Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

Small (Broadband) is Beautiful

Posted on Monday, December 4, 2006 by 1 comment

Burlington Telecom is a young internet provider that is bringing fiber optic broadband all the way to the home. This is the latest and greatest technology and it’s cheap! BT also offers telephone and “cable” TV (no copper). And the kicker… this innovative high tech outfit is owned by… the citizens of Burlington. It’s a municipal utility. All “profits” stay local… no distant corporate CEOs to feed or bail out of prison.

In our market, we have a small number of broadband options. The primary cable option has been Adelphia, which was swallowed by Comcast. That change is just hitting the ground here and I’ve been hearing from customers about the switch. Some haven’t had a problem, others have.

Here’s word from one unlucky chap who lives in Redrock:

“The switchover from Adelphia to Comcast has been a nightmare setting up forwarding loops and non-delivery notices. I am in the process of deleting most of some 21,306 messages… to get the half dozen legitimate ones.”

Ouch! He went on to sound an increasingly common refrain:

“Burlington Telecom doesn’t serve us yet… We can’t wait until they get here.”

Full disclosure: I volunteer on BT’s citizen advisory council and was a beta tester when their residential service started last fall.

Posted in: Community Building, Local Online, Vermont


One comment

  1. Richard says:

    Thanks for the kudos Michael! We exist because Burlington has a unique tradition of intense civic engagement.

    When the City of Burlington decided to build a fiber optic telecommunications network for its residents it was not just about creating another choice for telephone, Internet, and cable TV service; it was about insuring that our community remains relevant in a world that is rapidly producing and consuming more and more information.

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