Approximately 10 million homes in America (10%) are without high-speed Internet connectivity according to reasearch by the Pew Internet Project.
Most of these homes are located in rural communities such as those found in Vermont where up to 60% of residents don’t have access to broadband services through cable providers or the local phone company.
An article in today’s Wall Street Journal tells the story of how residents of local Vermont towns — are sick of waiting for the cable companies and Fairpoint Communications to deliver — and have instead banded together in an attempt to finance the construction of thier own high speed fiber optic network.
Vermont Farm: The Economic Environment is Cold for Rural Broadband
The towns voted to approve the project in March 2008 and proceeded immediately with an effort to raise the cash necessary to finance the construction project. First, they turned to the State of Vermont. Then they went to investment banks. The State said no. The bankers said no. Undeterred, the group devised a plan to issue a public debt offering designed to attract funding from a range of smaller “angel” investors. Like the other plans before it, this plan also fell flat. Then, in a last-ditch effort to save their hopes of “big pipes” for all Vermonters, they turned to the Federal Government for assistance to keep the project alive. Alas, Uncle Sam is not as drunk as it would seem — at least not when it comes to rural broadband.
In on final push, the group is now preparing an application for a $17 million grant from the Commerce Department which would seed the investment and minimize the amount of capital required from other investors.
It will be interesting to see if they can pull it off? I hope they can.
