June 2022

The Southern Vermont Communications Union District (CUD) says its partnership with Consolidated Communications — and investments by that company, and federal and state government — will make the goal of finally making universal high-speed internet access possible. The Southern Vermont CUD, one of several statewide, is a municipal government entity representing 14 towns in Bennington County. In 2021, it partnered with Consolidated Communications in a plan to extend high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved communities, leveraging state and federal funds.

The Federal Communications Commission is still considering using broadband labels that are supposed to explain broadband to customers. This sounds like a really good idea, but I wonder if it’s really going to be effective. Some of the items included on the FCC sample label are great. The most important fact is the price. It has become virtually impossible to find broadband prices for many internet service providers (ISPs). Many ISPs, including the largest ones, only show special pricing online that applies to new customers.