High-speed internet build out coming this summer in Rutland County

Consolidated Communications will soon begin building out new high-speed internet service to several towns around Rutland City.

Work will be in Castleton, Clarendon, Mendon, Pittsford, Rutland, Shrewsbury, West Rutland, Brandon, Goshen, Leicester and Salisbury, according to emails from Fidium Fiber Internet, which is part of Consolidated Communications.

The projects are expected to commence in July, said Laura Black, chairwoman of the Otter Creek Communications Union District Governing Board.

The district is one of many across Vermont formed through state law with the goal of bringing high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved rural areas. Black said an $8 million federal grant was secured by the district last year that will pay for work. The district has had other grants with which to operate itself.

“They will be finished in the Otter Creek district by the end of the year and services offered by the end of the year,” said Black.

Shoreham Telephone is building in the Otter Creek district, she said, in Benson, Hubbardton, Sudbury and parts of Castleton.

“Because that happened, our funding was able to cover all of the rest of our CUD,” she said. “Because they are in the mix, that’s why our funding now covers our whole area, so we can be done this year. Which is nice.”

This year’s work should complete the work the Otter Creek district set out to do, she said. The district will own much of the infrastructure being laid out, she said.

According to Black, the state’s communications union districts came about in different ways, are structured differently, and took different approaches to getting high-speed internet in their areas. Some, she said, formed their own companies. Otter Creek opted instead to partner with existing internet providers.

The Otter Creek Communications Union District consists of Benson, Brandon, Castleton, Chittenden, Fair Haven, Goshen, Hubbardton, Mendon, Pawlet, Pittsford, Poultney, Rutland City, Rutland Town, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Wells, West Haven, and West Rutland. Each town has a representative to the district’s governing board. Black represents Shrewsbury.

What the role of the district will be in the coming years isn’t clear yet, Black said.

“We’re presently working on that,” she said. “I think that one of the things that is on the forefront in Vermont and with Vermont community broadband, and many other partners who see the value and need for access to broadband, is likely maintaining affordability, but also developing digital equity. I think we’ll see more of that in the news.”

According to an email from Fidium, the work around Castleton, Clarendon, Mendon, Pittsford, Rutland, Shrewsbury and West Rutland will bring high-speed internet access to 1,500 homes. Work around Brandon, Goshen, Leicester and Salisbury will bring access to 1,100 homes. According to the company email, most of this will consist of line work within the public right-of-way that might raise some dust and noise and at times call for short traffic detours and signage.

“We’re proud to expand Fidium Fiber to additional communities throughout Rutland County, in partnership with the Otter Creek Communications Union District and Vermont Community Broadband Board,” stated Jeffrey Austin, vice president of network planning and fiber build strategy at Consolidated Communications. “We’ve been privileged to see firsthand how fiber broadband improves lives and helps communities thrive. Construction is underway, bringing Fidium to more than 5,500 homes and businesses in these communities, including over 1,200 unserved addresses. Thousands of residents will soon have access to the life-changing impacts that come with high-speed, reliable fiber connections.”