Governor Jim Douglas has campaigned to deliver broadband Internet access to every household in the state. The rural nature of the state means there are many areas where broadband is not available today. In order to extend broadband to these underserved areas, a bill (H.248) in the Legislature proposes the creation of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) to develop creative partnerships between public and private entities to achieve affordable access for all by 2010. The House has already passed the bill; the final Senate version is being created.

As the e-state initiative moves forward it is getting dragged into the proposed sale of Verizon's Vermont landlines to FairPoint Communications. Today's Burlington Free Press reported on a proposed amendment H.248 to empower the VTA to scrutinize FairPoint's broadband deployment plans and provide a report on whether FairPoint has equivalent or greater, resources available to deploy broadband than Verizon. At this time only AT&T would meet those requirements. It would appear the effort is designed to kill the sale.

In the article, Senator Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans, indicates he is concerned about DSL. Apparently, the Senate consultants have told them DSL is going to be obsolete in five to ten years. I hope nobody tells AT&T! This week AT&T announced (subscription required) an increase of $1.4 billion to $6.5 billion, in capital expenditure to fund the deployment of its U-verse service to 18 million customers. The technology behind U-verse is fiber-to-the-node (FTTN), which connects from the node to the home using DSL. AT&T has reported they are consistently delivering 25 Mbps to the home using ADSL2+ technology from the node. VDSL2 is expected to deliver up to 100 Mbps!

The inaccurate description of DSL technology provides readers with the wrong impression. DSL is not obsolete; in fact it is still being deployed by all of the major telecommunications companies, including Verizon. Verizon is not deploying their FiOS, fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP), service to all customers. The cost is too high. DSL will be with us for a long time. It will also continue to evolve and offer greater speeds in the future. As always a little knowledge can be dangerous.

The steps being taken in Vermont to deploy broadband across the state are laudable. Access to the Internet in the rural areas of the state can provide greater economic opportunities to business and individuals. There are many technologies that have to be considered in order to balance the expense, deployment time and benefit. In addition, the partnerships between private and public entities have to be formed creatively so everyone can win. The race for the e-state status is on; unfortunately it appears Rhode Island may have a head start!