the mobile data.”
(Dillon) The Telecommunications Authority is conducting a statewide inventory of existing towers. It’s also asking landowners for potential tower sites.
Shuttleworth says about 50 percent of the state’s population – and about 38 percent of its geography – are now covered by cell service.
(Shuttleworth) “So if I move that metric from 50 percent coverage to 90 percent coverage, I need something in the ballpark of 200 more towers.”
(Dillon) The towers would have to be about 100 feet tall. They need unencumbered views, and would require electric power. The authority is looking at non-tower sites as well – such as church steeples and farm silos.
The Authority is allowed to borrow up to $40 million to help pay for the communications infrastructure. How much of that money would be spent on towers is an open question.
(Shuttleworth) “Am I prepared to use bonding capability to build towers? The VTA would build them and own them and make them available on an open-access basis. The answer is absolutely. Do I know how much of the $40 million I need? No.”
(Dillon) But the focus on wireless technology has concerned some who are trying to launch high-speed fiber optic networks. The critics of the VTA approach say these systems provide much faster Internet speeds, and use a more robust technology.
Jim Masland is a Democratic representative from Thetford who is working to bring a fiber network to 23 towns in the upper Connecticut River valley.
(Masland) “I don’t think it will make the goal by 2010, because in addition to the 200 towers, I think most of the wireless providers will find they need supplemental towers in a number of locations to get into the nooks and crannies and back beyond of the state. And all of this is going to take a considerable amount of time.”
(Dillon) Masland believes that by focusing on towers the Telecom Authority is neglecting fiber optic technology.
(Masland) "And the other unfortunate thing about pursuing a wireless strategy is that putting $40 million of essentially public money – bonding money – into this type of infrastructure will prolong or postpone investment in fiber to the home, fiber to the business, solutions that also require substantial sums of money.”
(Dillon) But Shuttleworth says the authority is not pursuing a wireless-only strategy. He says existing telecommunications providers – including Fairpoint Communications and Comcast Cable – will soon announce plans on where they will expand their networks. He says the authority will work with those providers to reach the uncovered pockets of the state.
For VPR News I’m John Dillon in Montpelier.